The IBJJF Los Angeles Winter Open 2025 took place on March 1st and 2nd, 2025, with a ton of talent stepping on the mats. Checkmat and Art Of Jiu-Jitsu both stood out among the teams competing, as Checkmat won the team trophy in both gi and no gi and AOJ won bronze and silver respectively. A lot of AOJ’s talent was concentrated at the black belt level, and several of their competitors actually shared the final with each other. Gustavo Ogawa and Jefferson Fagundes won gold and silver in the gi featherweight division, while the slightly heavier weight classes featured their teammates battling through even tougher brackets.
Guilherme Fernandes and Cole Abate won gold and silver at lightweight by beating two incredibly talented grapplers in the semi-finals, bronze medalists Joao Mendes and Eduardo Granzotto. Middleweight saw Fabyury Khrysthyan standing on top of the podium after yet another all-AOJ final, and the silver medal went to Pablo Lavaselli. Standing next to them with a bronze medal was Johnny Tama, a testament to the level of talent on display at the IBJJF Los Angeles Winter Open 2025. Khrysthyan actually became the double champion in the gi after winning the absolute division, where his teammate Francisco Papasidero took silver after coming second to Vinicius ‘Trator’ Ferreira at ultra-heavyweight.
Zach Kaina also represented AOJ very well with a gold medal in the light-featherweight division, beating fellow top contender Roiter Lima in the final. It was Elder Cruz who led the way for Checkmat at balck belt with a silver in the gi super-heavyweight division and a bronze in the absolute, before coming back for a gold medal in his weight class on the second day. The no gi divisions were pretty thin on the ground and the only other big name was Julian Espinosa, who won both the lightweight and absolute divisions to become the no gi double champion.
There was interesting matches elsewhere too, particularly at heavyweight where Paulo Merlin got revenge against Nolan Stuart in the final to take home the gold medal. The roosterweight division also played host to one of the best competitors in the world at that weight, Everton Teixeira, who stood on top of the podium. The women’s divisions were stacked with talent too, although unfortunately there weren’t any black belts competing in no gi. There was no double champion in the gi either, but that was because it came down to an entertaining pair of matches between Maria Vicentini and Melissa Stricker.
Vicentini and Stricker split their matches at the IBJJF Los Angeles Winter Open 2025, taking gold and silver respectively at super-heavyweight and switching places in the absolute. The absolute podium was rounded out by a pair of top ATOS black belts, as Amanda Bruse and Nadia Frankland each took home bronze medals there. The lighter weight classes played host to some of the best in the world too, with Mariana Rolszt taking home the title in the lightest division at roosterweight. It was yet another AOJ representative who won gold in the featherweight division, as Emily Nicholson was another important part of her team’s performance over the weekend.
