Prospect Watch: Who Impressed Us Most At IBJJF Pan No-Gi
Prospect Watch: Who Impressed Us Most At IBJJF Pan No-Gi
With so much jiu-jitsu over two days you may have missed some key results. Here are three colored belt champs who impressed us.
With so much good jiu-jitsu taking place over two action-packed days you may have missed some key results. Here are three colored belt champs who impressed us.
Salvatore Guerriero
Brown belt featherweight champion "Sal" Guerriero has been on our radar for a while, given that he is a Pan No-Gi champ at purple and made the podium at last year's No-Gi Worlds. The scrappy wrestler– who competes out of American Top Team in Florida– emerged number one in a tough field of standouts. The featherweight division was among the most competitive of the entire tournament, with recognizable names such as Ethan Crelinsten, Malachi Edmond and Juny Ocasio. None of them made it to the final though, which was a chippy encounter between Guerriero and Thiago Abud of Unity. Don't blink or you'll miss his lightning fast shots and duckunders.
WATCH:
- Sal Guerreiro vs Gabriel Tejada
- Sal Guerreiro vs Daniel Pizzo
- Sal Guerreiro vs Orlando Andaviza
- Sal Guerreiro vs Thiago Abud
Vedha Toscano
The day didn't start off great for Vedha as she lost her opening match against Erin Harpe in the medium-heavyweight division. Coming back for the absolute, Toscano scored 25 points in three matches, beating Yanelisa Reyes 6-0, Bridget McEliece 13-4 and then getting revenge over Harpe in a tough openweight final that ended 6-4. Toscano uses her long limbs to great effect and the added bonus competing on home turf surely would have helped – her father Fabio Clemente heads up Checkmat near Union Square in Manhattan, one of the main gyms in the city.
WATCH:
Davi Cabral
GF Team athlete Davi Cabral made his name as a standout blue belt taking silver at Worlds this year as a blue belt. Now a purple belt, he showed he's just as good without the gi by coming out on top of a very competitive heavyweight division. He's got the typical GF Team style of guard passing and a gas tank of a far lighter athlete.
WATCH: