Beatriz Mesquita earns gold in the open weight division. Photo: Erin Herle

Bia Mesquita had a portentous comeback to competitions at the 2014 Pan. Sidelined by an injury to her tight since the 2013 Worlds, Bia was anxious to return, but knew she couldn’t reappear displaying a Jiu-Jitsu under the usual technical level she always had. The two gold medals (lightweight and open class) were more than enough proof that everything is still in place and Bia is ready for the challenges to come. She talked to GRACIEMAG’s Vitor Freitas about what the 2014 Pan was like for her.

Coming back after 9 months

Thank God I didn’t lack rhythm. I was anxious to fight so I could know how I was going to do. Being so worried about coming back to the top made me prepare even harder. The goal was to submit all my opponents and only Andressa Correa, in the open class final, escaped that fate. So, I can say that I’m even more focused than before.

The lightweight final against Fabiana Borges

I was able to work the closed guard, one of my strong points. From there, I swept and got the mount. When she tried to escape, I worked the lapel and allowed her to continue her movement so I could sink the choke deeper. Then, all I had to do was to squeeze.

Bia choking Fabiana Borges

The thrill of being an open class champion

Despite being a lightweight, I always go after the gold medal in the open class. Winning it is not an obligation, but a bonus to me. I wasn’t even going to fight the absolute division, but my heart beat faster and I couldn’t resist. So, I went for it and gave my best to win.

The absolute final against Andressa Correa

It was a tough fight and I couldn’t complete the positions I was trying to get to. I ended up with 6 advantages and no points, but trying the submission all the way to the end. The lesson I took out of it was to get the points first and then go for the tap.

Galvão celebrates at the 2014 Pan

Andre Galvão owned the 2014 Pan. Two gold medals (absolute and ultra-heavy), adult male team title, ending Alliance’s 4-year streak, wife Angelica winning at brown belt were some of the goals achieved last week in Irvine.

Even so, looking back, Galvão says that he still has a lot to improve and correct. He talked to GRACIEMAG’s Vitor Freitas about the 2014 Pan.

Galvão pressures Trans

The ultra-heavy final against Alex Trans

“I was very focused in all my matches. I knew that he likes to put people in the 50/50 guard so I blocked that. I worked well on top, defending his attempts to sweep me and managed to get to his back. I couldn’t put the hooks in because I rushed to attack his neck. In the end, he came on top, but I was able to control it well to win.”

Working Lo’s unique guard

The absolute final with Leandro Lo

“My goal in that match was to give the least amount of space possible to Lo. I wanted to presure him from beginning to end. I like to stack my opponent but it was hard against Lo. Only in the end I was able to do it. Lo is an awesome opponent and I always learn a lot watching his matches. His guard game is unique.”

Atos JJ adult male champion

“It was awesome! I want to thank all my teammates for this unprecedented accomplishment. This result is a direct outcome of all the hard work we put in everyday at all Atos JJ gyms.”

One week after champions were crowned at the Bren Events Center, in Irvine, California, GRACIEMAG dug into more than 5,000 pictures taken and selects 20 amazing images.

They all have one thing in common, portraying the moment of submission of one athlete by another one, the essence of the gentle art.

Take a look, enjoy and choose your favorite.

Photos by Ivan Trindade, Erin Herle, Carol Gracie

Paulo Miyao’s hand raised without breaking a sweat in the final against brother João

It’s a phenomenon that happens frequently at Jiu-Jitsu championships, specially in the black belt division. It scares a good part of the crowd and also organizers, it is debated, cursed, but it’s back the next year to haunt us all.

We’re talking about the close outs. It happens when two teammates/training partners/friends meet in the final and decide not to fight for the gold medal, choosing the champion in a gentlemen’s agreement.

In the recent 2014 Pan, five out ten finals in the male adult black belt division turned out to be close outs. João and Paulo Miyao (light-feather), Mario Reis and Gianni Grippo (feather), Lucas Lepri and Michael Langhi (light), Guto Campos and Keenan Cornelius (medium-heavy), Yuri Simões and Lucas Leite (heavy).

The absence of half of the gold medal matches caused a big part of the audience to be distraught. The complaining scattered over the internet and was heard on Facebook. “It’s disrespectful,” said one reader. “If you want to be in the final, win the semifinal,” replied another. As you can see, it’s a theme that divides the Jiu-Jitsu community.

