O peso pesadíssimo paranaense Gustavo Elias reinou absoluto em Vegas. Foto: GRACIEMAG

A comunidade do Jiu-Jitsu voltou a se reunir em Nevada, nesse sábado 7 de maio, para mais um Las Vegas Open, evento organizado pela IBJJF.

Com centenas de competidores, o Las Vegas Open de 2016 consagrou, nos tatames armados no Las Vegas Sports Center, os faixas-pretas Gustavo Dias e Sarah Black, os reis absolutos da terra dos cassinos.

O paranaense, faixa-preta formado pelo ex-lutador do UFC Cristiano Marcello, faturou dois ouros em Vegas. No peso pesadíssimo, Gustavo precisou vencer Carlos Farias. Na final do absoluto, o lutador da Gracie Humaitá superou a pedreira Jaime Canuto, da GFTeam.

Sarah Black (academia Gustavo Dantas) mostrou que não há nada como um absoluto depois do peso. Se na divisão leve ela perdeu para Tammi Musumeci, no aberto ela venceu Leanna Dittrich na final.

Sarah Black venceu mais um absoluto no Jiu-Jitsu.

Quem também atraiu aplausos foi o pentacampeão mundial peso-pena Rafael Mendes. Ele venceu Samir Chantre na final, e mostrou estar na ponta dos cascos para o Mundial 2016, que começa em junho.

Por equipes, o resultado foi:

1. Gracie Barra – 206
2. CheckMat – 158
3. Gracie Humaita – 141

Veja os resultados, aqui.

Gustavo Elias

The Jiu-Jitsu community gathered once again this Saturday in the Sin City for the 2016 Las vegas International Open.

Hundreds of athletes put on a great show at the Las Vegas Sports Center for a full day devoted to the gentle art.

Gustavo Dias Elias and Sarah Black were the standouts in the adult black belt division after they won the open class.

Gustavo had a double gold campaign with his win in the ultraheavy division as well.

He beat Carlos Farias in his weight divsion and then defeated Jaime Canuto in the absolute final.

Sarah Black

Sarah came back from a defeat to Tammi Musumeci in the lightweight division final to beat Leanna Dittrich in the open class.

Another highlight of the day was the presence of five-time black belt featherweight world champion Rafael Mendes.

He beat Samir Chantre in the final for the title in another pre-2016 Worlds appearance as he prepares to compete for his sixth world title.

In the teams’ competition, results were:

1 – Gracie Barra – 206

2 – CheckMat – 158

3 – Gracie Humaita – 141

Click here for the full results.

Dillon Danis

The IBJJF held the 2016 New York Spring Open this weekend at the City College, in Manhattan.

Many big names stopped by to display all their technique and competition drive.

In the two mos important divisions, Alliance Marcelo Garcia’s teammates Dillon Danis and Mansher Khera closed out the male adult black belt open class while Gustavo Dantas Jiu-Jitsu’s Sarah Black beat Megan Nevil for the female black belt absolute title.

Sarah Black

Here are the full results for the black belt division:

BLACK / Adult / Male / Light Feather

First – João Ricardo Bordignon Miyao – PSLPB Cicero Costha

Second – Tadashi Takashima – Boston BJJ

Third – Vu Nguyen Hoang Tho – Kimura BJJ

Third – Thomas Michael Costa – American Top Team

BLACK / Adult / Male / Feather

First – Paulo Henrique Bordignon Miyao – PSLPB Cicero Costha

Second – Isaac Doederlein – Alliance Los Angeles

Third – Gabriel Marangoni de Oliveira – Caio Terra Association Brasil

Third – Joel M Burgess – Alliance Marcelo Garcia

BLACK / Adult / Male / Light

First – Gianni Paul Grippo – Alliance Marcelo Garcia

Second – Masahiro Iwasaki – Carpe Diem

Third – Darson Barrington Hemmings – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu

