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

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.

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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:

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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.
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*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.

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The World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Cup took place in the Abu Dhabi International Tenis Complex in Abu Dhabi, UAE on April 15, 16 & 17 of 2010. The event had over 300 of the best jiu-jitsu competitors in the world competing for $150,000 in cash prizes. Trials were held all over the world for this competition, and Issa Able, who won the Blue Light and the Open Class (7 matches) during the U.S. West Coast Trials, represented GD Jiu-Jitsu/Nova Uniao in Abu Dhabi. Issa ended up taking 3rd place in the Blue/Light weight Division, and he lost in the quarter finals of the Open class accumulating a total of 10 matches in 2 days,with the final record of 8-2 with 5 submissions.
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Carlos Farias brought 2 medals back to AZ

The 2010 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship took place in Irvine, CA from April 8th to the 11th. The largest tournament in IBJJF history gathered over 2800 competitors from all over the world. Arizona competitors were able to win over 40 medals! The standouts from Arizona were: Carlos Faria (Lion’s Den), who won the Black/Master Open Class and placed 3rd in the Master/Ultra Heavy (8 matches), Kristina Barlaan (GD Jiu-Jitsu), who won the Blue/Female/Feather division and took 3rd in the Open Class, accumulating a total of 9 matches in one day, and Phil Brown (GD Jiu-Jitsu), who had the most matches (total of 6) to win his division in the Blue/Master/Middle. More pictures will be available soon. Here are the full results:
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Alex from Tigers Lair took home the 32" LCD TV

Although the beautiful 3.5″ medals were a great reward for competing and placing, 3 lucky competitors were able to win the special raffle prizes offered at the 5th AZ Int’l Open:

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