On July 1st and 2nd, the second edition of the Betim Open took place in Brazil. The gi and no-gi event had standout performances from athletes representing Dream Art, Alliance, Gracie Barra, and many other prominent teams. Gracie Barra took home top honors, winning both gi and no-gi titles.

Two weekends ago, at the 2023 Rio Open, Dream Art’s Pedro Silva and Guilherme Fernandes made their black belt debuts. Both won gold in Rio and carried the momentum from that event into the Betim Open. Pedro fought in the medium-heavyweight division.

“I had two fights this weekend, winning both of the fights by submission. One was with a choke from the back and the other was by loop choke, winning the fights without conceding any points or advantages. I was able to show my aggressive style of jiu-jitsu, always looking for the submission.”

Featherweight Guilherme Fernandes also spoke about his performance, stating “It was a good tournament. I displayed my game playing guard and passing, always searching for submissions. I had three fights, winning two by submission.” The young Dream Art black belts have showed tremendous promise thus far at black belt, adding even more talent to their respective divisions.

Another athlete who was promoted to black belt following a tremendous brown belt campaign was Helder Junior of Fratres Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Helder won the brown belt ultra heavyweight division at the 2023 World Championships with four fights and a 100% submission rate. He spoke about his black belt debut in Betim.

“This weekend in my IBJJF black belt debut tournament, I had four fights and three submissions in the open class division. My next tournament is the BJJ Pro São Paulo. For this year I want to fight in as many opens in Brazil as possible. For next year I want to go to the European Championships in January. I won all the Grand Slam events in the color belts and my new objective is to do the same at black belt.”

On Sunday, Ruan Alvarenga of Alliance returned to competition without the gi. He spoke about his stellar performance in his return to competition. "It was great fighting in the IBJJF and this time close to home. I managed to finish my two fights from the back, the first in twenty seconds and the last in less than two minutes. I’m very happy and I hope this year I can compete at European No-Gi, Brazilian National No-Gi, and Mundial No-Gi.”

The other open class champions at the Betim Open were Maria Barboza (gi absolute), Guilherme Lambertucci (no-gi absolute), and Eliza Vasconcelos (no-gi absolute).

2023 Betim Open team results:

1. Gracie Barra

2. GF Team

3. Nova Uniao

2023 Betim Open No-Gi team results:

1. Gracie Barra

2. GF Team

3. Jiu Art