Third – Mansher Khera – Alliance Marcelo Garcia

BLACK / Adult / Male / Middle

First – Dillon Danis – Alliance Marcelo Garcia

Second – Marcos Vinícius da Silva Tinoco – Alliance Marcelo Garcia

Third – Javier Valenciano Yamuni – Renzo Gracie Academy

Third – Sean Patrick Fisher – Precision Jiu-Jitsu

BLACK / Adult / Male / Medium Heavy

First – Murilo Silva Ferreira de Santana – Barbosa Jiu Jitsu

Second – Gregor de Carvalho Rangel Gracie – Renzo Gracie Academy

Third – Louis Armezzani – Team Jucão USA

BLACK / Adult / Male / Heavy

First – Romulo de Souza Azevedo – Welton Ribeiro

Second – Diego Bispo Conceição – Ares BJJ

Third – Wellington Godoi – Renzo Gracie Academy

BLACK / Adult / Male / Super Heavy

First – Luke Harris – Zenith BJJ – Canada

BLACK / Adult / Male / Open Class

First – Dillon Danis – Alliance Marcelo Garcia

Second – Mansher Khera – Alliance Marcelo Garcia

Third – Luke Harris – Zenith BJJ – Canada

BLACK / Adult / Female / Light Feather

First – Sofia Rosa Amarante – Fight Sports

Second – Fiona M. Watson – Notorious Mixed Martial Arts

Third – Melissa Biscardi – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu

BLACK / Adult / Female / Light

First – Sarah Johnel Black – GD Jiu-Jitsu Association

BLACK / Adult / Female / Medium Heavy

First – Megan Ann Nevill – Alliance Marcelo Garcia

BLACK / Adult / Female / Open Class

First – Sarah Johnel Black – GD Jiu-Jitsu Association

Second – Megan Ann Nevill – Alliance Marcelo Garcia

Third – Sofia Rosa Amarante – Fight Sports

The master division also had important names competing throughout the weekend.

Rafael Barbosa (Soul Fighters) won the master 1 middleweight division.

Igor Gracie was the master 1 medium heavy and closed out the open class with his brother Rolles Gracie.

Gracie Barra’s Flavio Almeida won the master 2 heavyweight and the open class.

Danny Alvarez won the master 3 featherweight and open class divisions.

In the teams competition, results were:

1 – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu – 380

2 – Team Lloyd Irvin – 150

3 – Alliance Marcelo Garcia – 133

Click here for the full results.

Josh Hinger

The IBJJF held the 2016 Chicago Spring Open this weekend at the Chicago State University.

Joshua Hinger and Sarah Black were the standouts of the adult black belt division after winning the open class divisions in the gi.

Hinger won double gold at the absolute and the middleweight. He beat Sean Fischer in his weight class and defeated Inacio Neto in the open class final.

Sarah Black also won double gold, conquering the middleweight with two wins over Leanna Dittrich.

Here are the full results of the adult black belt division:

BLACK / Adult / Male / Light Feather

First – Mayko de Araujo Girotto Borges – CheckMat

BLACK / Adult / Male / Feather

First – Vitor Peres Paschoal – Brasa CTA

Second – Rodrigo Batista de Lima – American Top Team Coconut Creek

Third – Gabriel Marangoni de Oliveira – Brasa CTA

Third – Christopher M. Kriebel – Nova União

BLACK / Adult / Male / Light

First – Philipe Cançado Della Monica – Gracie Barra

Second – Rafael Costa Suzuki – Brasa CTA

Third – Joshua T Rose – Brasa CTA

Third – Steven Darryl Kinnison – NOLA BJJ Metairie

BLACK / Adult / Male / Middle

First – Joshua Roy Hinger – Atos Jiu-Jitsu

Second – Sean Patrick Fisher – Precision Jiu-Jitsu

Third – Javier Valenciano Yamuni – Renzo Gracie International

BLACK / Adult / Male / Medium Heavy

First – Inacio Ferreira Gomes Neto – Gracie Barra

Second – Joshua Lee Bowlin – Gracie Barra

Third – Ezra Zendt Lenon – American Top Team

Third – Oliver Leys Geddes – Roger Gracie

BLACK / Adult / Male / Super Heavy

First – Steven J. Patterson – Brasa CTA

Second – Allen A. Causevic – Valko BJJ

Third – Aiazbek Mustakov – Bonsai JJ – USA

BLACK / Adult / Male / Ultra Heavy

First – Gabriel Rial D. da Silva – Gracie Barra

Second – Rodolfo Jimenez Jr – Carlson Gracie Team

BLACK / Adult / Male / Open Class

First – Joshua Roy Hinger – Atos Jiu-Jitsu

Second – Inacio Ferreira Gomes Neto – Gracie Barra

Third – Rodrigo Batista de Lima – American Top Team Coconut Creek

Third – Joshua Lee Bowlin – Gracie Barra

BLACK / Adult / Female / Middle

First – Sarah Johnel Black – GD Jiu-Jitsu Association

Second – Leanna M Dittrich – Fight Sports

BLACK / Adult / Female / Open Class

First – Sarah Johnel Black – GD Jiu-Jitsu Association

Second – Leanna M Dittrich – Fight Sports

In the teams’ competition, the rankings were:

1 – Carlson Gracie Team – 391

2 – Brasa CTA – 232

3 – Alliance – 224

Click here for the full results.

Arges vs. Farias

Gabriel Arges and Sarah Black were the standouts of the final event on the 2015 IBJJF season.

The Irvine Open took place this Sunday at the Bren Events Center and attracted hundreds of athletes for a whole day of awesome thrills.

In the adult male black belt division, Gracie Barra’s Gabriel Arges had a double-gold campaign after wining the medium-heavyweight and the open class.

He beat Lucas Barbosa twice for the title in his weight class and then beat Carlos Farias and Barbosa once again before closing out the absolute with teammate Inácio Neto.

Black vs. Liao

In the adult female division, GD Jiu-Jitsu’s Sarah Black first beat Kiri Liao for the lightweight gold medal and then submitted Jill Baker and Liao for the absolute title.

Here’s a photo gallery with the best images of the open class division (male and female).

The other divisions of the black belt division played out as follows:

With two sweeps against one, Nathan Mendelsohn beat Allessandro Ferreira 4-2 for the super-heavyweight title.

After a 10-10 tie with 5 sweeps each, Tanner Rice beat Inacio Neto by unanimous refs decision for the heavyweight title.

Gabriel Arges beat Lucas Barbosa 3-1 on advantages after a 2-2 tie on points for the medium-heavyweight title.

With a last-second sweep, Gabriel Procopio beat Gabriel Goulart 2-1 on advantages after a 2-2 tie on points for the middleweight title.

Thiago Macedo beat Marcelo Motta 2-0 for the lightweight title.

Samir Chantre beat Richard Slomba 3-2 on advantages after a 2-2 tie on points for the featherweight title.

Gabriel Moraes choked Gustavo Carpio for the light-featherweight title.

Sarah Black beat Kiri Liao 5-0 for the adult black belt lightweight title.

Here’s a photo gallery with the best images of the black belt weight classes.

In the teams’ competition, results were:

1 – Brazilian Top Team – 234

2 – Atos Jiu-Jitsu – 213

3 – Gracie Barra – 169

4 – TRUJITSU / Bakersfield – 165

5 – Gracie Humaita – 91

6 – Carlson Gracie Team – 75

7 – GD Jiu-Jitsu Association – 70

8 – Lotus Club / One Jiu-Jitsu – 59

9 – CheckMat USA – 37

10 – Cleber Jiu Jitsu – 34

Click here for the complete results for the 2015 Irvine Open.

In the other event held today, the Kids International, the teams’ results were:

1 – Atos Jiu-Jitsu – 354

2 – Gracie Barra – 130

3 – Alliance Los Angeles – 110

4 – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu – 69

5 – Gracie Humaita – 66

6 – Fabin Rosa Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – 35

7 – CheckMat – 29

8 – Power MMA – 29

9 – Rodrigo Freitas Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – 28

10 – GD Jiu-Jitsu Association – 28

Click here for the complete results for the Kids International.

