The Alliance San Diego Jiu-Jitsu team brought a strong group of competitors out to Georgia for the Atlanta Fall International Open. #1 ranked adult male black belt Fellipe Andrew and 2021 World Champion Melissa Stricker led the way, winning the male and female open class divisions, respectively.

Fellipe, who had been competing as a super heavyweight throughout 2022, dropped down to heavyweight in Atlanta. At heavy he won two matches to earn his first gold medal of the day. The Alliance standout added three more victories and another gold medal to his tally for the day as he took first in the open class. The two gold medals in the gi were just the start of Fellipe’s weekend. On Sunday, he had four more matches; two at super heavy and two in the open. Feliipe was victorious in all of them, leaving Atlanta with four gold medals.

2021 World Champion Melissa Stricker didn’t have any matches in her weight class in Atlanta so she entered the open class division. Her two wins in the open class gave her an open class gold medal. "I was happy with my performance. I’m starting to get back into the groove and that makes me very happy. I went through difficult times when I got injured so it’s very gratifying to feel back in the game."

One of the most talent rich divisions of the event was the adult male black belt lightweight division. In a bracket that included Kevin Mahecha and Elijah Dorsey, it was Brazilian National Champion Pablo Lavaselli of AOJ that came out on top. He won two matches in Atlanta to add another gold to his 2022 resume. GF Team’s Carlos “Bebeto” Oliveira won gold at light featherweight. “I had two fights. I was feeling great in my fights. I will always train as hard I can for all tournaments, not just the biggest tournaments. I’ll be ready for the next one,” said Bebeto. He also won no-gi gold with another victory the following day.

Medium-heavyweight Lucas Lisboa, whose preparation for the event took place with his Fight Sports team, took home gold in the medium-heavy division. “The semi final was against Alec Baulding, a very strong and technical guy that I had to try to manage every grip of the match. I was able to submit him with a toe hold from the fifty fifty. The final was against Angelo Claiborne, a very good top player who I’ve been watching to see how I can stop his guard passing. In the last 10 seconds I was able to set up an arm bar. I won by ref decision.”

Super heavy champion Davi Cabral of GF Team had two matches and two victories in Atlanta. “Fighting in Atlanta is always really special for me. I have a lot of friends right here and the energy is completely amazing. I felt great at my fights, where I could submit all my opponents from top positions,” explained Davi. “After the 2022 Worlds I am trying to improve my dominant positions like the back, side control, and mount, training with my team at Progresso Jiu-Jitsu and Professor Alexander Trans in Dallas. I always have great people as my family around me and also BNGround that is always helping to achieve my goals in the IBJJF circuit around the US.”

On Sunday September 25th, the no-gi divisions took place. Sam Nagai of CheckMat took home no-gi lightweight gold. "My preparation was really good, I went to Austin to train with the Tackett brothers and “El Monstro” and I want keep competing in no gi!,” exclaimed Sam. Other no-gi gold medalists included Emilio Hernandez, Francisco Cuneo, Italo Moura, and Pedro Rocha.

2022 Atlanta Fall International Open team results:

1. Roberto Traven BJJ
2. Gracie Barra
3. Alliance

2022 Atlanta Fall International Open No-Gi team results:

1. CheckMat
2. Alliance
3. Gracie Barra

2022 Atlanta Fall International Open overall kids team results:

1. CheckMat
2. Gracie Barra
3. Atos Atlanta BJJ