As we hoped for, there were some wild moments on the final day of the 2018 IBJJF Pans in Irvine, California, including plenty of submissions, some incredible comebacks, and one sickening armbar that might or might not have been a missed tap.

Let’s go back over some of the most memorable matches as the 2018 IBJJF Pans wrapped up Sunday. 

Photo: Chase Smith

The return of Karen Antunes

Karen Antunes comes back from the birth of her first child, not even a year old, and taps one of the brightest black belts in the featherweight division in Bianca Basilio. The Checkmat black belt used a belly-down straight armbar to get the win, which put her into the final against Jaqueline Moraes. Her momentum would not be stopped as she went on to choke Moraes from the back for the gold medal, her first Pan title as a black belt. 

WATCH: Karen Antunes vs. Bianca Basilio

Photo: Blanca Marisa Garcia

A horrific armbar and impossible escape 

Many people at mat side — table workers, coaches, and media — all believed Tommy Langaker tapped to Dante Leon’s gruesome armbar during their middleweight match. The GF Team black belt did the right thing though and did not let go of the limb as the referee did not intervene. Langaker somehow gritted out the attack and worked his way free, although at a high cost. The Norwegian did not continue in his bracket and will be out for an undetermined period of time while the injury is assessed. 

WATCH: Tommy Langaker vs. Dante Leon

Photo: Chase Smith

The All-American final

It was very appropriate that Gianni Grippo and Jamil Hill met in the final of the featherweight division, as it was Hill who took out Grippo in the opening round here last year. Grippo, who won gold in 2015, fought his way though AJ Agazarm and Osvaldo "Queixinho" to face off with Hill in the final, who had submitted the veteran Samir Chantre on his side of the bracket. The match went down to the wire and it looked as though Hill would take it again but a last-minute sweep and then a back-take (non-scoring) and submission attack saw Grippo win in thrilling fashion, with the final score at 2-2, 4-1 advantages. 

WATCH: Gianni Grippo vs. Jamil Hill 

Photo: Chase Smith

Batista beats former rival

First-year black belt Gustavo Batista, who recently switched from NS Brotherhood to Atos, had a tough side of the bracket in the medium heavyweight division. He went on to close out with Lucas Barbosa, but to get there he had to beat Roberto Frias, Horlando Monteiro, and Rudson Telles. The matchup against the latter was a chance for Batista to settle the score, as he lost to Telles in the final of the brown belt division at Worlds last year. It wasn’t easy for Batista though, as he had to escape a very tight choke that looked extremely close to finishing the match. 

WATCH: Gustavo Batista vs. Rudson Telles 

Photo: Will Safford

Aly vs. Dopp exciting as ever

They’ve been competing against each other since they were brown belts, and their matches were always unmissable affairs that were wild back-and-forth encounters. The super heavyweight division was small enough so that their first match each of the day was a semifinal, but Mahamed Aly had competed the day before in the absolute and he looked looser and a little more comfortable on the mat. Jared Dopp had wanted to compete in the absolute too but missed the cutoff time for signing up. In the end, Aly won via points, going up a huge 16-0. 

WATCH: Mahamed Aly vs. Jared Dopp