The IBJJF Virginia Open 2025 took place on March 1st and 2nd, 2025 and there was plenty of fun matches on both days. Alexandre Manara was the double champion in the gi on the first day, after getting a default gold at ultra-heavyweight and winning a tough absolute bracket. His counterpart in no gi was Devhonte Johnson, who won the same two divisions on the second day. They weren’t the only men to come away with two gold medals though, as Angelo Claiborne won the gi medium-heavyweight division and the gi heavyweight division. His teammates did well in the gi too, with Elijah Dorsey winning gold at middleweight and Malachi Edmond doing the same at featherweight.
Cory Walker was another gold medalist from Team Lloyd Irvin and although he only had one match to win at roosterweight, Tadiyah Danforth is an incredibly tough opponent. There were top competitors everywhere in the gi divisions in fact, with Arthan Bandeira standing out by winning gold at heavyweight. Maria Malyjasiak won double gold and although her heavyweight title was won by default, she had to beat some serious talent to win the absolute. Vannessa Griffin was her biggest opposition and she ended up with a silver medal there after winning gold at middleweight; where Graciele Del Fava also stood on the podium in third place.
Beatrice Jin also competed in the gi absolute and took home a bronze medal there, but she found much more success on the second day of the IBJJF Los Angeles Winter Open 2025. She won gold in both the medium-heavyweight and absolute divisions that time around, leaving with a perfect record in no gi for the weekend. Sean Yadimarco also tested himself in the no gi brackets on the second day but he had some incredibly tough opponents to overcome. He had to settle for silver in a two-man division with Claiborne at heavyweight and another silver medal in the absolute behind Johnson.