Hundreds of athletes gathered to compete for a chunk of the $30k in money prizes being offered by the IBJJF.

In the black belt division, four competitors came out on top at the end of their brackets.

Here is how they made it to the top of the podium.

Female

Sarah Black vs. Jessica Smith

GD Jiu-Jitsu’s Sarah Black was the standout with double gold in the lightweight division and the open class, which secured her a $1,5k big check. After beating Jessica Smith 2-0 in the division final, she went on to finish Megan Nevill with a leg lock for the open class title.

Male 

Featherweight – In three matches, Kim Terra made his way to the top of the podium. First he caught Masahiro Iwasaki with a bow and arrow choke. In the semifinal, another bow and arrow to finish Tsuyoshi Tamaki and get to the final. His opponent would be Gianni Grippo, who made it to the final after choking Paulo Santana from the back.

Kim Terra vs. Gianni Grippo

The final match was a very strategic one, with Terra and Grippo exchanging sweeps throughout the entire regulation time. In the end, the socre was 8-8, with four sweeps and piece and the three referees decided to give Kim the win by unanimous decision.

Middleweight – Otavio Sousa fought twice in the division to secure his $4k check. In the semifinal, he swept Kevin Machecha once to score the winning two points. His opponent in the gold medal decider would be Victor Silverio, who first swept Nathan Mendelsohn and after that beat Mansher Khera 4-0 for his spot in the final.

Otavio Sousa vs. Victor Silverio

The battle for the gold medal was decided by one advantage after a 2-2 tie on points. Otavio Sousa managed to score three advantages against two scored by Silverio to go home with the big prize.

Heavyweight – Marcos Tinoco fought befor his Marcelo Garcia Academy’s teammate and walked away with the $4k prize. First he beat Thiago Sá 2-1 on advantages for near-sweeps in the semifinal. His opponent in the final would be Rafael Barbosa, who didn;t have to fight because of Tanner Rice’s no show.

Marcos Tinoco vs. Rafael Formiga

The final match was a battle of sweeps and Tinoco was able to score one more than Formiga to win 4-2 and be the champion.

Here is a photo gallery of the black belt finals (click on the arrows to browse).

In the team’s division, the results were:

1 – Alliance Marcelo Garcia – 105

2 – Team Lloyd Irvin – 79

3 – Nova União – 72

4 – New England United BJJ – 71

5 – TAC Team BJJ – 56

6 – Unity Jiu-jitsu – 56

7 – Vicente Jr. Team – 53

8 – Soul Fighters BJJ Connecticut – 50

9 – Balance – 49

10 – Black Hole Jiu-Jitsu – 47

For the full results, click here.

Otavio Sousa (direita) ganhou novamente em NY. Foto: Erin Herle/Arquivos GRACIEMAG

Se você consegue vencer em Nova York, consegue vencer em qualquer lugar, já dizia Frank Sinatra. Neste sábado 21 de novembro, alguns temidos faixas-pretas buscaram demonstrar a superioridade de sua técnica no NY BJJ Pro da IBJJF, e de quebra faturar 4 mil dólares no evento profissional da Federação Internacional.

No peso-pena, Gianni Grippo lutava em casa, diante da torcida dos colegas da academia de Marcelo Garcia, mas Kim Terra estava disposto a levar o prêmio para casa. O irmão de Caio Terra começou num ritmo irresistível, estrangulando com o arco-e-flecha dois oponentes japoneses, ambos da equipe Carpe Diem. Primeiro, ele sufocou Masahiro Iwasaki pelas costas. Depois, finalizou Tsuyoshi Tamaki da mesma maneira.

Do outro lado, Grippo finalizara Paulo Santana também das costas. A final prometia equilíbrio, e foi o que houve. Kim raspou Gianni quatro vezes, que devolveu as raspagens. No fim, com 8 a 8 no placar, os árbitros decidiram unanimemente para o campeão Kim, que já fizera um Mundial 2015 vistoso. Vamos ver o que a temporada 2016 reserva para a fera.

