Double gold is the most impressive thing an athlete can do for their performance at a major championships, storming through two brackets untouched for a pair of first place finishes. Still impressive though is the athlete who can bounce back from an early loss in their division for open class gold. DreamArt's Jeferson Santos was able to do just that at purple belt at the 2025 IBJJF European Championships.

After a loss in the finals to Fratres's Rogério Leite, Santos used his silver medal finish to enter into the open class for a shot at redemption. Coming in he was still well regarded, having racked up points through IBJJF competition in Brazil, and secured himself the three seed in the stacked open class bracket.

We're going to take a look at his four matches for absolute gold and how he got it done in Lisbon.

Storming The Gates In Round One

It's always interesting to see how colored belts approach the early rounds of the absolute. It can be a time where you see some reservations because people have already been through one bracket and now are facing only caliber opposition. Not Jeferson, though! He scores a one-minute finish over the opening round opponent, pulling to his open guard and locking into a straight ankle to close the show. The early aggressiveness, and the quick finish letting him get off the mat and conserve energy, paid off big time.

Rematch and Redemption

The second round brought maybe Jeferson's biggest test for the open class - the man who beat him for the heavyweight gold medal just hours before. They had a close match (you can watch it here) but Leite won it by points 2-0. It wasn't without controversy, though, as Jeferson did pass to north south late but the referees and video review determined he did not stabilize position enough for the winning 3.

Here though, would be a different story. These two are obviously very closely matched and again it came down to a late score, but it was Jeferson finding the back with under thirty seconds left and pulling ahead 6-2 to advance and score the win over the man who had just beaten him. I think it's safe to say this rivalry is not done here at 2025 purple belt, as these two both impressed a ton at Euros.

A Close Call In The Semifinals

In a match that would leave both men picking themselves up after a very hard-fought contest, Santos would beat the South Korean Sunghu Park 4-2 off the back of his impressive, athletic takedowns. Santos's style is impressively well-rounded, and he showed off strong takedowns, guard work, passing, and more through his entire run in the open class. His ability to stay aggressive from the top position and put passing pressure on was a huge determining factor in winning here to make the finals.

Finishing In Style

The open class finals were set and two divisional silver medalists stood ready to earn their European Championships gold medal; Jeferson and Marcio Italo of Alliance. Both had come up short but battled back with really impressive jiu-jitsu to make it to this opportunity. Only one would be able to accomplish - and it was Jeferson in emphatic fashion.

Marcio jumped guard but Santos was quick to break it open and pass. As Marcio defended, he gave his back and Santos pounced - bringing a punishing choke across the face to score a brutal finish in just over 90 seconds. It was a wild finish to a long day for the DreamArt representative.