On July 22nd-25th, the 2010 Rio International Open and International Master and Senior Championship took place at the Tijuca Tennis Club in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Although only represeted by 4 competitors, Arizona fighters did not fail to give Brazil, and the World, an outstanding display of dominant Jiu-Jitsu by winning 7 medals, 6 being GOLD. Here are the full results:

Black Belt:

Wellington “Megaton” Dias (Gracie Humaita) – Senior 2 Feather and Absolute Champion
Gustavo Dantas (Nova Uniao) - Senior 1 Feather Champion

Purple Belt:

Mackenzie Dern (Gracie Humaita) - Adult Feather and Absolute Champion

Blue Belt:

Kristina Barlaan (Nova Uniao) – Adult Feather Champion and Absolute Bronze Medalist

The GD JIU-JITSU Events in association with the Arizona State Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (AZSBJJF) is proud to announce the 2010 Arizona BJJ State Championship. The competition will take place on October 16 & 17 at the Westwood High School located at 945 W. 8th St. in Mesa, AZ 85201.

Gracie Mag will be covering the event.

The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition will offer kids, juvenile, Adult (Male and Female), Master, and Senior Divisions, plus two Black Belt Open Classes, Open Light (167.5 lbs and under) and Open Heavy (Over 167.5 lbs). The winner of each Open division will receive a ticket to the 2011 European BJJ Championship in Lisbon, Portugal. An additional ticket will be awarded to the Raffle Winner of the Divison Champions (Juvenile-Senior, White-Black, Male and Female)*. All Kids Division competitors will receive a Raffle Ticket to win a Nintendo Wii, regardless of win or loss.

*Restrictions apply. Please read the tournament website for FULL details.

IMPORTANT: Registration will be closed for the Kids division after 200 competitors. Registration for Juveniles, Adults, Masters, seniors, and Women will be closed after 450 competitors.

GD Jiu-Jitsu Events will be offering FREE tournament T-Shirts to ALL competitors who Pre-Register for the tournament by the PRE-REGISTRATION DEADLINE on October 8th @ 11:59 PM. Competitors registered AFTER this time will NOT receive a T-Shirt.Each competitor must fill out the registration form online. The Pre-registration fee is $55 for the adults and juveniles (16-17 yrs) and $45 for the kids division until October 8th. After this date, $65 for adults and juveniles and, $55 for the kids.

All registrations must be received by Tuesday, October 12th by 11:59 pm. No registrations after this date. Registration fees are non-refundable. No exceptions.

Full info available @ http://strongvon.com/southwestbjj2

Bruno Bastos won the Black Belt Open

The 2010 AZ Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu State Championship took place in Mesa on June 26 & 27 at the Westwood High School Gym. With a total of 534 competitors, the event attracted competitors from all over the State, plus competitors from CA, NV, NM, TX, NY, OR, MI, HI, UT and Mexico. With $1000 on the line for the Black Belt Open Division, sponsored by Waltz Construction, World Class competitors stepped to the challenge, with Bruno Bastos being the victor.

Day 1

Kids Division

The Kids kicked off the weekend’s action with 180 competitors in attendance. The 2010 AZ State Championship was the first time ever the AZSBJJF introduced the Exhibition Match Bracket, which would give kids who would otherwise not compete, a chance to display their skills for their friends, families, and fans filling the bleachers of the gymnasium. Even children who weighed in over their weight limit or were alone in their bracket had an opportunity to shine. Here are the

Kids Team results:

1st - MMA Lab 88 points
2nd - Lion’s Den 86 points
3rd – Relson Gracie 47 points
4th – Siege MMA/Lotus Club 44 points
5th - GD Jiu-Jitsu 42 points

Christopher Broadnax (Blue) vs Issac Doederlein (White)

After the Kids cleared the mat, the stage was set for the Adults to start making their mark. The Blue belt division offered many spectacular battles, being the largest of the Colored belt divisions. The Standout of the Blue belts was Jason Gross (Siege MMA/Lotus Club) who won the Heavy division and then defeated Joshua Young (Rey Diogo/De Brazil) to win the Open Class. A match worthy of World-Class status, the highly anticipated re-match of World Champion Issac Doederlein (Megaton) against Pan-Am Champion Christoper Broadnax (GD Jiu-Jitsu) was an aggressive and technical showdown. The two young and talented athletes faced each other in the Finals of the Feather division at the 5th AZ Open with Doederlein being victorious, but in this weekend’s re-match, Broadnax was able to secure the Gold with a last second sweep.

