JUNE 28, 2019, the Las Vegas Convention Center was the home for this year’s International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) American National Championship, one of the biggest events of the most well-established federations in the sport. Although the biggest stars skipped the tournament, the championship did raise the interest of a few big names, particularly from the Atos Jiu-Jitsu camp, who came out with some of the team’s heavy hitters such as Lucas Pinheiro, Pedro Mendes, Michael Liera Junior, and Nikki Sullivan.
Out of the adult black belt divisions, two names stood out the most for us, namely Ares Jiu-Jitsu athlete Alef Brito, who came out on top of a very tough lightweight division, as well as Hawaiian born competitor Hunter Ewald. A prodigy in the lower belt divisions, Hunter has had a turbulent road at black belt due to injuries, it was good to see him in top form again at a big event, beating some very tough opponents on his way to the podium, where he closed the middleweight division with Liera Junior. Below are the final results of the adult black belt divisions.
AMERICAN NATIONALS BLACK BELT RESULTS
Male / Light-featherweight:
Pedro Dias def. Lucas Pinheiro by advantages (2×2 pts)
Male / Featherweight:
Kennedy Maciel def. Richar Nogueira by decision (2×2 pts)
3rd Place:
Pedro Mendes
Thiago Cintra
Male / Lightweight:
Alef Brito def. Paulo Gabriel by 4×2 pts
3rd Place:
Rodrigo Freitas
Johnny Tama
Male / Middleweight:
Jaime Canuto def. Guthierry Barbosa by 2×0 pts
3rd Place:
Celso Ricardo
Nathan Mendelsohn
Male / Medium-heavyweight:
Michael Liera Jr. closed the division with Hunter Ewald
3rd Place:
Mateo Tanzera
Vinicius Garcia
Male / Heavyweight:
Fellipe Trovo def. Guilherme de Lima by Ezekiel choke
3rd Place:
Melor Sturua
N/A
Male / Super-heavyweight:
Fellipe Andrew def. Wellington Peroto by Botinha footlock
Male / Ultra-heavyweight:
Juan Cleber Souza def. Thiago Macedo by advantages (0x0 pts)
3rd Place:
Marcus Guedes
John Hansen
Male / Open-weight:
Fellipe Andrew def. John Hansen
3rd Place:
Guthierry Barbosa
Vinicius Garcia
Male / Ultra-heavyweight:
Juan Cleber Souza def. Thiago Macedo by advantages (0x0 pts)
3rd Place:
Marcus Guedes
John Hansen
Female / Lightweight:
Gabi McComb def. Nathalie Ribeiro
3rd Place
Vanessa Wexler
Nikki Sullivan
Female / Middleweight:
Raquel Canuto def. Elizabeth Exell
Female / Medium-heavyweight:
Vedha Toscano def. Melissa Cueto
3rd Place
Danielle Alvarez
Female / Super-heavyweight:
Claudia Doval def. Talita Nogueira
3rd Place
Elizabeth Mitrovic
Male / Open-weight:
Nathalie Ribeiro def. Claudia Doval
3rd Place:
Nikki Sullivan
Gabi McComb