In 2012, one suggestion generated intense debate on GRACIEMAG. Professor Claudinho Arrais proposed that close outs would not count points in the teams competition. Other inputs have surfaced. Mackenzie Dern, featherweight runner up at the 2014 Pan suggested: “The match should always take place, even if it’s an exhibition. A simple showcase of technique between the two finalists with the final result according to what they agreed before would be more interesting for the crowd,” said Mackenzie. The Mendes Bros and the Miyao Bros did that one time in Abu Dhabi.

MMA figther and Jiu-Jitsu black belt, Vinny Magalhães went further:“Either you set the bracket putting training partners on the same side or you make final matches obligatory. And if one of the athletes says he’s hurt and cannot fight the final, the semifinalist takes his place,” wrote Vinny on Twitter.

Atos JJ’s teammates Claudio Calasans Jr and JT Torres fought for real at the 2014 European middleweigh final

The issue expands as the ghost of close outs can bring about an even more scaring monster, the fake match between teammates. Would the audience appreciate that? What do athletes think of that? What about the sponsors? Let’s talk about it.

IBJJF proposed measure against close outs, which was not adopted

What many don’t know is that recently the IBJJF went after measures to make close outs harder to happen. The entity proposed to team leaders the building of the brackets with teammates on the same side, so they would meet in the semifinals and not in the final. The majority of the team leaders present defeated the IBJJF proposal. So, the tradition continues, a tradition that has its supporters.

“I love the close outs. Despite having only one gold medal, both athletes are seen as champions. Our sport is a team sport,” said someone on Facebook.

So, what’s your input on the matter? If you have a solution, please comment.

Milton celebrates, Glodzinski realizes the mistake and Ivaniel protests

The adult male black belt roosterweight semifinal between Milton Bastos (Brasa CTA) and Ivaniel Oliveira (Checkmat) was nerve-racking.

The drama started early on, when Milton caught Ivaniel in a tight triangle.

Referee Andre Glodzinski was paying close attention to the defense attempt by Ivaniel and at one point he was convinced that the Checkmat athlete had lost conscience, which meant the fight was over.

Glodzinski stopped the match and to his surprise, Ivaniel was wide awake and saying he did not tap.

Bastos’ first triangle

“I saw his legs relaxing and was sure he had slept, so I stopped the match. Thinking back, I should have checked Ivaniel’s legs closely before stopping it. The thing is that the fight prior to that one ended with one of the athletes cold out and my action was to preserve his physical integrity” explained Andre.

The solution for the mistake came in the form of two points for Milton and the restart of the match at the point it was interrupted.

The problem for Bastos was that he went from submitting his opponent to being in deep waters soon after.

As soon as the match restarted, Ivaniel went for it and passed Milton’s guard.

Now behind in the scoreboard, Milton kept playing guard and almost had another triangle choke in place.

Ivaniel passes

Ivaniel escaped and almost got Milton’s back with less than one minute left.

That’s when things got unreal.

With the clock running out, Milton escaped the back attack and rolled on top to attack Ivaniel’s back himself.

First he put the hooks to score 4 points and then went for the neck.

With seconds to the end, Ivaniel did what he didn’t do in the beginning and tapped three times.

The final celebration

Bastos’ celebration came out with the intensity that only those who have to win twice the same match can reach.

He tried to put it into words: “Gosh, it’s hard to explain! It was a relief from the frustration of having the match restarted. This frustration quickly became joy when I tapped him again. I didn’t even know how much time left we had and all I heard was my coaches Samir Chantre and Osvaldo Moizinho telling me to put the hooks in to win. I did that, but I also felt that my hand was deep in his collar and all I wanted was to submit him again.”

Click here and relive the thrills of one of the best matches of the 2014 Pan.

Galvão works the pass to score an advantage and win

The day turned out to be a perfect one for Andre Galvão.

The leader of Atos San Diego won double gold at the 2014 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship, this Sunday, in Irvine, California.

Galvão first beat Alex Trans 5-1 on advantages to win the ultra-heavy division.

Then, came the open class final against Leandro lo, the other standout of the event.

Lo played guard since the very beginning and the match didn’t see much action most of the time.

With one minute left, Galvão went for it and manage to reach the side of Lo’s guard, scoring the advantage to secure the gold medal.

