Brown Belt Submission Frenzy At No-Gi Worlds | Day 2 Recap
Day two of the IBJJF No-Gi World Championships was all about the brown belts, and the future of no-gi grappling looks bright.
Checkmat’s heavyweights came out ahead of the pack. Elder Cruz and Jansen Gomes closed out the absolute division after winning the heavyweight and medium-heavyweight gold medals. Cruz outworked rival Jacob Couch in the absolute semifinal to win by points, while Gomes took on the much larger super-heavyweight Felipe Costa of Six Blades.
He may have taken bronze in the absolute but The Hillbilly Hammer's performance in the weight class was nothing less than sensational. Jacob Couch submitted all three of his opponents in a combined time of one minute and 22 seconds, locking two quick heel hooks before putting his final opponent to sleep with an anaconda choke in just 16 seconds.
Australian Izaak Michell of the newly-formed B-Team dominated each of his opponents with pressure, scoring 52 points in 5 matches to secure middleweight gold.
Pedro Sauer brown belt Akeela Al-Hameed won gold in the female open weight division, earning redemption in the final match with a win over Maria Ruffatto. Ruffatto beat Al-Hameed earlier to win the heavyweight title.
A clean sweep for Bruno Frazatto brown belt Alex Enriquez. She scored an armbar, a RNC and a darce in succession to earn her first world championship, doubling down on the No-Gi Pans title she collected earlier this year.
Jessie Crane, of Ares, submitted both of her opponents with rear naked chokes to earn a no-gi world title in the light featherweight division.
Eduardo Roque has been one of the most prolific brown belt competitors all year, and his experience showed in his climb to lightweight gold. Roque remained composed through five matches in the 36-man bracket, earning his first major no-gi title.
Other winners included:
UHW champ Javier Zaruski of Atos, who submitted all three of his opponents without conceding a point
Checkmat’s Thamires Monteiro, who submitted Alanis Santiago in the middleweight final
Brianna Ste-Marie won lightweight gold with a submission in the final
Atos’ Damian Balderrama took the 29-man featherweight division
The black belts take the mats tomorrow, including the opening rounds of every weight class and the absolute divisions. Watch all the action, replays, highlights and more right here on FloGrappling.