The IBJJF Rio Open 2023 took place on June 17th and 18th, 2023 and some of the best grapplers from all across Brazil made the journey to compete. Every division was stacked with some truly impressive talent, and there were several exciting moments across each of them over the course of the weekend. Victor Honorio and Wallace Costa left with the biggest achievements of the first day in the gi, as they shared the finals of both the ultra-heavyweight and the absolute divisions together. They split the medal haul equally, with each GF Team representative taking home a gold medal and a silver medal for their efforts.
The medium-heavyweight division attracted a lot of top competitors, with Alex Munis forced to settle for a bronze medal in the division. Joao Pedro Silva de Souza and Wellington Luis shared the final, with de Souza eventually taking home the gold medal. Karen Terra won gold in the featherweight division but ended up with a bronze medal in the absolute division, where Jaine Fragoso won gold after achieving the same feat at lightweight. Terra returned on the second day to win another gold and bronze medal combination in no gi, but it was Suelen Leite who won gold in the absolute this time.
Outside of the women’s divisions, there were several other exciting performances at the IBJJF Rio Open 2023 as well. Carlos Alves won gold in the openweight division after only managing a bronze medal at heavyweight, where Ramiro Leon took gold instead. Leonardo Domingos also won gold in the lightweight division while Igor Carlos Alves da Silva managed to do the same just a little bit heavier at middleweight. There were quite a few competitors in each division and almost all gold medalists in the adult weight classes had to win a few matches in order to take home their prize.