Lo still tried to come back in the last seconds but his attempted sweep didn’t deserve an advantage according to the refs.

To make things even better, Galvão’s 18 points were decisive for Atos JJ to outscore Alliance in the male adult teams competition, 96-94.

In the female division, Bia Mesquita ruled the category.

Mesquita won both the lightweight division and the open class.

In the category, Bia choked Fabiana Borges from the mount.

In the open class, Mesquita outscored Andressa Correa 6-1 on advantages.

The other results in the black belt division were:

Rooster

Joao Pedro Rodrigues beat Milton Bastos by one penalty

Lightfeather

Paulo Miyao got gold after close-out with João Miyao

Feather

Mario Reis got gold after close-out with Gianni Grippo

Light

Lucas Lepri got gold after close-out with Michael Langhi

Middle

Leandro Lo defeated Otavio Sousa 5-2 on advantages

Medium-heavy

Guto Campos got gold after a close-out with Keenan Cornelius

Heavy

Yuri Simões got gold after a close out with Lucas Leite

Super-Heavy

Luiz Panza caught Bernardo Faria with an armlock

Ultra-heavy

Andre Galvão beat Alex Trans 5-1 on advantages

Female

Open weight: Beatriz Mesquita defeated Andresa Correa by 6-1 in advantages.

Heavy: Tammy Griego defeated Andresa Correa by 2-0 points.

Medium-heavy: Talita Treta Nogueira defeated Kay Stephenson by 4-0 points.

Middle: Luiza Monteiro defeated Megan Nevill by 24-0 in points.

Feather: Tammi Musumeci defeated Mackenzie Dern by referee decision.

Light-feather: Andrea Encarncacion defeated Nyjah Easton by 1 advantage in the last seconds of a 4-4 point sweep battle.

In the teams competition, the final results were:

Adult Male
1 – Atos Jiu-Jitsu – 96
2 – Alliance – 94
3 – Team Lloyd Irvin – 53

Adult Female
1 – Alliance – 63
2 – Gracie Humaita – 42
3 – Atos Jiu-Jitsu – 33

Juvenile
1 – Gracie Barra – 55
2 – Elite Mixed Martial Arts – 25
3 – Gracie Elite Team – 20

Masters
1 – Alliance – 196
2 – Gracie Barra – 192
3 – Gracie Elite Team – 186

Novice
1 – Gracie Barra – 58
2 – CheckMat – 31
3 – Carvalho Teixeira – 25

For the complete results, go to IBJJF.com

Here are the best images fo the Sunday:

The most important match of the 2014 Pan will feature Andre Galvão and Leandro Lo.

The two finalists had no easy path to secure the right to fight for the gold medal in the adult black belt open class.

Leandro Lo had four matches, defeating John Roberts, Fabiano Boi, Victor Estima and Alex Trans.

The semifinal was an all out war between Lo and the current European absolute champion.

Trans played the bottom but was unable to sweep Lo, who scored four advantages to beat the three Trans got.

On the other side of the bracket, Andre Galvão fought four times as well.

First he beat Jurandir Conceição, then DJ Jackson and Murilo Santana.

The semifinal was against newcomer Felipe Pena and Galvão came back in the scoreboard by taking the back and sweeping in the last minutes.

The female adult black belt open weight division played out with nine athletes to determine who will go to the final tomorrow.

Andresa Correa of Alliance defeated Fabiana Borges by 9-4 in advantages and then defeated Mackenzie Dern by 3-0 in the semi-final.

Beatriz Mesquita of Gracie Humaita defeated Megan Nevill by armbar and then defeated Rachel Demara by choke from the back in the semi-finals.

In the teams competition, day 4 ended with this standings:

Adult Male
1 – Alliance – 67
2 – Atos Jiu-Jitsu – 64
3 – Team Lloyd Irvin – 53

Adult Female
1 – Alliance – 57
2 – Atos Jiu-Jitsu – 33
3 – Gracie Humaita – 20

Juvenile (Finished)
1 – Gracie Barra – 55
2 – Elite Mixed Martial Arts – 25
3 – Gracie Elite Team – 20

Masters
1 – Alliance – 142
2 – Gracie Elite Team – 140
3 – Gracie Barra – 127

Novice (Finished)
1 – Gracie Barra – 58
2 – CheckMat – 31
3 – Carvalho Teixeira – 25

Here’s a photo gallery of the black belt open class:

For the full results, go to ibjjf.com.