Jason Gross won the Adult Blue/Heavy and the Open

Day 2

Ben Henderson won the middle and the Open Purple

The 2nd day of the State Championship would start with the Purple, Brown, and Black belts. After Saturday’s showing from the Blue belts, Sunday was expected to offer match-ups that would highlight the whole weekend. The Standout of the Purple belts was WEC Champion, Ben Henderson (MMA Lab), who displayed his athletism by taking the Gold in the Middleweight division and submitting Ryan Heilman (GD Jiu-Jitsu) with a footlock in the Open Class.

Marcelo Nunes won the Brown Super Heavy and the Open

Coming from Brazil, Marcelo Nunes (Drysdale BJJ) had only been in the US for less than a week to visit and train with his instructor, Robert Drysdale, in Las Vegas. The Robert Drysdale pupil had an outstanding showing, winning both the Super Heavy and the Open Class in the Brown belt division, defeating Sal Flores (BJJ Revolution) in the finals. In the Black belt division, UFC Veteran, Hermes Franca (Team Hermes Franca) submitted Jay Pages (Ruffhouse) to claim the Middleweight title. Closing out the weekend was the White belts. Being the Champion of the Adult, Lightweight division would be no easy task as it was the largest bracket of the tournament with 26 competitors. Danny Hilton (Northern AZ MMA) had 5 matches and submitted his opponent, Aaron Wilson (Nava BJJ/Tigers Lair) with a guillotine to win the Title.

Hermes Franca won the Middle Weight Black Belt

Here are the Adult Team Results :

Team results:

1st - GD Jiu-Jitsu 249 points
2nd - MMA Lab 119 points
3rd - Rey Diogo/De Brazil 92 points
4th - Ruffhouse 74 points
5th - Megaton 64 points

Full results available at http://strongvon.com/azstate2010/

Adult Team Results

Bruno Bastos in Action at the Worlds (Top)

With a $1000 cash prize on the line, it’s no wonder the Adult Black Belt Open Class at the 2010 Arizona Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu State Championship is attracting top athletes from around the Nation. So far, the sought after title and its $1000 prize is being pursued by notable competitors such as Nova Uniao stand-out and 2010 World Championship Super-Heavy Semi-Finalist, Bruno Bastos from Texas, 5th Arizona International Open Ultra-Heavy Champion,Guybson Sa (S.A.S./East West MMA) from New York, and 2010 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Master Open Class Champion and 2009 Arizona Master Open Class Champion, Arizona representative Carlos Farias (Lion’s Den/ Roberto Traven). Another well recognized athlete geared to compete is UFC Veteran Hermes Franca (Team Hermes Franca), who, although will not be contending for the cash prize, will be flying from Oregon for his chance to claim the Master Middleweight title. Registration for the 2010 AZ BJJ State Championship closes Wednesday, June 23rd @ 11:59pm and is expected to reach its full capacity of 650 competitors.

For more information or to register please visit http://strongvon.com/azstate2010

T-SHIRTS DESIGNED BY MANY WEAPONS

From: www.manyweapons.com

When you look good, you feel good and when you feel good, you perform good. Many Weapons is helping the 2010 AZ BJJ STATE CHAMPIONSHIP Competitors do all three. A great event deserves a great T-Shirt and once again Many Weapons delivers. Please check out our site often as we release tons of new stuff for the summer @ manyweapons.com

GD Jiu-Jitsu Events will be offering FREE tournament T-Shirts to ALL competitors who Pre-Register for the tournament by the PRE-REGISTRATION DEADLINE on June 18th @ 11:59 PM. Competitors registered AFTER this time will NOT receive a T-Shirt.

The GD JIU-JITSU Events in association with the Arizona State Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (AZSBJJF) is proud to announce the 2010 Arizona BJJ State Championship. The competition will take place on June 26th and 27th at the Westwood High School located at 945 W. 8th St. in Mesa, AZ 85201.

Mackenzie and Kristina representing AZ in the podium

The 2010 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship took place in Long Beach, CA from June 3rd to the 6th. The tournament gathered 2000 competitors from all over the globe, who are pursuing the most prestigious Jiu-Jitsu title in the world. Arizona was able to capture 8 medals! The standout of AZ was Mackenzie Dern (Megaton), who won the blue belt featherweight, and took 2nd in the Open Weight, having a total of 10 matches in two days! Mackenzie received her purple after the tournament.

