The IBJJF Baton Rouge Open 2024 took place on May 18th and 19th, 2024 and it featured several top competitors across multiple weight classes. There were two men in particular who stood out though, as they both won several medals across both days and actually crossed paths with one another more than once. Those two men were Austin Oranday and Clay Mayfield, and their rivalry took centre-stage all weekend long as they battled it out across both days of the event. Their first match took place in the gi medium-heavyweight division, and Oranday managed to win there in order to take home the gold medal while Mayfield settled for silver.
They then made it to the final of the gi absolute division together again, and Oranday got another win over Mayfield that saw him become the double champion on the first day. They both returned on the second day to compete in the no gi medium-heavyweight division and this time it was Mayfield’s turn to take home the gold medal at Oranday’s expense. They both competed in the no gi absolute division as well but didn’t share the final this time around, as Mayfield won the bronze medal behind Oranday as the silver medalist and ultra-heavyweight champion Diego Ramalho as the champion.
Although these two men were seen more than most over the course of the IBJJF Baton Rouge Open 2024, there were other elite grapplers hitting the mats alongside them. Thiago Macedo won gold in the featherweight division and Danny Maira had to settle for silver at lightweight behind Vitor Sotini. The women’s divisions were pretty thin on the ground unfortunately and there wasn’t a single no gi match above blue belt, although there were some good matches in the gi. Alexa Yanes won the only black belt match against a bigger opponent to take home gold in the absolute division after she received a default gold at featherweight.