The third day of competitions at the 2014 Pan Jiu-Jitsu championship had as a high point the adult female open class division.

The highest glory of this Friday of Jiu-Jitsu in Irvine went to 50/50 Academy’s Maia Matalon.

The heavyweight reined in the female purple belt open class.

She had four fights to get to the gold medal.

The final was against Nova União’s Sarah Black and Maia got the win by coming back in the scoreboard to win 3-2.

Maia won double gold this Friday after also conquering her weight division.

In the other divisions of the adult female purple belt, the results were:

Light Feather
First – Anna Salome – Roberto Traven BJJ
Second – Aileen Wong – Gracie Humaita South Bay
Third – Mylene Ramos Manalo – Cascao Jiu-Jitsu
Third – Viviana Eva Vélez – Carlson Gracie Team

Feather
First – Jennifer Turner – Alliance
Second – Danielle Renee Alvarez – Bruno Bastos Association
Third – Bianca Barbosa Basilio – Gracie Elite Team
Third – Judith Gomes – Luiz Paulo Jiu-Jitsu

Light
First – Sarah Johnel Black – Nova União
Second – Mayra Mello Mazza – Alliance
Third – Kristin Mikkelson – Brazil 021 School of Jiu-Jitsu
Third – Liz Tracy – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu

Middle
First – Megan Lomonof – BETA Academy
Second – Natasha Aileen Quiza – Fight Sports
Third – Martha Hernandez – Cobra Kai Jiu Jitsu
Third – Erica Alicia Santana do Nascimento – Lotus Club Jiu-Jitsu

Medium Heavy
First – Sarah Draht – Pacific Top Team
Second – Patricia VanderMeer – Atos Jiu-Jitsu
Third – Veronica E. Galindo – Team Redzovic

Third – Nicole Zoquier – Alliance

Heavy
First – Maia Matalon – Fifty/50 Jiu-Jitsu
Second – Julia Forrester – Alliance
Third – Maria Malyjasiak – Zenith BJJ

In the teams competition, day 3 ended with the following standings:

Adult Male
1 – Atos Jiu-Jitsu – 44
2 – Alliance – 41
3 – Gracie Barra – 37

Adult Female

1 – Alliance – 26
2 – Atos Jiu-Jitsu – 21
3 – Gracie Humaita – 19

Masters

1 – Gracie Barra – 103
2 – Gracie Elite Team – 97
3 – Alliance – 93

Novice (Finished)
1 – Gracie Barra – 58
2 – CheckMat – 28
3 – Nova União – 24

For the full results, go to ibjjf.com

Here’s a photo gallery with the best images of the day, which also included the master blue belt and purple belt divisions for men and women.

Meregali finishes to win the purple absolute gold

Day 2 of the 2014 Pan Jiu-jitsu Championship wrapped up with the crowning of the male adult purple belt open class champion.

Alliance’s Nicholas Meregali is the adult male open class champion.

The Brazilian repeated his performance from the 2014 European Championship and won double gold in Irvine.

In the open class, Meregali had four matches on his way to the top of the podium.

The gold medal came to him after a tough final against Nova União’s Horlando Monteiro.

Meregali managed to get Monteiro’s back and sink the choke.

Nicholas also won the medium-heavy division this Thursday.

Earlier, the adult blue belt division also defined its open class champions.

In the female competition, the glory went to Atos JJ’s Tara White.

Tara had four matches on her way to the gold medal.

In the big final, she defeated Sierra Edward with a wrist lock from the mount.

Tara also won the heavyweight division.

Among the men, Atos JJ’s Pete O’Neal was the best after winning four matches.

The gold medal decider put O’Neal against Impact Jiu-Jitsu’s Brysen French.

O’Neal got the win with a 2-1 lead on advantages he got after a near sweep and an attempt of a ezekiel choke.

Pete also won the medium-heavy division after six fights.

In the teams competition, here are the standings at the end of day 2:

Adult Male
1 – Atos Jiu-Jitsu – 44
2 – Alliance – 41
3 – Gracie Barra – 37

Adult Female

1 – Gracie Humaita – 19
2 – Atos Jiu-Jitsu – 18
3 – Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Pedro Sauer Team – 9

Novice (Finished)
1 – Gracie Barra – 58
2 – CheckMat – 28
3 – Nova União – 24

Here’s a photo gallery with the best of the action this Thursday.

