Day 2 of the XIX US Open, in Santa Cruz, California, saw local talent Nathan Mendelsohn claim the adult black belt open class division.

Nathan had two matches to reach the gold medal.

First he outscored Joe Scovel 16-0 with sweeps and guard passes.

The final was against the ultraheavy Wauriman Borges and after a 2-2 tie in points the referee decided that Mendelsohn would take first place.

Nathan talked about the strategy to win: “I played on top to make him tired and pulled guard only in the end. I noticed in his previous fights that he would most likely pass guard if the opponent pulled too soon. ”

In the other black belt divisions, results were:

Rahlan Gracie def. Nathan Mendelsohn 2-0 for the mediumheavy gold.

Diego Bispo was the lightweight champion after a 6-2 win over Israel Ceron.

Carlos Melo was the ultraheavy champion after a 3-0 win over Wauriman Borges.

Victor Paschoal won the featherweight division after a referee decision win over Davin Maxwell.

For the full results, go to bjjtour.com

The XIX US Open had its first day this Saturday in Santa Cruz, California.

One of the most traditional events in the gentle art calendar, the US Open gathered over 600 athletes on day 1 alone.

Kids were the protagonists for the first half of the day, with fierce disputes in age divisions that ranged from ages 4 to 15 years old.

Later on, adults entered the mats with the blue belt and brown belt divisions.

Adam Dunkel was the standout with the brown belt open class title.

The US Open returns this Sunday, Oct. 26, with the black belt divisions.

For the full results, go to http://bjjtour.com/

US Open XVIII

The US Open XIX Jiu-Jitsu tournament takes place this weekend, Oct 25-26, in Santa Cruz, California.

With over 1,100 athletes registered, the US Open is set to be a two-day action filled event.

The brackets and schedule have been released and you can check it out who is competing against who and when.

Click here for the brackets and here for the schedule.

Watch the live stream here.

Aluno de Claudio França, o faixa-preta Nathan Mendelsohn é uma das feras confirmadas no torneio.

Veja Nathan em ação contra Rahlan Gracie e motive-se antes do treino de hoje. Aproveite para absorver lições de uma boa passagem de guarda.

Nathan Mendelsohn vs. Rahlan Gracie

Today, Oct. 20 is the last day to register for the XIX US Open Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

The event takes place this weekend, Oct. 25-26, in Santa Cruz, California.

You have until 11:59PM tonight to sign up to compete in one of the most traditional events os the gentle art calendar.

Don’t miss out and register now.

Black belt Nathan Mendelsohn is one of the high level competitors already registered for this year’s event.

Watch him in action earlier this year against Rahlan Gracie and get stoked to compete.

For more info and to register, go to bjjtour.com.

With over 30 years of experience teaching Jiu-Jitsu, França presents two pure breed techniques when it comes to the origin of the gentle art as a self-defense system.

Watch and enjoy.

Gianni Grippo wins another IBJJF absolute. Photo: Erin Herle

The 2014 IBJJF Vegas Summer Open on Aug. 9 held many black belts in its divisions. The male open weight, however, had four.

Here is how the matches unfolded:

Ultra-heavyweight Ranieri Paiva defeated middleweight Nathan Mendelsohn by one advantage.

Featherweight Gianni Grippo defeated ultra-heavyweight Carlos Eduardo Faria by referee decision.

Gianni defeated Ranieri by 6-5. Ranieri took Gianni down then Gaini went for the berimbolo but came up on top into mount for the 6 points. Ranieri was able to secure a pass but Gianni recovered and went to 50/50 guard. Ranieri was not able to pass the guard or submit and the gold went to Gianni.

For the females, there were two: Charlene Coats of Coalition 95 and Mackenzie Dern of Gracie Humaita. They were in separate divisions and did not fight until the open class.

In the absolute, Charlene pulled guard. Mackenzie pushed to half guard, passed and mounted. Charlene turned and Mackenzie secured the back and the choke winning her gold for the day.

Here is a gallery of the divisions:

Nathan Mendelsohn vs. Tanner Rice at the 6th American Cup. Photo: Ivan Trindade

GMA member Claudio Franca is at it again with the 7th American Cup Tournament scheduled for Saturday, April 5 to Sunday, April 6. This event will be held in San Jose at Independence High School: 707 North Jackson Avenue San Jose, CA 95133

Last year’s edition brought out top athletes such as Diego Herzog, Yuri Simoes, Osvaldo Queixinho, Eliot Kelly, Nathan Mendelsohn and more.

Registration is now open with early registration prices until Monday, March 17.

During the tournament there will be a live broadcast with commentators, matches and interviews.

Register now with the discounted price here.

More information be found here: www.americancupbjj.com

Watch a highlight of the 6th American Cup tournament:

At 23 years old, the Claudio França pupil has already caught the attention of the BJJ community with great results in major events.

Here he teaches one way to pass the tricky Lasso Guard.

Watch, learn and enjoy.

The World Jiu-Jitsu Expo brown/black grand prix on Nov. 10 in Long Beach. Photo: Erin Herle

The grand prix set for the second day of the 2013 World Jiu-Jitsu Expo on Sunday, Nov. 10 began at 10 a.m. inside the Long Beach Convention Center. Since there were black belt athletes who could not make it for the event, two brown belts opted to step in and take their place despite having competed in the brown belt grand prix the day before. The two were Travis Stevens and Shiloh Roberts.

