Jackson Sousa in the 2013 Jiu-Jitsu Worlds. Photo: Erin Herle/GRACIEMAG

Checkmat’s Jackson Sousa was the standout of the 2016 London Winter Open, this Saturday in the UK.

The black belt won the heavyweight division and the open class.

In his weight class, Sousa beat Gracie Barra’s Charles Negromonte.

In the absolute final, the opponent beaten was also Gracie Barra’s Lucio Lagarto.

Here are the complete results for the black belt division:

BLACK / Adult / Male / Rooster

First – Gabriel Alexander Rosberg – Art of Roll

Second – Manjit Singh Bhambra – Icon Jiu-Jitsu Team

BLACK / Adult / Male / Light Feather

First – Luis Filipe Fernandes Lopes – Pound for Pound

Second – Baruc Martin Barrios – Norwich BJJ Team

Third – Lucas de Souza Dantas – Nova União

Third – Enrique de Jesus Villasenor Sarvide – CheckMat

BLACK / Adult / Male / Light

First – Pedro Fernandes Farias – CheckMat

Second – Krzysztof Marek Suchorabski – Gracie Barra

Third – Maxmiliano Oliveira Campos – Oxford Shootfighter

Third – Samuel Thomas F. Gibson – Carlson Gracie Team

BLACK / Adult / Male / Middle

First – Sandro Gabriel Vieira – CheckMat

Second – Vinicius de Castro Nascimento – P360 Academia De Jiu Jitsu

Third – Oliver Leys Geddes – Roger Gracie

BLACK / Adult / Male / Medium Heavy

First – Diego Dias Ramalho – Gracie Barra JJ

Second – Santeri Lilius – Roger Gracie

Third – Marcos Antonio Lins Machado Filho – Gracie Barra

BLACK / Adult / Male / Heavy

First – Jackson Sousa dos Santos – CheckMat

Second – Charles Negromonte Santos – Gracie Barra

Third – Hassine Azarkan – Icon Jiu-Jitsu Team

Third – Piotr Pawel Wojtkowski – Gracie Barra

BLACK / Adult / Male / Super Heavy

First – Lucio Furtado Rodrigues – Gracie Barra

Second – Arya Esfandmaz – Gracie Barra

Third – Karim Mohamed Ait Khalifa – Alliance International

BLACK / Adult / Male / Open Class

First – Jackson Sousa dos Santos – CheckMat

Second – Lucio Furtado Rodrigues – Gracie Barra

Third – Diego Dias Ramalho – Gracie Barra JJ

Third – Charles Negromonte Santos – Gracie Barra

BLACK / Adult / Female / Medium Heavy

First – Gretchen Dawn Zoeller – Gracie Barra

BLACK / Adult / Female / Open Class

First – Gretchen Dawn Zoeller – Gracie Barra

In the teams competition, results were:

1 – CheckMat – 310

2 – Gracie Barra – 231

3 – Roger Gracie – 163

4 – Carlson Gracie Team – 149

5 – Icon Jiu-Jitsu Team – 69

6 – Lucio Sergio BJJ Lifestyle – 55

7 – Nova União – 37

8 – BJJ Revolution Team – International – 35

9 – Norwich BJJ Team – 32

10 – Mathias Ribeiro Team – 30

Click here for the full results.

Can we go back to the end of round 3?! #WhatHadHappenedWas https://t.co/VqquhAt4Gn

— #UFCLondon (@ufc) February 27, 2016

Referee Herb Dean shared this Monday his views on the most controversial moment of this weekend’s UFC Fight Night London.

In the main event, Anderson Silva hit Michael Bisping with a flying knee to the head at the very last second of the third round.

As Bisping fell to the ground, Silva considered the fight done and went on to celebrate on top of the octagon fence.

Ref Herb Dean, however, saw it different and did not call the knock out, making sure to tell Anderson and his corner that the fight was not over.

Here’s what he said about his decision during an interview with The MMA Hour:  “Well, Silva hit him with the knee and dropped him, and then he walked off and started to celebrate. Bisping had been dropped, but you know, in MMA we don’t stop the match just because someone gets dropped. I saw that when he fell he was not unconscious. He was facing Anderson. Anderson didn’t give him a threat to protect himself from, but — I don’t want to start playing what if, what if he attacked and whatnot — the bottom line is he didn’t attack. The round ended and, because Anderson was celebrating, there was some confusion as to what was going on. But I never had any confusion. I knew that I hadn’t stopped the match and that the match was going to continue.”

Click here to read more excerpts from the interview on MMA Fighting.

After the fight resumed, Bisping went on to win via unanimous decision.

Agree or Disagree? #UFCLondon https://t.co/hNCMQAC66H

— #UFCLondon (@ufc) February 27, 2016

Michael Bisping fulfilled this Saturday one of his dreams as a MMA fighter.

He defeated one of his heroes in Anderson Silva, in a thrilling fight in London, England.

“When I was starting and I was only a cocky kid, I used to watch this guy and say “wow”! This guy is one of the best martial artists of all times,” said Bisping after the final result was announced.

Bispining’s unanimous decision victory (3X 48-47) was built with strong performances on the 1st, 2nd and 4th rounds.

Silva, as usual, relied on his elusive style and his showmanship, looking for that one highlight reel strike that would end the fight.

While the Brazilian did that, Bisping started to connect his punches and score points with the judges.

A knockdown on the 2nd was his high point in the fight, but Silva was able to defend it well with his back on the canvas.

The third round was the most controversial, as Silva finally caught a break at the very end of the 5-minute period.

Can we go back to the end of round 3?! #WhatHadHappenedWas https://t.co/VqquhAt4Gn

— #UFCLondon (@ufc) February 27, 2016

A left hand popped Bisping’s mouth piece out and Silva worked his knees until he landed a powerful strike to the head that threw his opponent to the ground in the same exact moment the bell went off.

Anderson went on to celebrate what he thought was a knock out win, but referee Herb Dean said the fight was not over.

On the fourth round, instead of finishing Bisping, once again Silva stepped back and allowed the Brit to recover and even win the round.

Knowing he was behind, Silva was more active in the 5th and clearly won that one with beautiful punches and strikes, including his trademark straight kick.

HE FRONT KICKED HIM IN THE FACE!! #UFCLondon https://t.co/rAgYu8I1uo

— #UFCLondon (@ufc) February 27, 2016

After the final bell, the judges decided in favor of Bisping and Silva was not happy.

In Portuguese, he said: “You guys saw what happened. Even when you think you won, they find a way to take it away from you. I thought the mission was completed. It’s like Brazil, total corrupt.”

Today, Feb. 26, is the last day to register for the 2016 London Winter Open.

Don’t miss out and sign up today.

You’ll be joining the likes of Jackson Sousa, Lucio Lagarto, Oliver Geddes, Gretchen Zoeller, among others.

Click here to sign up now.

The UAEJJF is inviting all athletes to compete at the fourth leg of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu Tour, in London, UK.

The event is scheduled March 19, at the Excel London.

You have until March 14 to sign up to compete.

The event is open to all nationalities.

It will pay cash prizes for the champions of selected categories, according to the table below.

Click here to know more and to register now!

Garry Tonon, American “Lion Killer” of GMA Brunswick BJJ will be in the United Kingdom over the weekend for the Polaris event. But he has time to teach in Birmingham at 10th Planet while he’s not competing.

Don’t miss the opportunity on Jan. 11 starting at 1 p.m. The cost will be £35 per person.

For more information email chris.garry@hotmail.co.uk and for privates email info@progressjj.co.uk

In London at the Clapham Grand, the first edition of the Toukon Challenge, an invitation-only event, took place on Sunday, Nov. 23.

The card featured some of the best grapplers from all over Europe. The show presented matches of different calibers in the following categories:

Prelims – 4 fights of 5 minutes under the IBJJF rules.
Brown Belt Middle Weight Tournament – This is an eight man tournament. Brown belt and black belt fights will be six minutes.
Brown Belt Middle Weight Challenge – One six minute match between two brown belts.
Black Belt Team Challenge – Two teams, each with five black belts will fight each other to decide who is the best. The first team to get three wins, will be victorious and will be taking The Toukon Team belt home with them. Black belt and brown belt fights will be six minutes.
Sub Only – Six match-ups. The fights will be twenty minutes in length and will not be scored. The only way to win is by submission, forcing the athletes to constantly be attacking and looking for a way to finish the fight.
Co Main Event – An absolute superfight between two athletes. Fights will be 20 minutes submission only.
Main Event – A superfight will be 10 min minutes.

Some of the athletes who were involved include Lucio Lagarto, Luca Anacoreta, Eduardo Teto Rios, Max Campos, Thomas Oyarzun, Roger Dardis, Sebastion Brosche, Luke Costelo, Raphael Dos Santos, Viking Wong, Alex Cabanes, Darragh O’Conaill and more.

What makes this event unique is the opportunity for the athletes to earn money. As they promote their own showing in the event, they earn a portion of the pay-per-view and spectator earnings. When one goes onto the site to watch, they must choose an athlete in the drop-down list.

The next event will be on March 15 in London once again with some new categories: a female team challenge, a brown belt lightweight grand prix and a classic fight to name a few.

You can see full results here: www.toukonchallenge.com

Check out this performance at the 2014 IBJJF London Open against Yasmine Wilson in the no-gi division:

The 2014 No-Gi British Open is here. GMA member Braulio Estima brings another edition set for Sept. 21 in Birmingham, UK, the event boasts an athlete list full of varied teams and competitors.

You can register for male, female, juvenile, adult divisions.

The venue for the event is the Cocks Moor Wood Leisure Centre: Alcester Road South, Kings Heath, Birmingham, West Midlands B14 6ER.

Registration closes on Saturday, Sept. 13 so hurry and register here: https://www.strongvon.com/BNOGI14/m_tournament_main.jsp?page=m_tournament_registration1.jsp

Learn more information about the event here: http://nogibritishopen.com/

In order to gain access, head to www.estimainaction.com and sign up to be one of the first. The full site is set to launch tomorrow, Friday Aug. 8.

In the meantime, check out this kneebar from spider guard for a sample:

Check out the match below:

For those looking to earn a free travel package to the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship in April, look no further. UK residents can make their way to Birmingham for the UK – London trial to compete for the gold and the opportunity to attend the main event.

In partnership with Braulio Estima, the trial will be held on Feb. 15 and offer packages to 23 adults via weight division or open weight first place and up to five kids chosen by the organizer.

The countdown for the UK – London WPJJC trial has begun. Late registration ends on Feb. 10 with a cost of £75.

The event will be held at the Doug Ellis Sports Centre: City North Campus, Birmingham City University, 150 Wellhead Ln, Birmingham B42 2SY.

To register and find out more information go to www.wpjjctrials.com