The IBJJF produced entertaining moments all around the world as the IBJJF Fort Lauderdale and Rio Spring Opens 2024 both took place on October 19th and 20th, 2024. There was quite a few surprises in Fort Lauderdale, most notably that Eduardo Granzotto managed to win the gi absolute division despite being a lightweight competitor. He wasn’t able to win his weight class unfortunately, as Kevin Mahecha stood on top of the podium there. Featherweight Sebastian Serpa won a bronze medal in the absolute as well but he recorded the same finish in his weight class, where Cleison Gabriel took home the gold medal.
Lucas Brito also won gold in the middleweight division, while Larissa Dias managed to win the only women’s match against Amanda ‘Tubby’ Alequin to win the absolute division. The second day of the Fort Lauderdale Open 2024 was equally exciting, and Achilles Rocha stood out for a flawless performance where he won both the heavyweight and absolute brown belt no gi divisions. The biggest storylines undoubtedly came out of the middleweight division at black belt though, as there were multiple elite competitors on the podium. Natan Chueng beat Luiz Paulo in the final to win gold, while the bronze medal spots were occupied by Lucas Brito and MMA legend Gesias Cavalcante.
Although there were great moments in Fort Lauderdale, the IBJJF Rio Spring Open 2024 attracted even more top talent. The gi ultra-heavyweight division was packed with elite competitors and although Antonio Braga Neto stood on top of the podium, he had to get past Anderson Kauan in the semi-final followed by Luis Oliveira in the final. Kauan returned on the next day to compete at the same weight in no gi, and this time he took home the gold medal after beating Antonio de Padua in the final. Welerson Goncalves also competed on both days, winning the no gi light-featherweight division and taking a silver medal in the gi edition of his weight class.
Lucas Alves was another big name who entered both brackets available to him, and he won the gi heavyweight division before getting silver at super-heavyweight in no gi. The no gi brackets also played host to Iago Duarte and Ary Farias, who won gold medals at heavyweight and featherweight respectively. There were quite a few top female BJJ competitors in the gi in Rio too, and Gabrieli Pessanha managed to stand out even among them. She’s already established she’s the top female gi competitor in the world over the last few years and she demonstrated exactly why, winning both the super-heavyweight and absolute divisions.
She beat Stefhanie Costa in the final of both divisions, and the semi-final of the absolute saw her beat the heavyweight champion Amanda Magda. The other bronze medalist in the absolute was Maria Claudia, and was coming off a silver medal in the lightweight division. The woman who beat Claudia there and came away with the gold medal was Maria Delahaye, while Jessica Dantas emerged as the light-featherweight champion. One of the biggest matches came in the final of the medium-heavyweight division though, and Giovanna Carneiro was able to beat Alexia Arantes in order to win gold. All in all, both the IBJJF Fort Lauderdale and Rio Spring Opens 2024 delivered plenty of entertainment for the fans watching.
