The IBJJF FloGrappling Grand Prix went down on Friday October 28th in Austin, Texas. We saw two new GP champions crowned in Janaina Lebre and Isaque Bahiense as well as three amazing super fights. In the pre-fight press conference, many of the athletes stated that their main priority was to put on a great performance, and those sentiments reflected in the matches. We saw submissions, sweeps, guard passes, and back attacks in a night of world class jiu-jitsu with some of the best competitors on the scene.

Janaina Lebre Upsets Field of World Champions To Win First Female GP

Coming into the first ever Female Grand Prix, Janaina Lebre was the only competitor who was not a multiple time World Champion. She had a great 2022 season with silver medal finishes at the Europeans and Worlds, but had yet to win a major title at black belt. Janaina’s performance at the first Female GP showed why she’s one of the best female competitors on the planet.

In the opening match of the event, Janaina took on Luiza Monteiro of Atos. The match started with Janaina pulling to the closed guard and looking to wrap the lapel around her own leg, a position she would use throughout the night with great success. Janaina got to the 50/50 where she swept Luiza, which began an exchange of sweeps from the position and brought the score to 6-6. The turning point of the match came when Janaina swept Luiza and was met with a kneebar counter. The submission looked tight and earned Luiza an advantage but Janaina was able to escape, putting the score at 8-6. After the two disengaged and returned to the standing position, Janaina pulled guard and again was able to get the closed guard position, securing the points victory as time expired.

The second match of the evening saw Anna Rodrigues of Dream Art take on Mayssa Bastos of Unity Jiu-Jitsu in a rematch of the 2021 Pan light feather final. With five black belt World titles between them, it was one of the most anticipated matches of the event. Anna would earn two sweeps to defeat Mayssa by points and move on to the final against Janaina.

In a historic match for jiu-jitsu, Janaina Lebre of Gracie Humaita met Dream Art’s Anna Rodrigues for the title of first ever Female GP Champion. Anna started the match by pulling guard and Janaina immediately attacked a strong knee cut with her left knee forward. The threat of the pass forced Anna to expose her back and Janaina quickly pounced on the opportunity. After securing the hooks and the four points, Jana switched to the body triangle and looked to lock in a choke. Anna’s defense was on point, however, and she was able to escape and come on top in Janina closed guard. Anna started to get her game going on top, nearly getting around Janaina’s legs save for a foot in the lapel that prevented the pass points. After recovering from the near guard pass Janaina quickly got back into her game, utilizing a lapel control to stifle additional pass attempts. In a last ditch effort to get the win, Anna fell back on a foot lock that Janaina defended and used to come on top and score sweep points. The match ended 6-0 and gave Janaina Lebre the title of Female Grand Prix Champion.

Dream Art Leader Isaque Bahiense Captures Male Medium-Heavy GP Title

Coming into the medium-heavy GP, Isaque Bahiense made it known that he wanted to put on a show. In his first match of the event he did just that, taking Andre Porfirio down with a kouchi gari to knee tap takedown right in the beginning of the match. The Dream Art World, Pan, and European Champion then worked to pass Andre’s de la riva and single leg x guards. Andre was able to mount some offense via a straight ankle lock attempt from 50/50, but Isaque disengaged and forced Andre to turtle. His relentless pressure ended up earning him a guard pass, where he immediately looked to lock in a kimura submission. After some adjustments to the position, Isaque was able to finish the match with the kimura just over eight minutes in, earning the first submission of the night.

Isaque moved on to the final to face Manuel Ribamar, who had won a close match by one advantage against Ronaldo Junior on the other side of the bracket. The match started with both athletes looking for takedowns. After Isaque nearly hit a well timed outside single leg, Ribamar elected to pull guard just over four minutes into the match. A close pass attempt from Isaque forced Ribamar to expose his back and go to the turtle. Ribamar was able to recover and get back to his closed guard with roughly two minutes left in the match. With one minute left, Ribamar initiated a great sweep attempt, but Isaque timed his counter perfectly and again forced Ribamar to turtle position. Isaque went on to win the GP final by one advantage in a tightly contested match.

Atos Black Belts Luiza Monteiro And Ronaldo Junior Battle Back From Losses To Take Third

Atos Jiu-Jitsu brought two athletes to the IBJJF FloGrappling GP in Luiza Monteiro and Ronaldo Junior. Luiza kicked the night off with her match against eventual champion Janaina Lebre. After dropping the match via an 8-6 score, she moved on to face Mayssa Bastos for the third place match. Mayssa had lost to Anna Rodrigues in her semifinal so both athletes were hungry for a victory. The match started with a double guard pull with Luiza coming on top for an advantage. Mayssa swept but was met with a sweep from Luiza. The remainder of the match saw Mayssa trying to get underneath the hips of Luiza to score with another sweep, but Luiza’s base was solid and she was able to defend every sweep attempt. The match ended with a score of 2-2, 1-0 on advantages for Luiza, who earned the third place trophy.