Other Results:

Megaton

Luciana Dias - 2nd place (Black/Heavy/Female)
Isaac Doederlein – 1st place (Blue/Light Feather)
Mackenzie Dern – 1st place (Blue/Female/Feather) and 2nd place (Blue/Open)

Tucson BJJ

Harold Jones – 2nd place (Brown/Ultra Heavy)

GD Jiu-Jitsu

Issa Able – 2nd place (Blue/Feather)
Dave Margraf - 2nd place (Blue/Ultra Heavy)
Kristina Barlaan – 3rd place (Blue/Female/Feather)

Prior to the Worlds, the IBJJF promoted an event only for the White Belts, the International Novice Championship. AZ competitors brought back to AZ a few medals, check out the results:

John Bender (MMA Lab) – 1st place (White/Middle/Senior 1)
Alex Richmond (Tigers Lair) – 2nd place (White/Super Heavy/Senior 1)
Eric Hutchens (Primero) – 2nd place (White/Heavy/Master)
Kirk Collins (ISMA) – 3rd place  (White/Feather/Master)
Thomas Dwiggins (ISMA) – 3rd place (White/light/Senior 1)

Team USA in Ukraine

The Carpenters train at the Lion’s Den under Carlos Farias and have been consistently giving outstanding performances when competing at both AZSBJJF and out-of-state tournaments. Congratulations to these young fighters for representing Arizona across the Nation and around the World!

Ruffhouse wins the 2nd AZ Kids Cup

The 2nd Arizona Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Kids Cup took place on April 24, 2010 in Mesa at the Westwood High School gymnasium. Even with the 5th AZ Open being 6 weeks prior to the event, the tournament was able to gather close to 200 Kids and Juvenile Competitors. The competition focused completely on providing its competitors with a fun and memorable day, filled with plenty of Jiu-Jitsu action, goodies such as balloon animals and face painting, and the featured prize, a Nintendo Wii, raffled off to one lucky child. Here are some of the results:

Nintendo Wii: Hunter Guest from Fabio Santos AZ in Surprise.

Team Winners:

1st – Ruffhouse (80 points)
2nd – MMA Lab (74 points)
3rd – Relson Gracie (57 points)
4th – Lion’s Den (52)
5th – Siege MMA/Lotus Club (50)

Click Here for Full Results:

Over 650 Competitors are expected!

GD JIU-JITSU Events in association with the Arizona State Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (AZSBJJF) is proud to announce the 2010 Arizona Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu State Championship. The competition will take place on June 26-27, 2010 at Westwood High School located at 945 W. 8th St. in Mesa, AZ 85201.

Gracie Mag will be covering the event. Don’t forget to check out their upcoming May issue which will feature an article on the 5th AZ International Open of BJJ.
The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition will offer kids, juveniles, Adult (Male and Female), Masters and Senior Divisions. Competitors will have the chance to win a Nintendo DS, Flip Video Camcorder, and a 32″ LCD HDTV. There will also be a $1000 Cash Prize for the Black Belt, Open Class Division Champion!

The last tournament was a SOLD OUT event, so be sure to register early! Registration will close when 650 competitors is reached.

This event is sponsored by:Many Weapons, Aggro Fight Wear, AZ Fight Wear (Fight Shop), OTM, Fitwell Chiropractic, Waltz Construction, Silvio’s BBQ, Ironclad Energy Drink, Gracie Mag, Max Sports Grill, Crossfit Southwest and gdjiujitsu.com

For more info or to register, go to the registration website or call (480) 310-5483

AZ State head sponsor Many Weapons

*T-Shirts for all Pre-Registered Competitors

Check out the Competitors’ T-Shirt designed by Aggro Fight Wear. Only the Pre-Registered competitors will receive T-Shirts.

Kids Cup Schedule

• 9:00 am Doors Open
• 9:45 am Rules Presentation
• 10:00 am Kids White Belts – Kindergarten, Pre-Teen and Jr. Teen (Rooster and Feather)
• 10:45 am White Belts – Jr. Teen (Light to unlimited) and Teen
• 11:30 am Yellow and  Orange – Pre-Teen and Jr. Teen
• 12:30 pm Yellow and  Orange  Teen, and Juvenile

Click here for the brackets.