The third major no-gi championship of 2023, the European No-Gi, took place this past weekend at the PalaPellicone in Lazio, Italy. CheckMat was the standout team of the event, led by fantastic performances from athletes of all belt ranks. The team placed first for adult male, adult female, and master categories.

Shay Montague of ECJJA, who took gold at the Brasileiro No-Gi in his black belt debut, won his second straight event at Europeans No-Gi. Shay competed in the rooster weight division, where he won both of his matches via submission. Another athlete who had a 100% submission rate was Adele Fornarino of Atos. Coming off a brilliant performance at the Pan No-Gi, Adele showed once again that she’s a force to be reckoned with in the division.

“I always love competing in Rome. It’s such a beautiful country. I was super excited to be a part of an amazing division,” explained Adele. "I managed to get a fast sub in my semi finals to make it in to the finals. I had one of my best mates in the finals which is always difficult but we had agreed that we were going to have a good scrap and put on a good show and that’s what we did. I managed to get an overhook armbar from guard in the finals to take the win. It was very tough fighting one of my really close friends but we still have all the love and respect for each other at the end of the day.”

Just like Adele, Edwin “Junny” Ocasio also entered the Europeans No-Gi off of a Pan No-Gi title. We caught up with Junny, who shared his thoughts on his performance.

“My matches in Rome were very tough. In my first match my eye got opened up pretty badly. I was able to stay very focused because this was a major tournament. Every fight was a final. My final match was very physical. My opponent came to fight. I was able to catch him with an armlock to capture the No-Gi European title! I am happy I was able to get my second major title. Now, I am just focused on No-Gi Worlds.”

One of the most talent rich divisions of the tournament was middleweight, where athletes such as Mateusz Szczecinski, Tommy Langaker, Tarik Hopstock, and Lucas Protasio were among the elite of the category. After four tough matches, it was Tommy Langaker of Nova Uniao who emerged victorious.

The male open class champion was Heikki Jussila of Helsigin Paini-Miehet. “I had a marathon of eight matches and eighty minutes total. I wish I could have performed better but when the opponents are tough and skilled it's difficult to do more, so overall I would say I had hard matches,” explained Heikki. “I'm very satisfied with the results. As far as I know it's the first open weight male gold from Europeans No-Gi for my country, Finland, so it's also a testament to our whole community of hard working athletes working together beyond gym borders.”

2023 Pan No-Gi Champion Roberta Ribeiro of Double Five returned for another major nogi event, where she won yet another gold medal. Roberta talked about her day in Italy, stating, “Unfortunately I didn’t have a fight in my category, so I went for the absolute and had three fights, finishing the first and winning the other two on points. I was very happy with this result after winning weight and absolute at the Pan as well. I’ve been training hard in no-gi this year and I’m going to train even harder for the next championship. The focus now will be on the World No-Gi Championships and I intend to fight in a few CBJJ opens before then. I’d like to thank my master Tatu for always supporting me and fighting with me. We have a connection during fights that is incredible to be a part of. I’m very grateful for everything he has done and does for me!”

For full results from the 2023 European No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu Championships, please visit ibjjf.com/results.

2023 European No-Gi adult male team results:

1. CheckMat

2. Icon Jiu-Jitsu Team

3. ECJJA

2023 European No-Gi adult female team results:

1. CheckMat

2. ECJJA

3. Jungle BJJ

2023 European No-Gi juvenile team results:

1. ZR Team

2. CheckMat

3. Gracie Barra

2023 European No-Gi master team results:

1. CheckMat

2. Gracie Barra

3. GF Team - Jiu Art