For the fifth time in the organizations history, the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation returned to Australia for the 2022 Pan Pacific Jiu-Jitsu Championships. Held at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre, this two star event is the premier tournament in Australia and draws the top teams and athletes from the land down under. Australian Elite Team, who brought 107 gi competitors and 68 no-gi competitors had a great performance and took home gi and no-gi first place trophies. This edition of the event also saw highly accomplished athletes return to competition, namely Tomoyuki Hashimoto and Pablo Lavaselli.

Pan, European, and Asian Open Champion Tomoyuki Hashimoto returned to competition for the first time since the 2022 Worlds back in June. As one of the premier guard players in the rooster weight division, Tomoyuki looked to rebound from his loss at the Worlds. “I lost by DQ at the Worlds so I had bad feelings about competition. But this time I could show my good performance and I got gold, so I am happy now,” explained Tomoyuki. “I had two matches and two submissions. I used my top game and bottom game in my two fights. I could feel my growth. It was good.” Now Tomoyuki will begin preparation for his next challenge, this time without the kimono. “I will compete next at the No-Gi Worlds. So after this trip I will train no-gi more. I will try to improve as much as possible and then next year I will compete at the Europeans. So I’m trying to be better in the gi also. I enjoy the game and the process leading up to it.”

Current #1 ranked lightweight gi athlete Pablo Lavaselli jumped all the way up to medium-heavy in Australia. 2022 has seen Pablo win gold at Brazilian Nationals, American Nationals, and Jiu-Jitsu CON. In addition to his phenomenal performances on the mat, Pablo also relocated to Costa Mesa, California to train at the Art of Jiu Jitsu academy alongside Tainan Dalpra, Johnatha Alves, and many other champions. “It’s been four incredible months at AOJ and I’m learning a lot. But if you think about it, the time is still very short. I’m already making a lot of changes in my game, trying to be a pro-active guard player and getting better at passing. We are aware that it’s a long process and still needs training time to be developed. Next year, I will be competing in a lot of opens as I’m currently doing now and I will do my first Europeans and Pans as a black belt.”

The female open class champion in Australia was Nikki Lloyd-Griffiths of Immersion Mixed Martial Arts, who turned in one of the best performances of the event. She competed in the medium-heavy and the open class divisions, winning all her matches by submission. “I had one match in my weight division with a submission by armbar. I then had two more matches in the open weight with an armbar and and a knee bar for double gold in the gi. My next comp will be the IBJJF No-Gi Worlds at the end of the year.”

Ariel Tabak of Cicero Costha International took second in the lightweight division in the gi but came back to the open class in search of gold. “I had four matches total with one submission. The weight class was a small division where I had two bouts. As for the open class, I honestly had a very good draw for my side of the bracket. My first bout was a bye and in my second bout I had a medium-heavyweight guy from Alliance. Then my final was against a super heavyweight from Gracie Barra. I was happy with the fact that I was able to take out a medium-heavyweight and a super heavyweight in the same run, as a new light weight. My guard retention felt on point, as well as my berimbolos. This was my first open weight since 2017 as a purple belt too. So it felt good to remind myself that I can jump in with the big boys and do okay. My next IBJJF competition will be the Europeans in January.”

Duke Didier of Australian Elite Team won the no-gi open class with three victories. After losing in the ultra heavy division, Duke bounced back in impressive fashion in the open class, getting a submission win in the final via armbar.

2022 Pan Pacific Jiu-Jitsu Championship team results:

1.   Australian Elite Team

2.   Gracie Barra

3.   Art of Jiu Jitsu

2022 Pan Pacific Jiu-Jitsu Championship No-Gi team results:

1.   Australian Elite Team

2.   De Been 100% Jiu-Jitsu

3.   Absolute MMA Australia

2022 Pan Pacific Jiu-Jitsu Championship Kids team results:

1.   Gracie Barra

2.   Australian Elite Team

3.   High Rollers