Grappling Report: Art of Jiu-Jitsu dominates at IBJJF Grand Prix
A rundown of the biggest headlines and news from the world of competitive grappling.
The IBJJF grand prix took place this weekend and the team at Art of Jiu-Jitsu managed to win two out of three titles at the event. First up was the men’s lightweight tournament, where Johnatha Alves and Andy Murasaki both impressed in the opening round by defeating their respective opponents in style. The final between them was incredibly close but AOJ’s Alves ended up winning by the thinnest of margins.
The other trophy going to AOJ came in the main event superfight, where Tainan Dalpra put up the biggest points-difference of the day to defeat Isaque Bahiense. There were other superfights on the night, and a tournament in the women’s heavyweight division. Nathiely De Jesus returned to professional grappling after the birth of her daughter and beat both of her opponents to win the division.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Three American athletes visit Tokyo for Unrivaled 2
Unrivaled 2 took place in Tokyo, Japan and the top three fights on the card all featured top American grapplers who had made the long journey to compete. The event featured the use of a unique points system that actually seemed to work quite well throughout the preliminary fights. First up for the Americans was the young Andrew Tackett who put on a great display against Murilo Souza and submitted him with a kimura.
Then the co-main event saw Jacob ‘The Hillbilly Hammer’ Couch taking on Igor Tanabe, a huge challenge for any grappler. Tanabe executed a beautiful finishing sequence, passing Couch’s guard like lightning and quickly transitioning to the back to lock up the rear-naked choke. Then in the main event, William Tackett managed to win a close match against fellow ADCC veteran Kenta Iwamoto.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Combat Jiu-Jitsu Welterweight worlds lineup announced
The Combat Jiu-Jitsu world championship is back again and the promotion’s first event of 2023 will see sixteen top welterweight grapplers competing for the grand prize. As always, there’s a healthy mix of MMA veterans and no gi BJJ specialists, including some talented young competitors for good measure. Alan Sanchez stands out as a potential winner after putting in a fantastic night of work when he won EBI 19 last year.
He’ll have plenty of tough opposition along the way though, with veterans of the format like Jim Alers and Derek Rayfield looking to stop him. There are a few young competitors who could make it through the brackets too, with Andrew Tackett being one of the most promising young talents coming out of America in the last few years and Davis Asare putting in consistently good performances in the last few months.
The Miyao brothers start opening a new academy in New Jersey
Paulo and Joao Miyao are two of the most successful BJJ competitors in the lighter weightclasses over the last few years, and now the brothers are preparing to open their own academy too. They’ve been transitioning from their high-level competitive career to the masters division and a coaching career over the last few years, with Paulo Miyao even becoming the head coach at Dream Art last year.
Now the Miyao brothers are going to be joining forces to train the next generation of top talent, as they have started work on their own space to do so. From the initial photos, it appears as though the renovation has only just begun and they will likely be quite a while being available to the public. The new academy that the Miyao brothers are opening will be based in New Jersey and will open under the name Studio 1908.
Quick Hits
- Guigo Jiu-Jitsu will now join forces with Dream Art for all upcoming tournaments and athletes from both teams will compete under the Dream Art name.
- The IBJJF has announced that an Absolute grand prix will take place at some point in 2023, although the date and competitors are not yet confirmed.
- Three-time NCAA champion Bo Nickal is eager to book a fight against fellow wrestler Khamzat Chimaev at some point in his UFC career.
- ADCC medallist and IBJJF world champion AJ Agazarm just promoted his younger brother Anthony to purple belt in BJJ.