No peso seguinte, o médio, Otávio Sousa confirmou o favoritismo. O bicampeão mundial no peso precisou passar pelos duríssimos Kevin Mahecha (2 a 0, com uma raspagem), e por Victor Silvério na final. Para vencer a fera da GFTeam Flórida, Otávio foi melhor nas vantagens: 3 a 2, após empate em 2 a 2 nos pontos.

Já no peso pesado, um faixa-preta de Marcelinho Garcia fez a festa da torcida. O promissor Marcos Vinícius Tinoco raspou Rafael Formiga duas vezes, para vencer o exímio guardeiro da Soul Fighters por 4 a 2.

No feminino, Sarah Black (GD) foi a grande campeã, ao vencer ouro duplo, no peso e no absoluto.

Confira os resultados oficiais no site da IBJJF, aqui.

Sarah Black

The 2015 Miami Open took place this Saturday at the Miami Dade College.

Thiago Sá and Sarah Black were the standouts after they won the adult black belt open class division.

Sá beat Gustavo Santiago in the absolute final while Sarah defeated Samantha Faulhaber for the gold medal.

The black belt standings were:

BLACK / Adult / Male / Feather

First – Renato Sampaio Tavares Filho – Renato Tavares Association

BLACK / Adult / Male / Light

First – Kevin Javier Mahecha – American Top Team

Second – Marcel Goulart Cubel Gonçalves – Fight Sports

Third – Brian Mahecha – American Top Team

Third – Vitor Atalla Riciotti – Fight Sports

BLACK / Adult / Male / Middle

First – Pedro Henrique Monteiro Palhares – Luiz Palhares Jiu Jitsu

Second – Aniss El Hajjajy – Brazilian Top Team

Third – Victor Monteiro de Franca Pires – Gracie Barra

Third – Christopher Chagas Martins – Team Popovitch

BLACK / Adult / Male / Medium Heavy

First – Victor Silverio Santos – GF Team

Second – Thiago Sá Fortes Silva – CheckMat

Third – Ricardo de Souza de Rezende – Fight Sports

Third – Gustavo Santiago – Gracie Elite Team

BLACK / Adult / Male / Heavy

First – Diego Gamonal Nogueira – Brazilian Top Team

Second – William Abreu – Fight Sports

BLACK / Adult / Male / Super Heavy

First – Leonardo Henrique D’avila Corrêa – Atos Jiu-Jitsu

BLACK / Adult / Male / Ultra Heavy

First – Misael de Oliveira Miranda – Brazilian Top Team

Second – Otavio de Souza Nalati – Guigo BJJ

BLACK / Adult / Male / Open Class

First – Thiago Sá Fortes Silva – CheckMat

Second – Gustavo Santiago – Gracie Elite Team

Third – Ricardo de Souza de Rezende – Fight Sports

Third – Otavio de Souza Nalati – Guigo BJJ

BLACK / Adult / Female / Light Feather

First – Bruna André do Nascimento – Gilbert Durinho Association USA

BLACK / Adult / Female / Feather

First – Tammi Alana Musumeci – Art of Jiu Jitsu Academy

Second – Samantha Siu Bic Tam Faulhaber – Gracie Humaita Philadelphia

BLACK / Adult / Female / Middle

First – Sarah Johnel Black – Nova Uniao Arizona

Second – Caitlin Huggins – Gracie Barra

BLACK / Adult / Female / Open Class

First – Sarah Johnel Black – Nova Uniao Arizona

Second – Samantha Siu Bic Tam Faulhaber – Gracie Humaita Philadelphia

Third – Caitlin Huggins – Gracie Barra

Third – Bruna André do Nascimento – Gilbert Durinho Association USA

In the team’s competition, the podium were:

1 – American Top Team – 344

2 – Carlson Gracie Team – 231

3 – Gracie Elite Team – 190

For the complete results, go to ibjjf.org.

Jackson Sousa

Today, October 9, is the last day to register for two IBJJF events.

