The IBJJF Lisbon Open 2023 took place on November 4th, 2023 and it attracted some of the best grapplers from all around Europe. There was a ton of action in both the gi and no gi divisions, with both of them taking place on the same day. There were more competitors in the gi and this made for some pretty sizable divisions, with Jhonathan Pessanha being one of the most notable names there. He entered a tough medium-heavyweight division and ended up standing on top of the podium despite the strong competition. Davi de Menezes left with the biggest medal haul from the gi divisions, winning both the heavyweight and absolute divisions.
The no gi divisions attracted some really impressive talent too, with ADCC 2019 veteran Tom Halpin earning a gold medal from the featherweight division. It was Leonardo Goncalves who left as the no gi double champion though, as he was given a default gold medal at super-heavyweight before winning the absolute division. There weren’t too many female competitors at the IBJJF Lisbon Open 2023 unfortunately, but the absolute divisions did end up producing some exciting matches and memorable moments regardless. Rafaela Rosa put in a fantastic performance to win the gi absolute, even more impressive noting that she’s a featherweight competitor.
There were even fewer women in the no gi divisions, and there wasn’t actually any matches in the regular weight classes. There were two women in the absolute division though and that proved to be a match that wouldn’t look out of place on a major promotion. Rosa Walsh and Izabel Seki both entered and in the end it was Walsh who managed to win the match and take home the gold medal. All in all the event was fun from start to finish, and there was plenty of high-level action by the time it had come to an end.
