2022 featherweight World Champion Isaac Doederlein returned to competition at the Santa Cruz Open for the first time since winning his World title. The Alliance black belt had two matches. In his first match, Isaac scored five points with a sweep and a guard pass and then got the submission with a modified Ezekiel choke. His final was against Zach Kaina of AOJ, who was coming off an impressive Pans performance where he took third in the light-feather division.

Isaac scored the first points of the match with a sweep and Zach answered back with a triangle attempt from an inverted guard position that put Isaac in some danger. Isaac escaped but Zach swept him to tie up the score with about four and a half minutes left in the match. The pivotal moment of the match came off a back take Isaac set up from his guard. He used the transition to the back to set up a match ending collar choke. Isaac’s next tournament will be the 2023 Brasileiros, where he’ll look to put his submission oriented style to the test in his first major championship of the year.

Another athlete that returned to competition after a layoff was Jackson Nagai of CheckMat. The last time Jackson competed was all the way back at the 2021 Worlds. The 2020 Pans silver medalist won a very close match over Victor Silverio by decision in the semifinal and won his final by a staggering 42-2.

2022 Pan Champion Thamara Ferreira won two matches in the black belt open class to take home gold. Her first match was a triangle submission finish and her final was a win over super heavyweight Mayara Custodio of CheckMat. Thamara would return on Sunday to win the no-gi open class with another two victories to improve her record to 4-0 for the weekend. Jonata Gomes of CheckMat was the male open class champion in the gi, winning two fights to claim absolute gold.

Other highly accomplished athletes that competed in Santa Cruz were Nathalie Ribeiro of CheckMat and Jessa Khan of AOJ. Nathalie had two matches in the lightweight division. She won her semifinal with an armbar after scoring thirteen unanswered points. She had another dominant win in the final, winning by a score of 7-0. 2022 Pan Champion Jessa Khan won the light-feather division, submitting her only opponent with a beautifully executed armbar from the guard with just one minute left in the match.

Ronaldo Junior of Atos continued his fantastic 2023 campaign in Santa Cruz in the medium-heavy division. So far this year he’s won gold at the Atlanta, Memphis, & LA Opens. He kicked off his Santa Cruz Open performance with a 20-4 victory over Elder Cruz of CheckMat. Ronaldo found the submission in the final with an Ezekiel from the back after going up 11-2. He outscored his opponents 31-6 in Santa Cruz after another dominant display of his jiu-jitsu.

The no-gi divisions took place on Sunday, where Gabriel Arges was the standout competitor. Arges, who won gold last weekend at the Charleston Open, won the medium-heavy division and the open class this time around. Brasa CTA was the standout team of the event, winning both gi and no-gi titles.

2023 Santa Cruz Open team results:

1. Brasa CTA

2. CheckMat

3. AOJ

2023 Santa Cruz Open No-Gi team results

1. Brasa CTA

2. 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu

3. CheckMat