The IBJJF Austin Winter Open 2025 took place across the weekend of February 22nd and 23rd, 2025, and some of the biggest names in the sport added more medals to their collections. Roberto Jimenez was the man who put on the most impressive performance, as he left with four gold medals from the event. He won the heavyweight and absolute divisions in both gi and no gi, beating several very tough opponents along the way. Cole Abate also got a huge win in the gi, beating Samuel Nagai in the final of the lightweight division. Nagai redeemed himself well though, as he was able to reach the final of the absolute and took silver behind Jimenez.
Daniel Ribeiro also made an appearance at ultra-heavyweight, where he won a gold medal after beating Joao Assonitis in the final. He returned on the second day to win his no gi weight class by beating top contender Declan Moody in the final, with Moody later winning a silver medal in the absolute. The women’s divisions were very busy on both days, including several top prospects competing at brown belt. Helena Crevar won the gi middleweight and absolute divisions, while Laylah Watkins won the lightweight division in the gi and beat Trinity Pun in the final to win that weight class in no gi.
There were no black belt women competing in the no gi brackets at the IBJJF Austin Winter Open 2025, but there were plenty in the gi. Larissa Dias became the double champion when she beat four opponents across the super-heavyweight and absolute divisions. Vitoria Assis took silver in the absolute after getting a default gold at featherweight, and one of the bronze medals there went to Natasha Druggan after she got a default gold at lightweight. Gabi Schuck was the other bronze medallist in the absolute, but she had to settle for silver at heavyweight after Kennedy Franklin beat her in the only match of that division.
