The Orlando Summer Open took place on Thursday July 20th and Friday July 21st at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida. With the Pan Kids taking place in the days following the Orlando Summer Open, there were plenty of high level black belts who made the trip to Florida to both compete and coach.

Team Lloyd Irvin brought 18 competitors to Pan Kids and they also brought some of their best black belt athletes. The standout of the gi divisions was Elijah Dorsey, the 2023 European bronze medalist. Elijah spoke about his efforts in the lightweight and open class divisions, where he won double gold with a 100% submission rate.

“I was very eager to get back onto the competition seen since Worlds. I couldn’t wait to display a bit of what I’ve been working on. I had two matches in the lightweight division, finishing both matches by submission. In my first match I finished with an ankle lock. In the final, I finished with a toe hold. I then joined the open class with my teammate Angelo Claiborne. I had a goal this tournament to get my first double gold as a black belt, and was able to accomplish that. I ended my first match with a bow and arrow and my second match with an armbar. I felt good about my performance and the way I approached the competition. For the past few weeks, I’ve been getting told repeatedly to not bypass any submissions, so I strived to do that and excecuted successfully. Shoutout to Angelo Claiborne who made it to the open class final with me.”

Angelo Claiborne started his Orlando Summer Open campaign by winning gold in the medium-heavy division. He discussed his matches in his weight class.

“In my first match I pulled, got a sweep, and started passing. I got the a pass and went for a wrist lock. In my second match I pulled and then he got me in 50/50. He swept me and then I got my two back. I then passed and got an advantage for almost taking the back.”

He would go on to win three additional medals, placing second in the gi open class, third in no-gi medium-heavy, and second in the no-gi absolute.

Vannessa Griffin was the third Team Lloyd Irvin representative to win a gold medal at the Orlando Summer Open. She had one match at medium-heavy and spoke about her performance and competing alongside her students and teammates.

“I’ve been working and traveling a lot lately so I was feeling run down. But since some of my students were competing in Pan Kids I figured I would join them! I also love getting to compete closer to home with my teammates because I was just doing Grand Slams all year and sometimes it’s just a few of us out there. It’s always great to see my teammates do so well too! Elijah and Angelo have been working hard since we were all teenagers and it’s an added bonus to see all of it paying off. The match itself went pretty well. I had a few good passing positions but wasn’t able to get past her legs. Instead I got in half guard and she gave me her arm to go to the gift wrap. I grabbed it and immediately went to the back from the half guard and slapped on a quick choke. It’s pretty much my staple transition.”

Jorge Barba of CheckMat won two matches on Friday to win no-gi open class gold. Thamires Monteiro, another CheckMat athlete, also won no-gi open class gold after defeating her only opponent in the division.

2023 Orlando Summer Open team results:

1. Gracie Barra

2. R1NG BJJ

3. Fabin Rosa Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

2023 Orlando Summer No-Gi Open team results:

1. Gracie Barra

2. CheckMat

3. Carlson Gracie Team