The IBJJF Los Angeles Open took place across March 11th and 12th, 2023, and the event attracted loads of the most talented grapplers from all across North America to compete. Fellipe Andrew stood out the most over the course of the weekend, as he put in a flawless performance in both the heavyweight division and the absolute division regardless of whether he was wearing a gi or not. Across all four divisions, Andrew managed to take home four gold medals and make it through a particularly tough bracket in the gi absolute.
Johnatha Alves came second in the gi absolute after earning a silver medal in the middleweight division as well, while Elder Cruz and Mateus Rodrigues both stood in third place. Rodrigues came second at ultra-heavyweight and Cruz took home another bronze medal at medium-heavyweight, the same division that Ronaldo Junior won. Kevin Carrasco, Diego ‘Pato’ Oliveira, and Pablo Lavaselli all won gold in their respective gi weightclasses; the three lightest of the event. There was another adult black belt competitor who made it out of the weekend with four gold medals too, as Melissa Stricker Cueto won both gi and no gi at medium-heavyweight and the women’s absolute division.
Amanda Bruse came second in the no gi absolute division and another top female competitor, Thamires Monteiro, won gold in the no gi middleweight division. Along with the huge number of top black belt competitors who managed to win a medal at the IBJJF Los Angeles Open 2023, Cole Abate was also making his debut at brown belt after he was promoted on the podium of the IBJJF European Championship earlier this year. It was a fantastic weekend for the young competitor as he defeated everyone in the lightweight division in gi and no gi, including winning both of his no gi matches by heelhook.
