The IBJJF Rome Open 2023 took place on October 25th, 2023 and several elite competitors ended up standing on the podium when the results came in. Austin Oranday stood on top of the podium in the absolute division after some great performances saw him win what is traditionally the most impressive prize in any tournament. There was plenty of talented competitors in the heavier divisions too, with Vinicius ‘Trator’ Ferreira winning the gold medal at ultra-heavyweight. The size of the brackets meant that there were high-level grapplers everywhere, particularly in the middleweight division where Lucas Protasio and Max Lindblad shared the top two spots on the podium in that order.
Faris Ben-lamkadem managed to become the champion at medium-heavyweight and it was a testament to his skill that a top competitor like Clay Mayfield had to settle for a bronze medal. Danny Pla won the featherweight division in impressive fashion, and he had to defeat ONE Championship submission grappling veteran Rodrigo Marello in the final. Jonas Andrade won the light-featherweight division, beating out some tough opposition in order to take home the gold medal. There were some stacked brackets in the women’s weight classes at the IBJJF Rome Open 2023 as well, with great matches everywhere.
The featherweight division in particular stands out and even though there were only 3 women competing in it, each of them are elite talents. Astrid Scholin managed to emerge victorious in the bracket after beating Thais Felipe in the final, while the bronze medal went to Zofia Szawernowska. Felipe returned later on in the day to compete in the absolute division, although she had to settle for a bronze medal there. The other absolute bronze medal was won by Nadine Tavares, shortly after she won another bronze medal at lightweight. Maria Claudia was the woman who managed to win that weight class, while it was Salla Simola who won the absolute division. Simola couldn’t get a match in medium-heavyweight
