Road to Gold: Cindy Ung Wins Deep Division At No-Gi Pans

Cindy Ung kept her hot streak alive with a gold medal performance at IBJJF No-Gi Pans

Oct 4, 2025 by Joe Gilpin

Road to Gold: Cindy Ung Wins Deep Division At No-Gi Pans

Cindy Ung kept her hot streak alive with a gold medal performance at IBJJF No-Gi Pans, going 4-0 with two submissions along the way. Cindy is fresh off of a Finishers run where she earned a spot on a future WNO, so she had a ton of positive momentum coming in that she was able to capitalize on with another very good performance.

The IBJJF No-Gi Pan Championship is one of the toughest tournaments of the year, and the unofficial start of the IBJJF's no-gi season. Every match from the No-Gi Pans streams live exclusively on FloGrappling.

Round One

Cindy started hot against Hannah Yohe, rolling over the top of her guard pull for a front headlock attack early. She used that to transition to the back, scoring three times to go up an impressive 12-0. Hannah would escape back to quarter guard, but Cindy stayed aggressive with an underhook from three quarter mount that she turned into a kimura armbar for the submission win - with less than thirty seconds left.

Quarterfinal

This was maybe my most anticipated quarter at any brown belt weight, with Cindy taking on a very dangerous Laylah Watkins. Laylah was able to pull early to her closed guard. After minutes of work, Laylah would open the guard to attack a leg but Cindy countered her way around and into her own passing positions. She finally forced Laylah to turtle, putting herself up by an advantage with a minute left. Laylah chased the back and the legs really aggressively for the final minute, including a deep toe hold as time expired - but she didn't get the tying advantage and Cindy advanced onto the podium.

Semifinal

After a razor-close quarter, Cindy made another statement in the semis against Searyun Whang. She pulled early on, working from her closed guard. In an impressive sequence, Cindy used a hip bump to set up an octopus back take - right into a rear naked choke. This was probably Cindy's most impressive move of the day and a highlight submission for the brown belt.

Finals

It was a tough, controversial final against 10th Planet's Lauren Sears but Cindy Ung would weather the adversity and score the win for gold against a talented opponent. Sears was quick to pull but Ung was equally quick to start putting pressure on with knee cuts - including one into a front headlock. After a guard pass was called off for Ung following the judge's interpretation that it came as a result of an accidental knee to the head, Lauren attacked more aggressively with armbars, heel hooks, and back take attempts but ultimately couldn't score anything. It was Ung taking home the win in a very close final, continuing the winning streak that she came into the event with.