Rodrigo Freitas coming back to NY for the NY BJJ Pro

The IBJJF is now offering a chance to earn money at their tournament–and not just the black belts. In a similar format to the BJJ Pro League for the black belts that will be held at the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo on Oct. 19, the lower belts will now have the opportunity to gain some monetary compensation.

The NY BJJ Pro will be held at the usual NYC venue, the Nat Holman Gymnasium located on the campus of the City College of New York. The one-day event has some different weight categories for black belt males.

They will be confined as follows:

Rooster, light-feather and feather will be combined to a new featherweight with a weight limit of 154.4 lb.

Light and middle will be combined to a new middleweight with a weight limit of 181.5 lb.

Medium-heavy and heavy will be combined to a new heavyweight with a weight limit of 208 lb.

Super-heavy and ultra-heavy will be combined to a new ultra-heavyweight with a weight limit of over 208 lb.

The categories for female adult, and female/male master are the same except the absolutes will be separated as follows:

Female adult blue, purple, brown and black belt will have one absolute for each belt.

Male adult blue, purple and brown belts will have two absolutes, rooster to light, middle to ultra-heavy.

Master male blue, purple, brown and black belts will have one absolute.

Female and male white belts will have no absolute.

Note: All adult black belts, male and female, will need to have at least 20 points in the IBJJF ranking system to qualify for competition.

The prizes are listed as follows:

Black belt adult male weight divisions: $4,000 for gold, $1,000 for silver

Black belt female absolute: $1,500 for gold

Master 1, 2, 3 black belt male: $1,000 for gold

Each brown belt male absolute (2): $800 for gold

Each purple belt male absolute (2): $600 for gold

Each blue belt male absolute (2): $400 for gold

Master 1, 2, 3 male blue, purple, brown belt absolute: $400 for gold

Adult female blue, purple, brown belt absolute: $400 for gold

Note: All athletes must place in their weight divisions to be eligible for open class except for adult female black belts.

To register, head to www.ibjjf.org. Registration period ends on Oct. 17!

Dillon on the back of an opponent. Photo: John “Ric” Ricard

The city of New York on Saturday, Sept. 27, was the place where Dillon Danis, student of Marcelo Garcia earned gold. The 20-year-old brown belt took gold in the middleweight and absolute divisions of the 2014 IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship, closing with teammate Jonathan Satava. The Alliance team member won five fights in the tournament.

Most athletes prefer to rest after an exhausting tournament, but not Dillon. He made sure to train nine rounds of eight minutes with the black belt star Joao Miyao, also winner of the event. “His philosophy on Jiu-Jitsu looks like mine: always attack,” says the brown belt.

In conversation with GRACIEMAG, the athlete says his dream of becoming the next American world champion is on track, and talks about the importance of fighting the absolute. Learn from the beast:

GRACIEMAG: After your great performance at the no-gi Pan, are you already dreaming about the black belt?

DILLON DANIS: I look forward to getting my black belt because I can’t wait to test myself against the best fighters in the world. Since I was 15 years old, I dreamed about becoming the next American black belt world champion. However I’m not in a rush, I believe my professor Marcelo Garcia will aid me in reaching that goal whenever he feels I’m ready to make that transition to black belt.

One of your interesting matches was the absolute semifinal against Dainis Nguyen-Huu. Can you walk us through that one?

Prior to that match, I fought two ultra-heavyweights, so nonetheless I was relieved that he [Dainis] was also a middleweight. At the start of the match, I set the pace very high because I knew that it was essentially a finals match, since my teammate had already made it to the final. I was able to quickly secure a victory via one arm choke and secure another absolute title with my teammate Jon Satava.

Dillon training with Joao Miyao. Photo: Personal Archive

After the competition you trained with João Miyao. What did your learn training with him?

I enjoy training with Joao because he has a tenacious attitude and relentless pace that leads to a wide variety of attacks. His philosophy sinks up with mine of just trying your best to not stall or rest. I came away from the training session with a renewed sense to continue being aggressive regardless of the position and to keep moving forward.

Can you give our readers some valuable lesson you may have learned while conquering the no-gi Pan?

The most valuable takeaway from No-Gi Pan would be to always compete in the absolute, if possible. I always learn something new about myself as a competitor and person competing in the absolute division. It’s always great to test yourself potentially against someone twice your size and since you will compete with the best of best of the divisions you will make yourself a better fighter and martial artist.

Murilo Santana was the big name of the 2013 Pan No-Gi. Photo: Ivan Trindade

Tomorrow, Sept. 27, will be the day for the 2014 IBJJF Pan No-Gi champions to be crowned. The Nat Holman Gymnasium on the City College of New York Campus in Manhattan will be full of matches to both entertain and motivate.

If you’re an athlete set to compete, you can check who you’re matched up against and when your showtime is here: http://events.ibjjf.com/

Here is the schedule of divisions throughout the day, which starts at 9:30 a.m.: http://ibjjf.org/pan-gi-2014-schedule-september-27th/

The address of the venue is 160 Convent Ave. NY, NY 10031. Make sure to get there early enough for your matches, inside the bullpen to avoid being disqualified.

More information can be found at www.ibjjf.org

Kayron Gracie vs. Daniel Tavares at the 2011 Pan No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu Championship. Photo: Dan Rod

No-gi season is upon us and the championships are coming up soon. The first of the two major tournaments this part of the year is the Pan No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu Championship on September 27 in New York City.

The Pan title is a major win and top black belts travel to the east coast each year to participate and earn their gold for their resume. In previous years, black belts who have taken to the mats are Samir Chantre, Osvaldo Queixinho, Caio Terra, AJ Agazarm, Garry Tonon, Murilo Santana, Vitor Oliveira, Lucas Lepri, Renan Borges, Laercio Fernandes, Bruno Fernandes, Pablo Popovitch, Roberto Alencar, Sofia Amarante, Kayron Gracie, Davi Ramos, and more!

The list is still growing but you can bet on Rodrigo Freitas, Gianni Grippo, Mark Ramos, Bruno Bastos to be at this year’s edition.

Register your spot now until September 19 at www.ibjjf.org.

The venue will be the Nat Holman Gymnasium at the City College of New York: 160 Convent Ave., New York, NY 10031.

Check out this no-gi technique from Roger Gracie to brush up on your game:

If you’re near the big apple, don’t miss the 2014 IBJJF New York Summer Open at the City College of New York. The event will be tomorrow, Saturday, July 19 with the first divisions starting at 9:30 a.m.

The one-day tournament will feature competitors from white to black. Black belts compete at 1:40 p.m. so catch the high-level matches between athletes like Rodrigo Freitas, Vitor Oliveira, Gianni Grippo, Antonio Antonioli, Eliot Kelly and more.

The address of the Nat Holman Gymnasium is Nat Holman Gym 160 Convent Avenue New York, NY 10031.

Check the full schedule here.

And see the brackets posted online here.

Inacio Neto at the New York Open earlier this year. Photo: Erin Herle

The next IBJJF championship in New York is the 2014 New York Summer Open on Saturday, July 19. As with every other edition, the athlete list always reaches capacity before the registration deadline is met so register early!

The championship will take place at the traditional venue, the Nat Holman Gymnasium at the City College of New York. It is located at 160 Convent Avenue New York, NY 10031.

Divisions are open for adults and masters, white to black. Already signed up are members of GMA academies ready to defend their turf such as Renzo Gracie, Marcelo Garcia Academy, Vitor Shaolin BJJ Academy, Soca BJJ, Gracie Barra Long Island, Savarese BJJ and more.

You can register now for $110 per person at www.ibjjf.org

The 2014 IBJJF New York Spring Open at the Nat Holman Gymnasium on the City College of New York campus on April 12 unfolded. There were many photographers on location to capture the fights from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., white to black.