Ronaldo Junior met Andre Porfirio for the male medium-heavy GP third place match after losing to Manuel Ribmar by one advantage in the semifinal. Ronaldo pulled guard against Ribamar and used a similar strategy against Andre. He utilized a lasso and lapel style control to shut down the passing game and eventually earn a sweep. Once Ronaldo got on top, he unleashed a barrage of pass attempts that Andre did a beautiful job defending. The two disengaged after the pass attempts from Ronaldo and got back to their feet, where Ronaldo scored a takedown. He stacked Andre and went right into a leg drag that again forced Andre to expose his back. This time Ronaldo capitalized with a body triangle control and a bow n’ arrow choke finish.

Johnatha Alves Edges Out Mathias Luna In Razor Close Match

After multiple battles at the colored belt ranks, Johnatha Alves and Mathias Luna finally met for the first time as black belts at the IBJJF FloGrappling GP event. Mathias looked for some early foot sweeps and Johnatha pulled guard and controlled the leg, looking to utilize his de la riva control. He used the de la riva to enter single leg x and then transitioned to 50/50. Johnatha used the 50/50 position to sweep, but the lead didn’t last long. Mathias would answer each of Johnatha’s sweeps with a sweep of his own, leading to a final score of 10-10. The decision was awarded to AOJ’s Johnatha Alves, who mentioned in his post fight interview that his next competition will be at the Worlds No-Gi coming up in December.

Fellipe Andrew Roosevelt Sousa Delivers With Sweeps, Back Attacks, and Submission Attempts

Two of the most dangerous submission hunters in the game met for the second super fight of the night as #1 ranked Fellipe Andrew of Alliance took on Roosevelt Sousa of Fight Sports. Roosevelt came into the match with a fifty pound weight advantage but from a technical standpoint, the match was very even. Fans expected to see the two foot lock masters attack each others feet, and while we did see a few foot lock attempts, we also saw much more. Fellipe and Roosevelt exchanged sweeps, hunted for submissions, and tried to pass each others guards throughout the duration of the match. The conclusion came after Fellipe earned his second sweep. He used the top position to attack Roosevelt’s back, where he was able to secure the hooks and the bow n’ arrow choke finish.

Tainan Dalpra Puts on Technical Masterclass Against Rodrigo Lopes

In the final super fight of the night, 2X World Champion Tainan Dalpra of AOJ met Rodrigo Lopes of Double Five. The two had met before in Tainan’s black belt debut at the 2021 Dallas International Open, where Tainan won via choke just over halfway through the match. Tainan started this match showing his side to side passing prowess after Rodrigo pulled guard. He entered into a leg drag position where he was able to take Rodrigo’s back. After falling off the back, Tainan went into the guard and attempted a triangle, which Rodrigo postured out of. It wasn’t long before Tainan swept from de la riva, got back on top again, and passed the guard with a series of long step passes. He attacked Rodrigo’s far side arm and finished the armbar a little over four minutes into the match. Tainan showcased the continued technical evolution of his game, as he used a well rounded set of techniques to score fourteen points against Rodrigo prior to the armbar finish.

Full results from the IBJJF FloGrappling GP were as follows:

Female Lightweight Grand Prix

Semifinal: Janaina Lebre def. Luiza Monteiro via points, 8-6, 0-1 adv

Semifinal: Anna Rodrigues def. Mayssa Bastos via points, 4-0, 2-0 adv

3rd place match: Luiza Monteiro def. Mayssa Bastos via points, 2-2, 1-0 adv

Final: Janaina Lebre def. Anna Rodrigues via points, 6-0, 1-2 adv

Male Medium-Heavy Grand Prix

Semifinal: Manuel Ribamar def. Ronaldo Junior via points, 0-0, 2-1 adv

Semifinal: Isaque Bahiense def. Andre Porfirio via submission, kimura

3rd place match: Ronaldo Junior def. Andre Porfirio via submission, choke from the back

Final: Isaque Bahiense def. Manuel Ribamar via points, 0-0, 2-0 adv

Superfights

Johnatha Alves def. Mathias Luna via referees decision

Fellipe Andrew def. Roosevelt Sousa via submission, choke from the back

Tainan Dalpra def. Rodrigo Lopes via submission, armbar