The 17th edition of the Pan No-Gi took place from Friday, September 29th through Sunday,  October 1st in Fort Worth, Texas. As the second major no-gi event of 2023, there were man highly ranked competitors in Texas hunting for gold medals.

Joao Gabriel Rocha & Pedro Rocha Make The Absolute Final

Brothers Joao Gabriel Rocha and Pedro Rocha came into the Pan No-Gi open class division as the #8 and #3 seeds, respectively. Pedro came into the event looking for his second straight Pan No-Gi title, as he won the heavyweight division in 2022 in phenomenal fashion, winning two of his three matches with his devastating guillotine choke. Joao, on the other hand, hadn’t competed in a major no-gi event since the 2017 Worlds No-Gi, where he took home ultra-heavy and open class silver medals. Both Joao and Pedro accomplished their missions, with Joao defeating thrre highly talented opponents in Elder Cruz, Hunter Colvin, and Felipe Costa on his way to the final. Pedro had quite the run himself, defeating Marcos Carrozzino, Francisco Lo, and Luccas Lira in his matches. Pedro ultimately took home the gold, securing a Pan No-Gi title for the second straight year.

2X World No-Gi Champion Dante Leon Wins Super Heavyweight Gold

Pedigo Submission Fighting’s Dante Leon won his first World No-Gi title in 2019, taking gold in the middleweight division. In 2022, Dante went down to lightweight, capturing his second title in a new division. At the 2023 Pan No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu Championships, Dante surprised everyone by signing up for the super heavyweight division, a category for which Dante is well undersized. Despite the huge size disadvantage, Dante won three matches against high level opponents. His final was against Devhonte Johnson, a Unity Jiu-Jitsu product who won both Worlds and Pans No-Gi in 2021. Dante scored the first points of the final, earning two for sweeping Devhonte. He would maintain that lead for the remainder of the match, capturing his third Pan No-Gi title as a black belt.

Three Champions Hit 100% Submission Rate

Submissions were flying at the 2023 Pan No-Gi throughout the entire event. Three champions stood out, however, as they finished all of their opponents via submission. In the black belt female featherweight division, 2023 Brasileiro silver medalist Adele Fornarino unleashed a pair of beautiful armbars to take home Pan No-Gi gold. Her armbar in the final was perfectly executed from the overhook position, earning Adele her first major no-gi title. Middleweight Deise Leonanjo of Double Five also submitted all of her opponents, scoring three armbars in three fights. Deise has one of the best closed guard armbars in the game and used the highly refined attack to perfection in Texas. The third athlete with a 100% submission rate was Oliver Taza. He came into the middleweight bracket as the #3 seed and submitted four opponents to win his first Pan No-Gi title. He advanced to the final with two heel hooks and a rear naked choke, meeting Kieran Kichuk in his last match. In the final, Taza hit his third heel hook of the day in just fifteen seconds.

Gianni Wins Fifth Title; Junny Wins First

Gianni Grippo competed in his first Pan No-Gi all the way back in 2008 as a juvenile and has been a staple of the tournament ever since. He won the black belt division at Pans No-Gi in 2016 (light), 2017 (feather), 2018 (light), and 2021 (light). Gianni returned to the featherweight division in 2023 as the #1 seed and won three tough matches to take home gold. Edwin “Junny” Ocasio also put on an inspiring performance at the Pan No-Gi. Junny competed in the light-featherweight division, where he won three matches. He hit a heel hook in the quarterfinal, and then defeated his semifinal and final opponents by points.

Visit ibjjf.com for full results from the 2023 Pan No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu Championships.

2023 Pan No-Gi adult male team results:

1. Gracie Barra

2. Alliance

3. CheckMat

2023 Pan No-Gi adult female team results:

1. CheckMat

2. Alliance

3. Double Five

2023 Pan No-Gi juvenile team results:

1. Sainz Team Alpha Miami

2. Art of Jiu Jitsu

3. LEAD BJJ

2023 Pan No-Gi master team results:

1. GF Team - Jiu Art

2. CheckMat

3. LEAD BJJ