Here is how the Brown/Black Belt GP played out:

GROUP A

Jackson Sousa

Nathan Mendelsohn

Omar Sabha

Marcel Goncalves

Shiloh Roberts

GROUP B

James Puopolo

Eliot Kelly

Travis Stevens

Alessandro Ferreira

Ricardo Rezende

INDIVIDUAL MATCH RESULTS

GROUP A

4 pts – Nathan Mendelsohn defeated Omar Sabha by armbar
4 pts – Jackson Sousa defeated Shiloh Roberts by choke
4 pts – Marcel Louzado defeated Shiloh Roberts by armbar
2 pts – Jackson Sousa defeated Nathan Mendelsohn by 3-3 points 2-1 advantages 0-1 penalty = 2 advantages
4 pts – Omar Sabha defeated Shiloh Roberts by toehold
2 pts – Jackson Sousa defeated Marcel Goncalves by 2-2 points 2-1 advantage = 1 advantage
4 pts – Nathan Mendelsohn defeated Shiloh Roberts by choke from mount
2 pts – Marcel Goncalves defeated Omar Sabha by DQ for knee reap
3 pts – Nathan Mendelsohn defeated Marcel Goncalves by 11-2 points 5-0 advantages
4 pts – Jackson Sousa defeated Omar Sabha by north/south choke

GROUP B

4 pts – James Puopolo defeated Eliot Kelly by kneebar
4 pts – Travis Stevens defeated Alessandro Ferreira by armbar
3 pts – Travis Stevens defeated Eliot Kelly by 6-2 points 9-0 advantages
4 pts – James Puopolo defeated Ricardo Rezende by kneebar
4 pts – Ricardo Rezende defeated Eliot Kelly by choke from the back
4 pts – James Puopolo defeated Alessandro Ferreira by straight armbar
4 pts – James Puopolo defeated Travis Stevens by kneebar
4 pts – Ricardo Rezende defeated Alessandro Ferreira by armbar from triangle
4 pts – Ricardo Rezende defeated Travis Stevens by armbar from triangle
4 pts – Alessandro Ferreira defeated Eliot Kelly by flying armbar

SEMI-FINAL MATCHES

Jackson Sousa vs. Ricardo Rezende

James Puopolo vs. Nathan Mendelsohn

Ricardo Rezende defeated Jackson Sousa by 1-0 advantage
James Puopolo defeated Nathan Mendelsohn by 4-0 points 1-1 advantages

FINAL

Ricardo Rezende vs. James Puopolo

Ricardo Rezende defeated James Puopolo by toehold for the gold trophy:

Ricardo Rezende wins the brown/black grand prix. Photo: Erin Herle

See the full photo gallery here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/graciemag/sets/72157637535157444/

Diego Herzog ruled once again in San Jose, at the 6th American Cup

The city of San Jose must one of Diego Herzog’s favorite places in the world.

This Sunday, April 21, he won for the third time in a row the adult male black belt open class division of the 6th American Cup.

He defeated Yuri Simões 7-0 in the final.

The match was at full speed and Herzog built the score with two sweeps and a guarda pass in the end.

“I watched his matches and decided to pull guard. I am glad to have succeeded to kill his game,” said Herzog afterwords.

In the other two fights until the gold, He swept and then caught Elliot Kelly with a foot lock in the semifinal and choked Tryfon Stathopolos from inside his guard.

It was my third title here,” said Herzog, who also won in 2011 and 2012.

Other than the open class, the black belt division crowned the following fighters:

Oswaldo Moizinho won the featherweight. In only one fight, he caught Kyle Cometta in a foot lock for the gold.

Tanner Rice won the middleweight. In twon fights, he defeated local rival Nathan Mendelsohn in the semifinal by one advantage after a 2-2 tie in points. In the final, he caught Marcus Antelante in an armbar after pulling guard and locking a triangle.

Diogo Araujo caught Tryfon Stathopolos on a americana lock for the medium-heavy gold.

Yuri Simões won the super-heavyweight. He defeated Marcel Fortuna 2-0 with a sweep.

Also in one fight, Diego Herzog won the heavyweight. He defeated Elliot Kelly 5-4 in a close fight.

In the adult teams’ competition, the results were as follows:

Male
Ralph Gracie – 90pts
Coalition 95 – 59pts
Caio Terra BJJ – 48

Female
Ralph Gracie – 22pts
Marin MMA – 21pts
Coalition 95 – 16pts

Here is the video of the Open Class final between Diego Herzog and Yuri Simões

Here is the photo galeery of day 2 at the 6th American Cup

[flickr set=72157633301454816]

For the complete coverage, go to http://www.gplus.to/graciemag

Nathan Mendelsohn is one of the stars of the upcoming 6th American Cup

If you would like to compete in a well organized championship and paying less for registration, here is your last chance.

On April 20-21, GMA member Claudio França will be holding the 6th American Cup, in San Jose, California.

The early bird registration period ends this Friday, at 11:59PM (PST).

Kids pay $60 and juveniles, adults, masters and seniors pay $75.

The final deadline to register is April 15.

Hurry and don’t miss the opportunity to compete alongside Jiu-Jitsu stars such as Augusto Tanquinho, Nathan Mendelsohn, Oswaldo Queixinho, Tanner Rice, and others.

To enroll, click go to americancupbjj.com

Here is the video of the black belt absolute final of the 5th American Cup, between Diego Herzog and Marcus Antelante.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhKTT8pQ5e4