The team awards were as follows:

1 Alliance Marcelo Garcia – 193 points

2 Team Lloyd Irvin – 168 points

3 Renzo Gracie – 106 points

Full results can be found here: http://static.ibjjfdb.com/Campeonato/000250/en-US/Results.pdf

Photos from Fighterplus can be found in this album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.803854879632250.1073741857.502531056431302

Rommel Malabanan took photos for GRACIEMAG, which can be found here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/graciemag/sets/72157643948819415/

The IBJJF photographers of the day John “Ric” Ricard and D-Kline Design took photos here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.857595640922436.1073741996.192240324124641 

And another gallery here:

Gianni Grippo wins the black belt absolute defeating AJ Agazarm in the final. Photo: Erin Herle

The 2014 IBJJF New York Spring Open brought top black belts to the Nat Holman Gymnasium on the City College of New York campus. While some divisions only had one athlete, the absolute category brought those hungry athletes together.

Here are the results of each weight division and the absolute division:

ROOSTER

Washington Lima of GF Team defaulted gold as the only athlete registered.

LIGHT-FEATHER

Daniel Beleza of SAS Team defeated Mark Ramos of Ricardo “Rey” Diogo BJJ by one advantage earning him the gold as they were the only two in the division. The match was similar to their match at the Boston Spring Open only one week prior. Beleza jumped guard and Ramos worked his passing but also tried multiple times to leg drag and take the back. Beleza’s omoplata and sweep attempts gave him the advantage over Ramos for the gold.

FEATHER

Even though there were two athletes, Gianni Grippo of Alliance Marcelo Garcia defaulted gold as he was the only one to show.

LIGHT

Bricklin Welch of Team Redzovic defeated Diogo Almeida of Gracie Barra by armbar.
AJ Agazarm’s opponent in the bracket did not compete and so he went straight to the final against Brick. The match began with AJ going for a takedown and Brick defending enough to pull guard and go for a straight armbar. AJ defended even as Brick went “belly-down” to try and submit. Brick transitioned to an omoplata and swept to get on top and earn two points but AJ got out of the submission. AJ was able to utilize his top game well as he passed the guard three times, secured knee on belly and mounted at the end for a total of 15 points for Brick’s 2.

MIDDLE

There were only two athletes in this division but the skill level made this immediate final one to watch. Former teammates JT Torres, now of Atos Jiu-Jitsu, and DJ Jackson of Team Lloyd Irvin faced off for the gold. When the match began, JT jumped guard. A majority of the match had JT securing DJ in closed guard, opening for opportunities to submit or sweep. DJ also worked to pass, pushing for top half but at the end of the match the decision was left to the referees to decide and JT earned the gold.

MEDIUM-HEAVY

No athletes.

HEAVYWEIGHT

In the first match, Antonio Antonioli of Atos Jiu-Jitsu faced Fernando Moya of Renzo Gracie and an armbar secured the win for Antonio. He moved on to the final and faced Lincoln Pereira of Renzo Gracie. Lincoln jumped guard and not long after locked up a no-arm triangle for the gold medal.

SUPER-HEAVYWEIGHT

Tiago Almeida of Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu defaulted gold as the only athlete registered.

ULTRA-HEAVYWEIGHT

Diego Santana of Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu defaulted gold as the only athlete registered.

OPEN WEIGHT

AJ Agazarm defeated Washington Lima by choke,
Antonio Antonioli defeated Diego Santana by armbar.
Gianni Grippo defeated Diogo Almeida by 13-2 points.
Tiago Almeida defeated DJ Jackson by choke.

SEMI-FINAL

AJ Agazarm defeated Antonio Antonioli by 13-6 points.
Gianni Grippo defeated Tiago Almeida by two advantages.

FINAL

Gianni Grippo defeated AJ Agazarm by pulling guard, berimbolo-ing to the back and winning 4-0 points.

