Cole Abate has just made his debut at black belt at the Tough Roll Winter Grand Prix on June 29th, 2023 and he managed to emerge with a hard-earned win. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise seeing as Abate has been one of the top prospects in the sport for several years now, and even won ADCC trials as a 16 year-old. He’s been competing alongside adult black belts for quite some time already and working his way up the ranks, winning at every level. His crowning achievement to date came at the IBJJF World Championship 2023 when he won the brown belt lightweight division with a series of impressive performances.
He was eventually promoted to black belt after a particularly dominant performance at the IBJJF Asian Championship 2023, but hasn’t had the chance to test out his skills until now. Abate was up against David Stoilescu at the Tough Roll Winter Grand Prix 2023 and he was just as impressive as ever, finishing the match with an armbar. Cole Abate didn’t have to make his black belt debut alone though, as another Art of Jiu-Jitsu competitor, Tainan Dalpra; who was competing in the main event. Dalpra also got the win by submission after locking up a brabo choke against Burak Sarman, shortly after Jonnatas Gracie put in a series of solid performances and won all three of his matches at the event to take home gold in the titular grand prix.
Tough Roll Winter Grand Prix 2023 Full Results
Tainan Dalpra defeats Burak Sarman via Submission – Brabo Choke
Nikki Lloyd-Griffiths defeats Anna Rodrigues via Decision – Unanimous
Jonnatas Gracie defeats Servio Tulio via Decision – Unanimous
Vagner Rocha defeats Uros Culic via Decision – Unanimous
Cole Abate defeats David Stoilescu via Submission – Armbar
Viktor Doria defeats Paulo Lima via Decision – Unanimous
Nadia Frankland defeats Bethanii Baron-Heeris via Decision – Unanimous
Henrique ‘Ceconi’ Cardoso defeats Anton Minenko via Decision – Unanimous
The full Tough Roll Winter Grand Prix 2023 event replay, including Cole Abate making his black belt debut, is available to watch on the promotion’s official website.
