Brown Belt Standouts From Day 2 Of The 2023 Pans
Day two of the 2023 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championships was full of incredible performances. Much of the most technical and submission oriented jiu-jitsu on the day came from the brown belt adult male and female divisions. The following competitors put on epic performances to capture gold at the 2023 Pans.
Cole Abate, Lightweight Champion - 5 fights, 4 submissions
AOJ prodigy Cole Abate received his brown belt on the podium at the 2023 Europeans after winning a tough lightweight division. Cole seems to have found a new home at lightweight, putting on some of the best performances of his career thus far in 2023. Lightweight had plenty of highly accomplished athletes, so Cole had some tough opponents throughout the day. He managed to get to the back in his first four fights, finishing chokes in three of them and a triangle in another. In the final, Cole faced Mateus Moraes of Dream Art. It was his toughest match of the day as he won via a single advantage for a near guard pass. In two major tournaments in 2023, Cole now has two lightweight gold medals.
Giovanna Jara, Heavyweight & Open Class Champion - 5 fights, 3 submissions
Giovanna Jara continued her streak of dominance at the 2023 Pans in the heavyweight and open class divisions. Her first match lasted just over 90 seconds. Giovanna used a pass attempt to get to the back, finishing with a bow n’ arrow choke. Her final was against Nia Blackman of CheckMat. The final was an even shorter match as Giovanna took the back and finished her second bow n’ arrow to win her division. In the open class, Giovanna won her first match in dominant fashion, finishing a triangle choke in just over a minute. She won a referee’s decision over Kauane Ramos Da Silva of Fight Sports in the semi's to advance to the final. Giovanna won the open class final by a score of 3-2, passing her opponent’s guard to seal the victory.
Nicholas Maglicic, Super Heavy & Open Class Champion - 6 fights, 4 submissions
The brown belt male open class title belonged to Nicholas Maglicic of Atos Jiu-Jitsu. Nicholas first won gold at super heavyweight, getting a triangle, an armbar, and a points win to take gold in his weight class. He submitted his first two opponents in the absolute division as well, first with a choke from mount and then with an americana using the lapel. His final match was against Rayon Gracie of Renzo Gracie Academy. Nicholas won the match 5-0 after sweeping and passing the guard.
Rafael Silveira, Middleweight Champion - 4 fights, 2 submissions
Another Atos Jiu-Jitsu competitor who took gold was Rafael Silveira. Rafael, who has competed frequently as a lightweight, moved up to middle for the Pans. He had four matches, winning two of them by submission. The final was a close match against Franco Palomino of Unity Jiu-Jitsu. Rafael locked up an omoplata, one of his best attacks, and threatened the submission from there for most of the match. Franco was able to escape, but Rafael got the win on advantages
You can catch the replays from all of the brown belt matches on flograppling.com.