A semifinal saw João Gabriel finish Francisco Iturralde (Alliance); the other didn’t happen, as  Tarsis Humphreys (Alliance) was injured.

Osvaldo “Queixinho” Moizinho beat the lightweight field. Tanner Rice was victorious at heavyweight.

Click here for the complete results.

Tarcisio Jardim vs. Rafael Barbosa

Competitors gave all they got on the mats in search of the gold medal.

Tarcisio Jardim and Leanna Dittrich lead the pack of black belt open class champions at the master 1 division.

Jardim scored two points early in the match with a sweep against Rafael Formiga and then defended well the opponent’s attempts to sweep him back.

In the female’s division, Leanna also scored 2-0 early in the match against Sarah Black and worked her way to the gold medal.

In the master 3, Saulo Ribeiro completed a perfect campaign with a 9-0 win over Carlos Farias for the open class gold medal.

Saulo Ribeiro vs. Carlos Farias

Wellington Megaton was the master 4 open class champion by referees decision against Roberto Traven after a 0-0 tie in points.

In the master 5 open class, Brian Beauchamp took home the gold medal after a 2-0 win over Chris Haueter.

Stephen Kamphuis was the master 6 open class champion when he outscored Michael Atkin 2-0 in the final.

For the complete list of champions and how they got to their gold medals, go to GRACIEMAG’s Instagram page.

In the team’s competition, Ribeiro JJ ruled over both the men’s and women’s division.

The podiums were:

Male

1 – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu – 260

2 – Gracie Barra – 249

3 – Gracie Elite Team – 136

Female

1 – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu – 69

2 – Gracie Barra – 44

3 – Gracie Elite Team – 40

Click here for the complete results.

Here’s a photo gallery with some of the best images of the day.

Renan Borges vs. Gianni Grippo. Photo: Erin Herle

The IBJJF will be back on the east coast later this month for the 2014 IBJJF Boston Summer Open on Aug. 23. If you missed the Spring Open, now is your chance to compete in Bean Town.

The divisions are stacking up with talent in every rank including black belt. Already set to compete are Rodrigo Freitas, Renan Borges, James Puopolo, Rafael Barbosa and new black belt Nathalia Amaral.

The venue is at UMASS Athletics located at 100 Morrissey Blvd. Boston, MA 02125.

You have until next Friday, Aug. 15 to register your spot for the cost of $110 per person. Don’t miss the last chance to compete in the northeast for awhile!

To sign up, go to www.ibjjf.org

Boston Spring Open

The IBJJF has released the schedule for the 2014 Boston Spring Open.

The event takes place this Saturday, April 5, at the Umass Athletics.

This year’s edition will feature famous black belts such as Daniel Beleza, Gianni Grippo, Gustavo Carpio, Renan Borges, Abmar Barbosa, Gregor Gracie, Antonio Antonioli, Rafael Barbosa.

Click here for the schedule.

Click here for the brackets.

For more info, go to ibjjf.com

Rafael Barbosa and Francisco Tavares battled it out for middleweight supremacy in Boston last weekend, a match that went the distance.

Check out the full replay in the video above and check out the black belt results from last weekend’s tournament below.

BLACK / Adult / Male / Feather
First – José Luis dos Santos Varella – GF Team
Second – Jefferson Luiz da Cruz Cordeiro – NBJJ
Third – Raphael B. Ribeiro Fernandes – Renzo Gracie

BLACK / Adult / Male / Light
First – Renan Borges – Brazilian Top Team
Second – Francisco Antonio Iturralde Lara – Alliance NYC
Third – Oliver Leys Geddes – Roger Gracie Academy
Third – Keith Jason Florian – Florian Martial Arts Center

BLACK / Adult / Male / Middle
First – Rafael Monteiro Barbosa – Soul Fighters BJJ Connecticut
Second – Francisco Daniel Pires Tavares – SAS Team USA
Third – Christopher J Reymann – Renzo Gracie
Third – Luciano Cristovam Rodrigues Jr. – Renzo Gracie

BLACK / Adult / Male / Medium Heavy
First – Vitor Henrique Silva Oliveira – GF Team
Second – Jarod R Lawton – T1 BJJ
Third – Leonardo I. Iturralde Aguirre – Alliance Ecuador

BLACK / Adult / Male / Heavy
First – Nicolau Eduardo – Barbosa Jiu Jitsu
Second – Kevin E Sheridan – Alliance NYC
Third – Rani Fawzi Matuk – Boston BJJ
Third – Daniel Simmler – Serra BJJ Academy

BLACK / Adult / Male / Super Heavy
First – Ronnie Wuest Jr. – Balance
Second – Raphael B. Carneiro Fischetti – Fenix BJJ Woburn

BLACK / Adult / Male / Open Class
First – Vitor Henrique Silva Oliveira – GF Team
Second – Luciano Cristovam Rodrigues Jr. – Renzo Gracie
Third – Oliver Leys Geddes – Roger Gracie Academy
Third – Jarod R Lawton – T1 BJJ

BLACK / Adult / Female / Light
First – Bibiana Dios Tan Pacini S. Silva – American Top Team

BLACK / Adult / Female / Open Class
First – Bibiana Dios Tan Pacini S. Silva – American Top Team

For the full results, go to IBJJF.com

Rafael Formiga em ação no Boston Open 2013. Foto: IBJJF/Divulgação.

Rafael Barbosa, o Formiga da Soul Fighters, até esse domingo era o rei de Boston. O faixa-preta carioca havia vencido o absoluto nas duas primeiras edições do Boston Open, em 2011 e 2012, mas este ano ele esbarrou em DJ Jackson. Mas, nesse evento de inverno da IBJJF, ele não perdeu, aprendeu:

“Tirei uma boa lição em Boston. Eu não posso mais, em hipótese alguma, deixar o DJ por a cabeça no meu queixo, quando ele estiver por cima tentando passar minha meia-guarda”, sorriu o campeão dos médios, em papo com o GRACIEMAG.com.

“No fim, foi positivo. Venci no peso finalizando, e na final no absoluto fiz uma luta muito dura, contra um adversário de altíssimo nível e que tinha acabado de ser campeão meio-pesado. Mesmo assim mantive meu jogo aberto e para frente, tentando minhas posições”, completou Formiga. (Veja como foi a luta, abaixo:)

Após vencer a categoria dos médios, o professor radicado nos EUA agradeceu pelos treinos com os companheiros da Soul Fighters, em temporada em janeiro no Rio: “Agora a meta é fazer bonito no Pan. Vou me preparar com vários amigos, na academia do Caio Terra em San José”.

Formiga aproveitou e elogiou as novidades no Pan 2013:

“Achei a ideia do teste antidoping a melhor coisa que a IBJJF já fez pelo nosso esporte. Agora veremos lutas muito mais justas, onde vai prevalecer a técnica e não a massa muscular de cada atleta”, concluiu.

With the 7th edition of Gustavo Dantas’ Arizona International Open offering up a total of $3000 dollars in prizes for its black belt absolute division, it was bound to attract some formidable athletes from all different areas. Amongst these competitors were names such as Clark Gracie, Marcel Fortuna, Ryan Beauregard, Augusto Moizinho, Carlos Farias, Michael Westbrook, and of course the big winner of the day, Rafael “Formiga” Barbosa.

"Formiga" with his big check / Photo: Many Weapons

“Formiga” had quite the journey to face 2011 Southwest Classic champion, Marcel Fortuna, in the finals. Flying in all the way from Boston, the Soul Fighters athlete had to face the largest opponent in the division, first round, Carlos Farias. “Formiga” had a very tough time trying to work with the much larger Farias. In the end Barbosa narrowly pulled off the win, with Farias losing points for stalling. The next round brought about another challenge in last year’s middle weight Worlds bronze medalist, Clark Gracie. “Formiga” accepted the challenge and passed with flying colors; defeating Gracie with an overwhelming score of 10-2.

On the opposite end of the bracket Marcel Fortuna began his march to the finals with a first-round bye, leaving him to face the winner of Augusto Moizinho and Ryan Beauregard in the semifinals. The lighter Moizinho managed to pull off the upset, defeating Beauregard on points. Once the next round came up, the much smaller Augusto put in a great effort against the esteemed Fortuna, but size seemed to be too much of a factor, with Fortuna eventually catching an armbar.

With the finals set, the entire Phoenix College gym sat on edge to await and see the winner of the coveted absolute division. Knowing he had to overcome a large size advantage, “Formiga” came in tough against Fortuna, bringing the action, not only managing to secure a sweep, but also following through on the back to beat the favorite 6-0.

Although losing, Fortuna did not go home empty handed; second place collecting $500. Not to forget the grand champion, “Formiga” seemed very grateful and is sure to put his $2500 prize to good use after leaving the fast growing Arizona Jiu-Jitsu scene.

Click here for the complete results.