Grappling Bulletin: No-Gi Worlds Recap Of All The Brand New Champions
Hywel Teague runs through the results of the black belt finals– find out who was most successful at the 2019 IBJJF World No-Gi Championships.
Third time is the charm for the Absolute division winner Victor Hugo. He lost to Cyborg in the semifinal of the ultra-heavyweight division, but submitted him in only 54 seconds in the absolute final– the fastest submission in No-Gi Worlds history.
Johnny Tama became the first black belt World Champion from Ecuador. He won the lightweight division in thrilling fashion, fighting through a nasty cut to the eyebrow to come back strong and hit a slick rolling attack into the mount. Tama paid the price for the gold medal with blood, sweat and tears – check out his emotional post-match interview to hear what this moment meant to him.
The Canadian Dante Leon has had a standout year with strong no-gi performances in various superfights and a fourth place finish at ADCC. He cemented his position as a top-ranked black belt with No-Gi Worlds gold, facing off with teammate Jaime Canuto in the final– no closeouts here. We saw one of the most gruesome armbars of the year, here’s hoping Canto recovers soon.
Talita Alencar won her third World No-Gi Championship title. She emerged top of the competitive featherweight division, beating Heather Raftery and Karen Antunes. This marks a return to form for Talita, who first won this title in 2016.
Checkmat took three gold medals in the women’s division with Natalie Ribeiro and Vedha Toscano winning their first golds, and Raquel Canuto taking her second World No-Gi title. Their performances– along with another silver and two bronze medals from teammates– helped Checkmat win the Adult Female trophy. Checkmat also closed out the men’s heavyweight division, with a gentleman’s agreement between Adam Wardzinski and Jackson Sousa in the final.
Thalison Soares and Hiago George of Cicero Costha both won their first No-Gi Worlds titles continuing the team’s dominance of the lighter weight categories.
Vinicius Ferreira followed gold at No-Gi Pans with another at No-Gi Worlds, this time with a submission win over Eliot Kelly in the final.
GF Team and Gracie Barra both won two gold medals in the women’s divisions. Mayssa Bastos and Amanda Canuto won rooster weight and light-feather for GF Team, and Gracie Barra’s Kendall Reusing and Jessica Flowers claimed the super-heavy and absolute titles, sharing the gold and silver in both.
A number of first-time World Champions were crowned with Alexssandro Sodre of Nova União winning featherweight, Manuel Ribamar taking medium-heavy gold and Talita Nogueira victorious in the heavyweight division.