FEMALE

Nyjah Easton of Team Lloyd Irvin was the big winner as she defeated her only opponent, Bibiana Silva of inUFC Gym Stamford, in the lightweight division by kimura. The open weight division was a round robin with three females: Nyjah Easton, Bibiana Silva and Karen Peterson of Clockwork Jiu-Jitsu who defeated her opponent Jennifer Russell of Renzo Gracie in the medium-heavyweight division.

Nyjah defeated Bibiana in the first match, technically a semi-final by armbar.
Karen defeated Bibiana in the other semi-final by triangle armbar.

In the final, Nyjah aggressively pulled guard on Karen and was able to sweep right away. She passed as she came up and submitted Karen with a lapel choke from there.

Check out photos of the black belt weight divisions:

Gallery of the open weight divisions:

Pan No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu Championship in 2011. Photo: GRACIEMAG

Tomorrow, Sept. 28, the City College of New York will have its Nat Holman Gymnasium infiltrated by men and women in rash guards and shorts. The title of Pan No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu Champion will be granted to those who advance in their brackets all the way to the top of the podium.

To see who will be facing who on their journey to the gold, take a look at the brackets here.

To see who will be fighting when, check out the schedule here.

Don’t miss the black belts exhibit top level moves starting at 1:10 p.m. with the endless list of names such as JT Torres, Laercio Fernandes, Caio Terra, Samir Chantre, Zach Maxwell, Vitor Oliveira, Murilo Santana, Christian Uflacker, Bernardo Faria, Abraham Marte, Bruno Fernandes and more.

It’s a mix of new, active and veteran black belts that ensure great match-ups with no clear bets.

The venue for the Pan Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi. Photo: GRACIEMAG

In 2008, Vinicius ‘Draculino’ Magalhaes entered the Pan Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship and won his division at the age of thirty-seven. The black belt leader is the coach of current champions such as Romulo Barral and Samuel Braga and continues to pass on his knowledge to students at his GMA academy Gracie Barra Texas in Houston.

That was the first year of the annual event. The 2013 edition of the event is set for Saturday, September 28 at its New York City location in the Nat Holman Gymnasium of the City College of New York.

Registration is open however the athlete list has now reached 60% capacity.

So, register now and make your travel arrangements to confirm your presence at the Pan Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship before it’s too late.

Go to www.ibjjf.org to register now.

Full house at the 2012 Pan Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship. Photo By Dan Rod

Don’t be late in registering for the 2013 IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship this year and let the east coasters win all the titles. The roster is filling up quickly and is likely to reach capacity before the deadline on September 16!

The event will be on Saturday, September 28 at the City College of New York Nat Holman Gymnasium: 138th Street, Convent Avenue New York, NY 10031

Make sure you register for the event before making your travel arrangements so you’re not stuck going to New York just to watch because the athlete list filled up. Although it wouldn’t be a bad vacation, the competition is one you do not want to miss.

In past years the mats of the Pan No-Gi have seen a high level of black belts such as Lucas Lepri, JT Torres, Renan Borges, Samir Chantre, Osvaldo Queixinho, Laercio Fernandes, Henrique Rezende, Pablo Popovitch, Roberto Tussa Alencar, Davi Ramos, Kayron Gracie, Daniel Tavares and many more. That list is comprised of 2012 and 2011 alone.

This year the black belts confirmed so far: Bernardo Faria, AJ Agazarm, Bruno Fernandes, Joseph Capizzi as well as athletes from GMA academies such as Renzo Gracie, Alliance NYC, Alliance Ecuador, Marcelo Garcia, Gracie Barra Long Island, Toronto BJJ, Soca BJJ, Gracie Barra Montral, Gracie Barra New Mexico.

Let’s make the Pan No-Gi an earned title with a well-rounded amount of entries from all over to represent the spread of the gentle art.

To register go to www.ibjjf.org