Ricardo ‘Pezao’ de Oliveira vs. Patrick DeCaro. Photo: StefanoPicchio

The big names of the IBJJF’s first event in Switzerland were, appropriately enough, Swiss locals themselves. Thomas Oyarzun and Karim Khalifa, training partners at Alliance Geneva, not only took gold in the middleweight and super heavyweight divisions respectively but also closed out the open weight division.

In his own division, Karim defeated Marcio Da Silva by armbar in under a minute to take his first title of the day, whilst Thomas finished Francisco Ramos by triangle choke after a controlling performance in an active match.

When it came to the absolute, Karim faced another Swiss local in the form of Patrick DeCaro. Unfortunately an accidental knee reap off the first attack of the match led to a disqualification that ended a potentially entertaining match before they could really get started.

Thomas ended up facing his training partner’s divisional opponent Marcio Da Silva in his own absolute match, and despite the size disadvantage and his opponent’s pressure he managed to secure an armbar from the guard to take his place in the final opposite his friend and training partner. Karim took the top spot on the podium and Thomas took the gold medal home as they shared the victory between them.

Alliance Geneva head instructor, Ricardo ‘Pezao’ de Oliveira was not content to allow his students to take all the glory this time out though. Adding to their already impressive performance he took home another title for his academy in the medium heavyweight division. The division was initially a four man affair, but a last minute drop out gave Switzerland’s Patrick DeCaro the first slot in the final. On the other side of the bracket, ‘Pezao’ defeated France’s Julien Cazier by points to set up the final. Ricardo then defeated Patrick by a guard pass to take the medium heavyweight title and add to the Alliance medal haul in Zurich.

In the remaining black belt division, Roger Gracie student Oliver Geddes took the top spot on the podium in the lightweight division, defeating France’s Douglas Barcelos in the semi-final by Ezekiel choke and Zurich native and crowd favorite Felipe Broa in the final by kneebar. Felipe, head instructor of Carlson Gracie Zurich, had overcome Belgium’s Wim Deputter by referee’s decision after a thrilling match that came down to the last minute to reach the final.

For full results, click here.

For a photo album, click here.

Braulio Estima gets the tap. Photo: Jesper Aggergaard

The second day of the IBJJF’s event in Copenhagen saw many competitors take to the mats for a second time, along with a few new faces who felt that the faster-paced no-gi event was more their speed and had saved themselves for the later competition. There was also the opportunity for some interesting matches and rematches from those who had missed the opportunity to test themselves against each other day before. The black belt results were as follows:

This time around there were only two competitors in the lightweight division, and the lightweight gi champion Robson Barbosa defeated Poland’s Arek Zienkiewicz to add the no-gi title to his collection for the weekend.

The middleweight division also consisted of a straight final, but it was a final with some history. Thomas Oyarzun of Alliance had defeated Nic Ruben Nikolaisen of Frontline Academy, Norway not just once, but twice the day before in their division. But in the no-gi, it was Nic Ruben who would come out on top, securing the back with hooks to win by 4 points to zero.

Medium-heavyweight was a three-man affair, with local Dane Nic Osei of Checkmat / Arte Suave overcoming Tito Beltran in the first round by advantages, sending Tito across the bracket to face none other than Braulio Estima. Braulio defeated Tito by rear naked choke to keep his submission streak for the weekend alive, and earn his place opposite Nic in the final. After securing a stepover triangle from the top position, Braulio forced the tap from his opponent and acquired his third gold medal of the weekend.

Sadayoshi Kurimori, champion in the gi division the day before, was unfortunately injured and unable to compete on the second day in his heavyweight division. This allowed Maksymilian Wisniewski to pass through to the final, where he would face the winner of Renato Tavares and the USA’s Alberto Crane. After ten minutes of action, Renato managed to outscore Alberto by 4 points to 2 and pass from his side of the bracket to the final. Maksymilian was able to secure an armbar and with it take the the heavyweight championship.

Alan Finfou with the kimura. Photo: Jesper Aggergaard

Finally, for the super-heavyweights there was another three-person division, placing teammates Alan ‘Finfou’ do Nascimento and Chico Mendes of Checkmat on opposite sides of the bracket. Chico faced Michal Bittner of the Czech Republic in his first fight. After a spectacular early takedown by Chico and a long period of top control, Michal was able to secure an armbar from the bottom position and take the come-from-behind victory. With Chico stepping aside for his teammate, the final for the division saw Finfou facing Michal with the aim of avenging his teammate. After an aggressive start, Finfou’s relentless passing and movement allowed him to secure a pass and a kimura lock that gave him the submission victory.

