Celebrate victories at these three IBJJF tournaments / Photo by Erin Herle

The IBJJF calendar is in full force once again giving athletes from all across the country a chance to compete nearby before the big 2013 World Championship at the end of May.

New York City, New York: April 20

Team trophy podium picture at the 2012 NY Open

This weekend on April 20, the 2013 IBJJF New York International Open will be happening at the City of College of New York, Nat Holman Gymnasium. The one day tournament reached its full capacity a record eight days before the scheduled registration closure date. We will see you there this weekend if you were able to secure your spot in time or if you are close enough to make the visit to see a high-level tournament in the heart of New York. Many of our local GMA members like Vitor Shaolin Academy, Marcelo Garcia Academy, Renzo Gracie Academy, Alliance NYC and more will be well-represented so make sure you come out to support the local scene. California is sending various athletes like a team of Gracie Barra black belts including Rodrigo Simoes, Philippe Della Monica, Magid Hage and Otavio Sousa, Caio Terra Association is sending Samir Chantre to represent and Atos black belt Leonardo D’Avila will be present as well.

Location: Nat Holman Gymnasium 138 th Street & Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031

Las Vegas, Nevada: April 27

Vegas Open 2011 black belt open weight podium podium

The 2013 IBJJF Las Vegas International Spring Open will be the first installment of its kind. As the Las Vegas Summer Open has gathered enough competitors, IBJJF has decided to add another competition during the year. Registration is still open for this one-day tournament on Saturday, April 27 but only until April 19 so reserve your spot right away. The event will be in the Sport Center of Las Vegas, home of all the local Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, right off the famous Strip. With names like Mackenzie Dern, Sofia Amarante, Baret Yoshida, Alberto Crane, Gustavo Pires, Rodrigo Simoes, Osvaldo Augusto Queixinho, Manuel Diaz, Christian Broadnax, Rene Lopez and more, it’s worth attending or the pure skill level to be exhibited! Not too far from the biggest cities in California, don’t miss out on a quick Vegas trip to bring back a gold medal because not everything that happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!

Registration ends April 19: http://www.ibjjf.org/lasvegasspring2013home.htm

Location: Sport Center of Las Vegas 121 East Sunset Road, Las Vegas, NV 89119

Dallas, Texas: May 5

Rafael Lovato Jr. at the 2011 Dallas Open

The annual IBJJF Dallas International Open is here the first weekend of May on Saturday, the fifth. For Texas, this high-level tournament allows those who missed the Houston Open to get their share of serious competition. Located at the Texas Women’s University a short drive from downtown Dallas, the biggest teams will be present. Registration deadline it approaching so secure your spot before April 27. Let this be the perfect primer for the World Championships as you compete alongside already confirmed athletes such as Leonardo Iturralde, Thaysa Silva, Renato Tavares, Sofia Amarante, and more from GMA academies: Pesadelo BJJ,Peak Performance, Cobrinha BJJ, Lovato Jiu-Jitsu, Marcelo Garcia Academy, Team Tooke MMA, Brazil 021, Texas Punishment Crew, Alliance Ecuador and more!

Registration ends April 27: http://www.ibjjf.org/dallas2013home.htm

Location: TWU – Kitty Magee Arena 1600 N. Bell Ave, Denton, TX 76209

Be sure to register before the deadlines and support your local competition scene! For more general information for all IBJJF events, please visit www.IBJJF.org

Don’t miss the IBJJF Houston Open! Registration ends Feb 8 at www.ibjjf.org!

The IBJJF Houston Open has been the place to be in February since 2010. Big names from all over, at every belt level travel to the lone star state for IBJJF’s annual competition.

In previous years, the names we saw were from multiple teams, as the Texas land and surrounding states hold hubs for many. In the past years we’ve seen the competition flooded by Andre Galvao, Mendes Bros, Pablo Silva, Justin Rader, Bill Cooper, JT Torres, Jimmy Harbison, Stephen Hall, Bruno Bastos, Danny Alvarez, Ryan Hall and more.

Because of the growing Jiu-Jitsu community in Texas and their many teams, we can expect even more attendees to face off for the Houston Open title. Already confirmed are competitors stemming from Lovato Jiu-Jitsu, Paragon, Gracie Barra, Alliance, GF Team, Soul Fighters, Nova Uniao, Lloyd Irvin, Carlson Gracie, BJJ Revolution to name a few!

Will you be one of them?

The tournament will be held on February 16-17 at Jerabeck Activity and Athletic Center: 3800 Montrose Boulevard  Houston TX, 77006.

Registration ends on February 8 and you can register at www.ibjjf.org.

Stay tuned for more information regarding schedule and brackets! Hope to see you there.

Cyborg on top of Bruno Bastos in the ultraheavyweight final / Photos: Mike Calimbas/TXMMA.com.

Promoted by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF), the Dallas Open featured some of the sport’s top competitors last weekend at TWU’s Kitty Magee Arena in Texas. The top-placed black belt was Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu, who won the absolute division and proved his game is up to speed for the World Championship coming up late May in California.

Cyborg returned home to Florida with two gold medals, one at ultraheavyweight and another at open weight. In winning his weight class he had to make it past Bruno Bastos in the final, with Ricardo Evangelista taking bronze. In the absolute, Roberto defeated Traves Edward Serna of Lovato team in the final, according to the IBJJF.

Check out the official tournament results here.

Another standout was the beast from Oklahoma State Justin Rader, who overcame Pablo Silva in the featherweight final. Watch the showdown in the following video taken by our contributor Mike Calimbas:

Another black belt to raise the roof was Renato Tavares. The teacher and competitor in the senior division braved facing the big, younger guys in the master division and took gold in the absolute. In the semifinal he applied an eyeful sweep on Gracie Barra’s Professor Ulpiano Malachias. In the final he outpointed Alexandre “Dande” Ferreira via judges’ decision.

The big teams showed up en mass, and Nova União, with Bruno Bastos at the helm, took the overall team contest; with Lovato Jiu-Jitsu, led by Rafael Lovato and Justin Rader, in second; and Renato Tavares Association, under Renato Tavares and Piet Wilhelm, taking third.

Gracie Barra took its pint-sized competitors and took third in the overall kids results.

Team Standings

1. Nova União – 298
2. Lovato Jiu-Jitsu – 168
3. Renato Tavares Association – 148

Kids

1. Nova União – 37
2. Renato Tavares Association – 22
3. Gracie Barra – 12

Check out the 29 finest photos from the tourney, by Mike Calimbas:

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Cyborg por cima de Bruno Bastos, na final do pesadíssimo. Fotos: Mike Calimbas/TXMMA.com..

Organizado pela International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF), o Dallas Open levou alguns dos melhores lutadores do esporte ao Texas no último sábado, nas dependências da TWU’s Kitty Magee Arena. Melhor para o faixa-preta campeão absoluto Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu, que provou estar com o jogo afiado para o Mundial da Califórnia, no fim de maio.

Roberto Cyborg volta para casa na Flórida com duas medalhas de ouro, no pesadíssimo e no absoluto adulto. No peso, precisou passar por Bruno Bastos na final, com Ricardo Evangelista ficando com o bronze. No absoluto, Roberto venceu na final Travis Edward Serna (Lovato), de acordo com a IBJJF.

Confira os resultados oficiais do torneio, aqui.

Outro destaque foi a fera de Oklahmoma Justin Rader, que venceu Pablo Silva na final dos penas. Assista à peleja abaixo, em mais um vídeo feito por nosso colaborador Mike Calimbas:

Outro faixa-preta que levantou a galera foi Renatinho Tavares. Professor e atleta sênior, o levinho Renato se atirou entre os gigantes do master e faturou o ouro absoluto. Na semifinal, raspou bonito o professor da GB Ulpiano Malachias. Na final, venceu Alexandre “Dande” Ferreira na decisão dos juízes.

As equipes grandes compareceram em massa ao campeonato, e a Nova União liderada por Bruno Bastos venceu por equipes, com a Lovato Jiu-Jitsu (liderada por Rafael Lovato e Justin Rader) e a Renato Tavares Association (guiada por Renato Tavares e Piet Wilhelm) ficando em segundo e em terceiro.

A Gracie Barra levou seus pequenos e beliscou um terceiro lugar nos resultados do Infantil.

Resultado por Equipes

1. Nova União – 298

2. Lovato Jiu-Jitsu – 168

3. Renato Tavares Association – 148

Kids

1. Nova União – 37

2. Renato Tavares Association – 22

3. Gracie Barra – 12

Confira a seguir as 29 melhores imagens do torneio, por Mike Calimbas:

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Lovato (right) with Xande Ribeiro

GMA member Rafael Lovato Jr is proud of his team, in Oklahoma.

Last August 14th, his students went down to Dallas, Texas, for the Grapplers Quest Europa Supershow.

And they excelled at it.

Lovato JJ won both the Men’s competition with 76 points and the Overal tournament also with 76 points.

Lovato expressed his joy with the result on Facebook: “Congrats to all my soldiers, we won the overall team title at Grapplers Quest Dallas! This is especially awesome, because there was about 8 other strong Lovato competitors competing in Vegas on the same day.”

For more info, go to okbjj.com.

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