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The Betim International Open was held on Saturday July 9th and Sunday July 10th. The Minas Gerais town hosted gi and no-gi events where many of the areas biggest and best teams came together to test their skills. Double Five, CheckMat, GF Team, Nova União, and PSLPB Cicero Costha all brought strong teams to the event. It was Gracie Barra, however, that came out on top, fueled by strong gi and no-gi performances from Servio Tulio and Marcelo Gomide, among many others.

The gi event took place on Saturday July 9th, where there were many outstanding individual performances. Marcelo Gomide of Gracie Barra took home open class gold. “I fought in the super-heavy weight division and I ended up in second place, but I came back more motivated to fight the absolute. I had four very tough fights that were decided in the details with great athletes.” Fernanda Mazelli of Striker JJ was the female open class champion in the gi. “My expectations were the best possible. I am very happy with the performance. More and more I'm fighting with a forward game. I'm looking for first place in the IBJJF ranking.”

On Sunday, Natalia Zumba was the female standout of the no-gi event. “I won via leg lock in the semi-finals and the final was against Fernanda Mazelli. The last time we fought was last year at the South Americans in the finals of the open weight. She won and now I had the chance to improve my game and fight against her again. I respect her a lot. I was a blue belt when I saw her fighting as a black belt years ago, so it was a pretty big deal to win this fight today. Now I'm focusing on the next challenges of no-gi at Vitoria Open, Brazilian National, Pan Ams and Worlds.” Leonardo Lemos of Gracie Barra won the male no-gi open class after three hard fought victories.

Gracie Barra’s Servio Tulio won the no-gi medium-heavy division on Sunday. “I had two fights! The first one I did a nice back take after putting a lot of pressure to pass. I finished the fight with a rear naked choke. The final was similar but my opponent defended very well and I couldn’t get his back. I ended up winning by three advantages. I put pressure for ten minutes and I was impressed with the defensive guard my opponent had. My main goal now is to gain some weight and stay at medium-heavy weight. I will be fighting Brazilian Nationals No-Gi medium-heavy and open weight.”

2022 Betim International Open team results:

1.   Gracie Barra

2.   GF Team

3.   CheckMat

2022 Betim International No-Gi Open team results:

1. Gracie Barra
2. GF Team
3. Double Five