The IBJJF Vitoria Open 2023 took place across the weekend of August 5th and 6th, 2023 and the tournament attracted several elite Brazilian competitors. One of the biggest storylines to emerge from the event was the return of one of the best grapplers on the planet, Mica Galvao. He hasn’t competed on the IBJJF mats in over a year, as he was serving a suspension for failing a PEDs test that was conducted after he won the IBJJF World Championship 2022. Although he was able to compete outside of the IBJJF, he suffered an injury that kept him out of competition for several months earlier in the year.
Galvao made his return to competition in general with a dominant performance just a week ago, and he continued that run by winning gold in both the gi middleweight division and the no gi medium-heavyweight division. Gutemberg Pereira also stepped onto the mats for the first day of the IBJJF Vitoria Open 2023, and he turned out a solid performance to win gold at super-heavyweight by beating Elioenai Braz in the final. Pereira won another gold medal in the gi absolute division, while Braz returned the next day to win gold in the no gi super-heavyweight division. Ruan Alvarenga put in a great performance in the no gi lightweight division too, standing on top of that podium over some stiff competition.
The women’s heavyweight division attracted a lot of talent too, with Aurelie Le Vern winning double gold at that weight and defeating Amanda Magda in the final of the gi edition. Elsewhere Jessica Dantas emerged victorious at light-featherweight in the gi, while Julia Alves was the gold medalist in the lightweight division. None of the women competing were able to stop the undisputed queen of IBJJF competition though, as Gabrieli Pessanha won both the super-heavyweight and absolute division. Peesanha didn’t compete in no gi though, so Eliza Vasconcelos won both of those divisions on the second day.
