IBJJF 2017 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship

Taking Stock Of IBJJF Pans: Who's Up, Who's Down

Taking Stock Of IBJJF Pans: Who's Up, Who's Down

Let's take a look at the biggest winners from Pans, and the athletes who didn't quite get the results they wanted.

Mar 23, 2017 by FloGrappling
Taking Stock Of IBJJF Pans: Who's Up, Who's Down
The thing about jiu-jitsu is somebody has to win, and somebody has to lose. Just as in life, stock goes up and stock goes down.

There were 18 adult black belt gold medals shared by 16 athletes, meaning hundreds of black belts lost throughout the weekend. It's not the end of the world for athletes who didn't quite perform as expected, as they will head back to the gym, readjust, and come back stronger.

Let's take a look at the biggest winners from Pans, and the athletes who didn't quite get the results they wanted.

On Top Right Now


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Leandro Lo, obviously
Winning his first Pan absolute title after three years of trying is a huge milestone for Lo. His double gold medal performance was one of the highlights of the weekend, as was his submission of ultra heavyweight Joao Gabriel Rocha in the absolute final.

WATCH: Leandro Lo's matches

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Bruno Malfacine
The roosterweight king faced off with the tough challenger Lucas Pinheiro in the final but showed who's boss by winning 9-2. Malfa's return to Pans was unexpected but very welcome -- the Alliance black belts energetic style is always fun to watch and he makes winning look easy.

Watch: Bruno Malfacine's matches

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Jessica Flowers
She only got her black belt three months ago, but Jessica Flowers won gold in the middleweight division and silver in the absolute. She tapped out Alliance veteran black belt Andresa Correa twice in one weekend! Is she the girl to beat Tayane? Now training regularly with Orlando Sanchez, she could be the next big thing in the women's black belt division.

Watch: Jessica Flowers matches

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Joao Miyao
Miyao has had a rough time of it lately. He got his infamous guard passed twice in two months, once at Europeans and again at the new York International Pro. He bounced back to close out the light featherweight division with his teammate at Pans, but most impressively he put a gigantic 20 points on Samir Chantre in the semifinal match!

WATCH: Joao Miyao vs Samir Chantre IBJJF 2017 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship

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Espen Mathiesen and Tommy Langaker
Following their blistering performances at the Europeans, the Viking brown belts Espen Mathiesen and Tommy Langaker returned to do much the same at Pans. Espen submitted four out of six opponents for lightweight gold, while Tommy submitted everybody to win the middleweight division!

WATCH: Espen Mathiesen match videos
Watch: Tommy Langaker vs Servio Tulio, brown belt middleweight final

Rudson Mateus and Gabi McComb
Double gold brown belt champions Mateus and McComb both won their weight divisions and the absolutes. Mateus bounced back from a first-round loss at Euros, making his double gold victory impressive. McComb looked incredibly solid all day, picking up a number of decisive wins.

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Otavio Sousa
What better way to win gold than by hitting a flying triangle in less than a minute in the final in front of all your friends and family? That's exactly what Sousa managed to do against the very tough Isaque Bahiense.

WATCH: Otavio Sousa vs Isaque Bahiense, black belt middleweight final


Bianca Basilio
The 21-year-old black belt won the hearts of the crowd when she managed to toss Tayane Porfirio with a shoulder throw. She won gold the following day, winning her first tournament as a black belt.

WATCH: Bianca Basilio matches

Needs To Bounce Back

AJ Agazarm
The Gracie Barra black belt's woes continue to pile up. Following disappointing performances in submission-only bouts at Submission Underground and Fight To Win, Agazarm returned to points competition. He won a couple of matches at the U.S. National Pro in Los Angeles earlier this month, but was soundly handled in the opening of Pans by the unknown Joao Paoulo De Fatima Alves. Maybe his knee injuries are catching up with him, or maybe his new ambition of becoming an internet media celebrity is distracting him from training. Either way, he's not the same grappler he was a few years ago.

Dillon Danis
One of the most talked-about young black belts in the sport, Danis suffered a disappointing first round loss at Pans losing 6-2 to Lucas Rocha of Gracie Barra. Has Danis's focus on no-gi training and MMA begun to catch up with him? His desire to fight MMA and time spent preparing for this could be impacting his training for gi competitions. Sport jiu-jitsu strategies are so specific it could be that Dillon's all-out attacking game (that often sees him give up points in the pursuit of submission attempts) just won't work until he dedicates himself solely to that style.

Michael Musumeci
Losing in his second match via decision to Cleber Sousa, this was the first time Musumeci hasn't made the podium since becoming a black belt and it was his first loss since Worlds last year. He's had one of the most successful rookie black belt careers of all time, making this decision loss all the more notable. Anybody who was there could see Musumeci was incredibly upset with the officiating -- it will be interesting to see how he intends to learn from the experience.

Marcos Tinoco
He had a great performance in Lisbon back in January where he became European champion, but the Marcelo Garcia black belt suffered a shock loss via guillotine choke in the first round to John Combs. As a guillotine specialist himself, it was ironic that Tinoco should fall to the same technique, and it was surprising to see him go out of the tournament so quickly given his impressive performance back in January.

Watch the matches from the IBJJF 2017 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship in the archives, available now!