The IBJJF returned to Lisbon this past weekend for the Lisbon International Open with gi and no-gi divisions for juvenile, adult, and masters competitors. The two top teams at the event were Gracie Barra and CheckMat. Gracie Barra placed first in the gi and second in no-gi while CheckMat took home the no-gi title and placed second in the gi. The following athletes put on great performances in Portugal.

Alexandre Machado Association’s Pedro Cadete won the adult male black belt open class. Pedro battled through a sixteen person bracket to take gold. “In the division I didn’t start in the best way and ended up losing, but I knew I could do much better and I went to the absolute just to give my best. There were four fights against very good and experienced opponents. I was prepared as I’ve been training a lot, and the strategy was done with excellence.”

2021 brown belt World Champion Rafaela Rosa of CheckMat won the adult female open class. While she did not have any matches in her division, she won two in the open class to claim gold. “With no opponents in my division, I went for the open class. I had two tough matches with heavier division opponents. It always feels good to fight in Portugal with all the support and love from teammates and friends.”

Gracie Barra heavyweight Sean Coates helped propel his team to a gi title with a gold medal performance. "I had six fights in the IBJJF Lisbon Open and won five of them, four by submission. I felt good going into the competition and my mindset felt strong. I said to myself before competing that my aim was to get double gold with all submissions, and although I fell short of both of those goals, I have no regrets and gave it everything I had. I've made some big improvements since I got my black belt, and even more so in the last few months. I will be at the IBJJF London Open in a couple weeks and the Europeans in January to improve on the bronze I got last year. I'm training as hard as I ever have and luckily I have an incredibly strong competition team at Gracie Barra Nottingham, made even stronger for competition training camps when we are joined by some of the best black belts in Europe from the wider GB Team, all overseen by Professor Victor Estima.”

Roger Gracie Academy black belts also had a great showing in Lisbon, namely Oscar Gugala and Faris Ben-lamkadem. Oscar won two matches in the middleweight division and submitted both of his opponents including a cross collar choke from the mount reminiscent of his professor Roger Gracie. In his black belt debut, Faris has two matches and two submissions at medium-heavy.

No-Gi divisions also took place on Saturday October 1st. Lukasz Michalec of Zenith BJJ - Poland won the open class with two victories after placing second in the ultra heavy division for a 3-1 record on the day.

2022 Lisbon International Open team results:

1. Gracie Barra
2. CheckMat
3.  PSLPB Cicero Costha

2022 Lisbon International No-Gi Open team results:

1. CheckMat
2. Gracie Barra
3. Leao Marinho BJJ