The IBJJF Orange County Summer Open 2024 took place on July 13th and 14th, 2024 and there was plenty of fun matches going down. Out of all the teams who competed at the event, it was Checkmat who won the team trophy on both days. Art of Jiu-Jitsu was right behind them in second place, particularly in the no gi brackets where there was only a small gap between the two teams. They both had their fair share of young prospects and colored belt competitors but both teams were led by elite black belts who managed to put on some good performances.
Checkmat managed to win both black belt absolute divisions in the gi, with Matheus Luna in particular standing out. Luna beat Alef Brito to win gold at middleweight and won a tough absolute bracket to take home two gold medals, while fresh black belt Anabel Lopez won a default gold at heavyweight before taking a hard-earned gold in the absolute. Patricia Fontes also represented Checkmat in the gi and she won the only match of the light-featherweight division to take the gold medal. They didn’t get quite as much success on the second day, but Jackson Douglas won the ultra-heavyweight division and the absolute division.
Douglas also put on a gi for the first day of the IBJJF Orange County Summer Open 2024, where he stood on top of the podium at the super-heavyweight division. Art of Jiu-Jitsu took the female absolute division on the second day, as Maria Vicentini earned a pair of default golds there and at heavyweight. Dorothy Dao also represented the team well in no gi, winning the only match in the featherweight division. AOJ had other top competitors in the gi divisions though, as Guilherme Fernandes managed to come away with a gold medal at featherweight.
