No Gi World Championships (Review)

This past weekend I competed in the No Gi World Championships, held by the IBJJF in Long Beach, California at the Walter Pyramid. It was a great experience and I actually had more fun than I usuallly do while competing.

First off, this was the most behind schedule Federation tournament that I have ever been apart of, but with 800 people in one day it really wasn't too bad. My open weight division didn't start untill probably about an hour later than it was scheduled to begin,, if not more . The purple belt light weight division didn't end untill about 6:30 and the open was supposed to be at 6:00, so, needless to say, they were off by a little bit. In all my years, this was really the only noticeably behind schedule Federation tournament I have ever been a part of. That being said, this won't deter me from any future IBJJF tournaments and I still highly recommend them to everyone.

As far as results and great matches go, I didn't really get to catch many due to the fact that I was competing at the same time as the black belt finals and I was helping out my teammates during the preliminary rounds. One thing I did notice though was a pretty cool sight, training partners, Caio Terra and Samir Chantre, fought in the finals of the light feather weight division. In a time of gentlmen's agreements and closing out divisions, this was pretty cool to see. Terra ended up taking the title by points in a hard fought match. Much respect to them for going at it.

As mentioned above, I had a lot of fun competing this time around. I made my return to the feather weight division after a short stint at lightweight. It actually end up going pretty well, I had a by first round moving me on to face Vin Phung (Lotus Club) in the second round. Phung was tough and had a good base, but I eventually swept him and landed in half guard. From there I secured a darce and finished it for the victory. My next fight was the quarter finals, facing me against a tough fighter from Undisputed, I cannot remember his name, but he put up a great fight. I ended winning the bout 4-0 from two sweeps. This victory placed me in the semi-finals with the young Gianni Grippo ( Renzo Gracie). Grippo was very strong, possibly the strongest feather weight I have ever faced. We both pulled guard and sat for a little bit, eventually he came on top and I went upside down, as I transitioned he hopped all the way over to my back claiming the four points. From there he sunk in the rear naked and I was forced to tap. I was disappointed, but I will come back stronger from this and I am grateful that I took third at the No Gi World Championships. Afterwards, I signed up for the open weight, something I always enjoy doing when I have the chance even though it doesn't seem to be too popular with guys my weight. I don't know what it is, but I enjoy the rush of fighting someone bigger than me, plus, a guy my size has nothing to lose. I didn't quite get the best bracketing, drawing the eventual champion, DJ Jackson (Lloyd Irvin), first round. Jackson by far has the tightest game of anyone that I have ever competed against. He was all over me, taking me down, passing my guard, mounting me. He was just too strong, big, and technical for me. I hung tough for awhile, not giving up the submission. I eventually got back to guard and with about a minute or so left I tried to transition to outside half, he hopped onto a kimura, I slipped my arm out, but he went right into a straight armbar after that, popping my arm and forcing me to tap.

This tournament was definitely a great experience and I am very glad I returned to a better weight for me. I'm especially happy, not only because I placed, doing what is probably the biggest achievement of my purple belt career, but I also had fun. I mean that is what we all learn as kids, right? The most important thing is to have fun.