The IBJJF Chicago Spring Open 2023 took place on April 29th and 30th, 2023 and there were plenty of great results from the tournament. One of the most surprising competitors in attendance at the event was legendary two-time ADCC world champion JT Torres. Even more surprisingly was the fact that Torres decided to compete in the gi, where he took home a gold medal in the middleweight division. Shane Fishman was another surprising name to see competing at the event, and he also took home gold in the gi but at medium-heavyweight.
Fishman beat out incredibly tough competition in the final match in the form of Yan Paiva, although Paiva did redeem himself later on in the weekend. Paiva managed to win a silver medal in the absolute division in the gi, and returned on the second day to win gold at his weight in no gi. The only other man that could stop Paiva from having a perfect weekend was Felipe Costa, who not only won gold in the gi absolute division but also at super-heavyweight. Melissa Stricker achieved the same feat of winning the absolute division, but she went without a match at heavyweight and was given a default gold there.
The heavyweight division is where the biggest names were competing on the second day in no gi, as there was a superb final match between Jacob Couch and David Garmo. Couch managed to win gold there and then came back later in the day to win a second gold medal in the absolute division too. All in all it was a great weekend of high-level grappling at the IBJJF Chicago Spring Open 2023 and the fans in attendance were treated to several exciting matches that wouldn’t have looked out of place on the main card of any Who’s Number One event.