For the complete results, click here.

White belts of all ages took on the 10 mats at the Bren Events Center, in Irvine California.

Later on the day, three divisions of the adult male blue belt also went on to compete.

After the first day of competition, the teams results are:

Adult Male
1 – Gracie Barra – 21
2 – Team Quest MMA & Fitness – 18
3 – Bruno Bastos Association – 18

Adult Female
1 – Nova União – 14
2 – Undisputed – 9
3 – Body of Four BJJ/MMA – 9

Masters
1 – Gracie Barra – 34
2 – Cleber Jiu Jitsu – 12
3 – Brasa CTA – 10

Novice
1 – Gracie Barra – 58
2 – CheckMat – 28
3 – Nova União – 24

Here are the best pictures of Day 1.

Keep following GRACIEMAG’s coverage of the 2014 Pan here and on our Social Network channels.

The full results for the day is here.

Clark Gracie

The registration period for the 2014 Pan is closed now.

Check day is next Saturday and until then it is possible that some of the names that are on the list change weight divisions

Anyway, it is already perfectly possible to predict another amazing five days of Jiu-Jitsu on March 12-16.

Saturday and Sunday, when the black belts will be in action have all the ingredients to be epic.

We took a look in the list of registered athletes and decided to highlight the main attractions division per division.

Black belt

Roosterweight – Without Bruno Malfacine and Caio Terra, the division is wide open. Fabio Passos, Koji Shibamoto, Milton Bastos are among the favorites for the gold medal.

Lightfeather – It’s Miyao Bros country. João and Paulo will compete for the first time in the Pan as back belts. Rafael Freitas is in to spoil the fraternal party.

Featherweight – Gianni Grippo, Isaque Paiva, Mario Reis, Osvaldo Moizinho, Samir Chantre, Justin Rader are just a few of the names running for the gold medal.

Lightweight – In a  star-studded division, Lucas Lepri and Michael Langhi stand out of the crowd, but they’ll have a path as hard as it gets on the way to the top of the podium. AJ Agazarm, Philipe Della Monica, Rodrigo Freitas, JT Torres, Nathan Mendelsohn are just some of the obstacles for the Alliance duo.

Andre Galvão

Middleweight – It’s a Worlds-like division. Two-time world champion, Otavio Sousa wants the title he couldn’t get the last two years. In order to do that, he’ll have to pass by 2013’s champion Clark Gracie, Vitor Oliveira, Marcelo Lapela and Victor Estima. Leandro Lo, also a favorite, is listed, but he could go down to lightweight.

Medium-heavy – It’s kind of a Atos JJ division. Last year’s finalists Andre Galvão and Guto Campos are joined by phenomenon Keenan Cornelius in his first Pan as a black belt. Murilo Santana, Renato Cardoso, Felipe Pena and DJ Jackson are in to break the Atos favoritism.

Heavyweight – Jackson Sousa and Yuri Simões want to repeat the 2014 European final, but now they have the company of Lucas Leite, Alex Ceconi, Rafael Lovato Jr and Roberto Tussa, among others.

Superheavy – Bernardo Faria stands out in the division. James Puopolo, Luiz Panza amd Guybson Sá are also in the mix.

Ultraheavy – Alex Trans arrives in Irvine with the two gold medals he won in the 2014 European. Abraham Messina is also registered and can do some damage. Oddly enough, Caio Terra is listed here, and we don’tt know what that means.

Mackenzie Dern

Female

Mackenzie Dern is back after a serious knee injury. Bia Mesquita, Penny Thomas, Luiza Monteiro, Talita Nogueira, Andressa Correa and Tammy Griego are the other big names of the division.

Now that you know what to expect, hurry and buy the PPV for the 2014 Pan.

Click here to reserve your seat.

There’s still time to register for the 2014 Pan

The 2014 Pan is just around the corner and you still have time to register.

The deadline is March 3, so hurry up and do it now.

Click here to register now.

Looking into our archives of videos, we have found this quick video that will give you a taste of what a Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship is all about.

If you’ve already been to one, you’ll relive the thrills.

If you haven’t been to one yet, you’ll get an idea of what it is all about.

Take a look.