The open class was not quite as busy as the previous day’s, with the number of matches causing competitor numbers to dwindle slightly, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t full of action all the same. Braulio Estima continued his rampage through the competition, defeating Thomas Oyarzun by rear naked choke and Tito Beltran by the ‘Estima Triangle’, and booked his place on one side of the final. On the other side of the bracket, Alberto Crane defeated Karim Khalifa before in turn being defeated by Robson Barbosa by a single advantage, creating the climactic match of the black belt openweight division. After an early takedown, Braulio was able to transition directly into an arm triangle. Although Robson bravely defended for a period, eventually Braulio was able to advance to the mount, lock the submission in tightly, and acquire his final submission of the weekend and concluding his perfect streak.

For full results of the no-gi results at the 2014 IBJJF Copenhagen Open, click here.

For full photo album of day two, click here.

Braulio Estima wins the open. Photo: Jesper Aggergaard

Text by Oliver Geddes

The IBJJF’s first competition in Copenhagen bore witness to some spectacular black belt gi divisional matches as well as an action-packed absolute, with competitors from across Europe producing some spectacular fights on May 3 of the two-day event.

In the black belt lightweight division, Sweden-based Robson Barbosa of Checkmat defeated France’s Julien Gaillard by points. In the final he defeated the UK’s Oliver Geddes by a takedown to claim gold in a truly international group.

The three-man middleweight division saw Switzerland’s Thomas Oyarzun of Alliance take the top spot. He defeated Nic Ruben Nikolaisen of Frontline Academy, Norway in his first match, but Nic was not finished yet. After defeating Victor Estima student Gareth Neale by points he returned to the final for a second attempt. This time the match was much closer, with Oyarzun securing his second victory and the top spot by a single advantage.

Braulio Estima secured his path to the medium heavyweight final by submitting Maksymilian Wisniewski with a choke from the mount, whilst Alan ‘Finfou’ de Nascimento submitted the Frenchman Julien Cazier to set up the final that everyone present had been waiting for. After around four minutes of testing himself against ‘Finfou’s’ tricky guard, managed to briefly attack the back. As ‘Finfou’ moved to escape, Braulio secured an arm triangle choke from the top position to take the submission victory and the gold medal.

Sadayoshi Kurimori of Impacto BJJ had the longest road of anyone to his gold medal, needing three fights to win his heavyweight division. He defeated Jaroslaw Gajek of Poland by kneebar in his first fight, John Rickel of Street Sports BJJ 4-0 in his second, and the Norway-based Renato Tavares in the final by a margin of 6-0.

The super-heavyweight division pitted Karim Khalifa of Alliance against the Czech Republic’s Michael Bittner in a straight final. Karim secured a kneebar to take the victory and the Copenhagen International Open title.

The final of the absolute division was contested between heavyweight gold medallist Sadayoshi Kurimori and medium heavyweight gold medallist Braulio Estima. Braulio reached the final by submitting both his opponents, Karim Khalifa with a triangle from the mount and Maksymilian Wisniewski with shoulder pressure from the side control position. On the other side, Sadayoshi defeated middleweight gold medallist Thomas Oyarzun with a choke from the back before defeating Braulio’s teammate Gareth Neale 6-0 on points to book his spot in the openweight final. Braulio pulled the guard, swept, and as Sadayoshi was working the guard from the bottom, he was unfortunately struck by a serious bout of cramp in one leg. This unfortunately brought an exciting match to a premature end, and despite Braulio’s protestations that Sadayoshi be allowed time to recover and continue, the rules are clear, and with that disappointing ending, Braulio took the openweight title to add to his divisional one and bring an end to his day of competition without allowing an opponent to see the end of a ten-minute match.

In the female divisions, Copenhagen’s own Shanti Abelha, of Checkmat / Arte Suave triumphed in the black belt middle heavyweight and absolute categories, defeating Gretchen Zoeller of Gracie Barra in her division before repeating the feat in the absolute to close out the day with both the titles she had come for.

To see the full results, click here.

And a photo album, click here.