In Florida, the Miami Open takes place Oct. 17.

In the UK, the London Fall Open (Gi and No-Gi) is scheduled Oct. 17-18.

For both, you have unti the end of the day (in California) to register.

Click here to register for the Miami Open.

Click here to register for the London Fall Open.

The two events have some big names already confirmed, like Kevin Machecha, Tammi Musumeci, Sarah Black in Miami; Darragh O’ Conaill, Jackson Sousa, Carlos Robson Gracie Filho in London.

For more info, click here.

Sarah Black at the 2015 Worlds Masters

Sarah Black’s resume already includes World Championship titles at purple and brown belt. Now, as a brand new Gustavo Dantas black belt she has already made her presence known at the highest level of BJJ competition.

Sarah started her competitive black belt career this year at the IBJJF American Nationals where she earned the National title in her division for both Gi and No-Gi. She won a third National title for the No-Gi absolute division.

The rookie black belt participated this past weekend in 2015 IBJJF World Masters Championship where she won the Master 1 World Championship in the light weight division. She earned a silver medal in the Master 1 absolute division.

Her resume so far is inspiring. Already a second degree Black Belt in Judo Sarah is no stranger to high level competition. Currently, at 36 years old Sarah qualifies as a Master 2 competitor, but competes in the Adult division. She is a full-time software developer and the Women’s and Kid’s coach and program director at GD Jiu-Jitsu Headquarters in Tempe Arizona.

With the Adult and Master World Championships combined she has accumulated seven gold medals in the last 4 years:

• 2012 – World Masters – Double Gold (Light & Open) Blue Belt
• 2013 – World Adults – Purple Belt World Champion (Light)
• 2013 – World Masters – Double Gold (Light & Open) Purple Belt
• 2014 – Out due to injury
• 2015 – World Adults – Brown Belt World Champion (Light)
• 2015 – World Masters – Black Belt World Champion (Light)

We spoke to Sarah about her success and advice for other girls competing in Jiu-Jitsu.

“If you want to compete do it. If nerves are keeping competitions from being fun then keep signing up for tournaments until the nerves are manageable (it gets better). Don’t worry about winning so much as performing like you train. Then train. Just train. Show up. Show up injured and do what you can. Study. Fail. Focus on a topic and get good at it. Take care of your body so that you can train. There is not much of an off-season to thrash your body because it will affect your training and thus effect your competitions. Take off only a few days when needed and train lighter when you need rest.

Technique and conditioning, although critical, are not the only areas to focus on. Make sure you don’t neglect the mental aspect of your training. I constantly utilize the BJJ Mental Coach to make sure my mindset for training and competition is as strong as possible.”

The trio, brown belt Sarah Black, brown belt Jonathan Van Buren and blue belt Nigel Kurtz, put together a smooth piece of film featuring 30 combinations of Jiu-Jitsu techniques in just five minutes.

The combinations feature takedowns, self-defense techniques, sweeps, back-takes, chokes, locks, reversals and more. See if you can spot the moves and count just how many are used.

Gustavo Dantas with his student Sarah Black after the 2014 Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship. Photo: Personal Archive

The leader of GD Jiu-Jitsu Association, GMA member Gustavo Dantas, had a busy week in Abu Dhabi. In between cornering his Nova Uniao teammate Thales Leites at the UFC Fight Night he also competed and coached his student at the 2014 Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

He coached purple belt Sarah Black who earned silver in the -60 kg division. He also competed and secured the gold medal in the Master 2 -70 kg division!

“It was an amazing week! I had a great time in Abu Dhabi. After all these years of training and competing, I still learn so much about Jiu-Jitsu and about myself every time I compete,” says the BJJ Mental Coach. “My priority is teaching, promoting tournaments and now sharing my knowledge about mental skills training to the BJJ community, but once in a while I will try to jump in and challenge myself in a competition.”

Learn more about the BJJ Mental Coach and GDJJA at www.gdjiujitsu.com

Check out Gustavo Dantas in action: