Formiga wins the open weight. Photo: Erin Herle

At the 2014 Boston Summer Open, a majority of the black belts met in the absolute. Since some of the divisions did not have opponents, most of the lone athletes entered the open weight no matter the pounds they weighed on the scale.

For the males, the winner was Rafael Formiga Barbosa of Soul Fighters who swept and submitted his way to the gold. For the ladies, the crowd was offered a chance to watch black belt females where new black belt Nathalia Amaral of BTT Boston won the gold.

Here is how each division unfolded:

MALES

Light-feather: Daniel Beleza had no one else in his division and took the gold.

Feather: Gianni Grippo defeated Edson Oliveira by 8-6 points for the gold.

Light: Renan Borges had no one else in his division and took the gold.

Middle: Rafael Formiga Barbosa defeated Vinicius Silva by a quick straight armbar for the gold.

Medium-Heavy: Daniel Simmler defeated Raphael Fischetti by DQ.
Simmler then defeated John Diggins by foot lock.

Heavy: Carlos Robson Gracie had no one else in his division and took the gold.

Ultra-heavy: James Puopolo defeated Paulo Martins by kneebar for the gold.

FEMALES

Light-feather: Marcelo Lawton, who placed second place at the 2014 World Championship had no one else in her division and took the gold.

Medium-heavy: Nathalia Amaral, who was recently awarded her black belt, had no one else in her division and took the gold.

OPEN WEIGHT

The matches for the male open weight were as follows:

John Diggins defeated Vinicius Silva by 4-0 points.
Renan Borges defeated Robson Gracie by 14-2 points.
Rafael Formiga defeated Dan Simmler by clock choke.
James Puopolo defeated Paulo Martins by choke from the back.
Gianni Grippo defeated John Diggins by 6-0 points.
Rafael Formiga defeated James Puopolo by 6-4 points.
Renan Borges defeated Gianni Grippo by referee decision.
Rafael Formiga defeated Renan Borges by armbar for the gold.

The female match was between Nathalia Amaral and Marcela Lawton. The final score was 19-0 and this was Nathalia’s first black belt match.

Nathalia Amaral wins the open weight. Photo: Erin Herle

For full results please go here: http://static.ibjjfdb.com/Campeonato/000295/en-US/Results.pdf

Check out photos here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152730791169260.1073741883.142782289259

There was a limited number of participants leaving some divisions empty but only because the top talent shown were combined in other weights.

Here are the full results of the black belt adult weight divisions:

NO ROOSTER

LIGHT-FEATHER

Gustavo Carpio wins the light-featherweight division. Photo: Erin Herle

Mark Ramos of Ricardo “Rey” Diogo BJJ faced Bruno Braz of Kimura BJJ in the first round and won via bow and arrow choke.

Gustavo Carpio of Marra Senki defeated Washington Lima of GF Team by 6-0 in points.

Mark Ramos defeated Daniel Beleza of SAS Team by referee decision.

In the final, Gustavo Carpio and Mark Ramos engaged in a technical sweep battle with Carpio using his spider guard to get on top. Mark would reciprocated with his own creative means whether it be from x-guard or going inverted to take the back. The end score was 6-6 but the advantages were 4-0 in Carpio’s favor as he went for multiple omoplatas.

NO FEATHER

LIGHT

Gianni Grippo wins the lightweight division. Photo: Erin Herle

Bricklin Welch of Redzovic International defeated Diogo Almeida of Renzo Gracie by straight ankle lock.

Gianni Grippo of Alliance Marcelo Garcia defeated Rafael Costa of Renzo Gracie by bow and arrow choke.

Renan Borges of BTT defeated Bricklin Welch by lapel choke from side control.

In the final, Gianni Grippo and Renan Borges played a stalemate game with Gianni in guard and Renan working to pass. Gianni used spider and the lasso and worked to take the back as well while Renan worked an over-under type pass and tried to stuff Gianni’s bottom leg repeatedly. The decision was in favor of Gianni for the gold.

MIDDLE

Bruno Fernandes wins the middleweight division. Photo: Erin Herle

Bruno Fernandes of Gracie Barra Montreal defeated Alex Aristides of Serra BJJ Academy by lapel choke from side control.

Rafael Barbosa was in the bracket but did not fight and so Vinicius Silva of Team Link received a bye to the final.

In the final, Bruno worked his guard and his passing against Vinicius who recovered a few times. The match ended with 10-0 in points in Bruno’s favor earning him the gold.

MEDIUM-HEAVYWEIGHT

Abmar Barbosa wins the medium-heavyweight division. Photo: Erin Herle

Gregor Gracie did not compete so the bracket went straight to the final.

In the final, Abmar Barbosa of Drysdale Jiu-Jitsu and Jarod Lawton of New England United BJJ switched off playing bottom and passing. Abmar worked his guard and attempted an armbar but Jarod evaded the submission. Then Abmar swept into mount and Jarod recovered. The match ended after Abmar swept from his guard. The match ended 8-0 in points for Abmar Barbosa.

HEAVYWEIGHT

Antonio Antonioli wins the heavyweight division. Photo: Erin Herle

The only two athletes were Antonio Antonioli of Atos Jiu-Jitsu and Leandro Soares Martins of Martins Jiu-Jitsu Team so it went straight to the final.

In the final, Antonio jumped guard and while Leandro worked to pass, Antonio broke the posture with a grip on Leandro’s belt and attacked the arm. Using his fundamentals Antonio was able to submit with the armbar for the gold.

The open weight has yet to begin but here is a photo album of the matches:

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

BTT Boston on the team podium at IBJJF Boston Summer Open. Photo: Personal Archive

The IBJJF Boston Summer Open gave way for some of our GMA academies to claim the top spots on the postium. Saturday, August 24 the  UMASS Athletics Gymnasium hosted the third edition and Brazilian Top Team Competition Team took the team trophy.

The 2013 IBJJF Boston Summer Open is set for August 24 at UMASS Athletics. The second IBJJF tournament this year in this location, the tournament brings the best on the east coast with many team battling it out for the team trophy.

So far, notable black belts registered are: Renan Borges, new black belt Francisco “Sinistro” Iturralde, his brother Leo Iturralde and Oliver Geddes.

The location is: 100 Morrissey Blvd Boston, MA 02125

There are still four days to register although the tournament could potentially reach its capacity before the deadline this Friday, Aug. 16.

To register, go to www.IBJJF.org.

Check out this match between Augusto ‘Tanquinho’ Mendes and Renan Borges at the Boston Open in 2012:

O faixa-marrom Keenan Cornelius levantou mais uma vez a galera, no Boston Open da IBJJF. Foto: Erin Herle/GRACIEMAG.com

A cidade de Boston amanheceu nevando, com 2 graus no termômetro. Nada que desmotivasse alguns dos melhores competidores de Jiu-Jitsu dos EUA, que compareceram ao ginásio da universidade do estado de Massachusetts para comprovar a eficiência de seu jogo no Boston Open.

E, se falamos em Jiu-Jitsu nos EUA, alguns nomes vêm à mente na hora. DJ Jackson é um deles. O faixa-preta meio-pesado venceu o absoluto, após pegar Rafael “Formiga” Barbosa na final, e ficou com o ouro no peso ao passar por Gregor Gracie, por 2 a 0.

Na faixa-marrom, Keenan Cornelius, sempre ele, foi o astro maior. No absoluto, o astro meio-pesado encarou outra fera – Gianni Grippo (Renzo Gracie), ouro no peso leve. Keenan lidou bem com a guarda respeitável de Grippo, e precisou raspar antes de passar e arrochar o estrangulamento. Confira como ele fez:

Teve brasileiros fazendo bonito também, na terra dos Celtics. Na faixa-preta, Daniel Beleza (SAS) foi o melhor do pena. Renan Borges (BTT) venceu mais uma no peso leve. E Gustavo “Sirizinho” Pires (Gracie Barra) garantiu o ouro no superpesado.

Entre as equipes, a Team Lloyd Irvin faturou o título, com Fenix BJJ Woburn em segundo e a Gracie Barra em terceiro.

Para conferir todos os resultados, clique aqui.

DJ Jackson no Boston Open. Foto: Erin Herle/GRACIEMAG.com