The 2022 Sul Americano was a three day event that took place from October 14th through the 16th at the Arena Cel Wenceslau Malta in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Double Grand Slam Champion Gabrieli Pessanha and Brazilian National open class champion Gutemberg Pereira were the standout competitors as they both captured open class gold. The phenomenal individual performances were accompanied by outstanding team performances, namely Gracie Barra, GF Team, and Fratres Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

GF Team’s Gutemberg Pereira entered the Sul Americano with his sights set on an open weight title. The ultra heavyweight has had a fantastic year, most notably winning open class gold at the 2022 Brazilian Nationals. “This tournament was very fun for me because it was literally twenty minutes away from my house and the gymnasium was packed with friends and teammates. I was very excited to compete beside them. I had almost 2 years since last time I competed in Rio. I had 2 matches. In my first match, I had the opportunity to play on top. I connected very well with the smash pass, changing angles to be able to get the back and use the ezekiel choke.”

His opponent in the final was Gabriel Oliveira of Alliance, who had recently won gold at the Curitiba Spring Open, the Sao Paulo Open, and the Vitoria Open. “The final was super fun. My opponent has been evolving very fast. I’ve followed him since his purple belt times and I always liked his style. One of the reasons that I signed up for the tournament was to maybe fight him and other tough guys in the division. The match started very well for me. He pulled guard and I was able to connect a long step very quickly putting him in a bad spot right in the beginning. I kept connecting passes and he turned his back. I connected the back take to score and tried very hard to submit him but I got exhausted trying and he did a great job defending. He started to put a lot pressure on me in the last two minutes of the fight and it was not that fun for me. But I had a very nice grip in the belt and I knew he wouldn’t pass. The fight ended and I got the gold!”

At adult female black belt, the standout competitor was #1 ranked Gabrieli Pessanha. She won two matches at super heavy and three in the open class, going 5-0 on the weekend and furthering her lead as the top ranked female athlete in the sport.

The Fratres Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu team had an amazing showing in the adult black belt divisions. Natan Chueng (lightweight), Leandro Santos (heavyweight), Rider Zuchi (super heavy), Sabatha Lais (medium-heavy), and Amanda Magda (heavyweight) all won gold in their divisions.

2022 Sul Americano adult male team results:

1. Gracie Barra
2. GF Team
3. Alliance

2022 Sul Americano adult female team results:

1. GF Team
2. Gracie Barra
3. Fratres Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu