Jiu-Jitsu is Back!
Correction, IBJJF is back.
Although other fight organizations and Submission Hunter Pro alike have been working sleepless nights putting together incredible shows back to back, the Jiu-Jitsu community was still anxiously waiting to put their pricey IBJJF membership to use.
The 2020 competition season was put to a halt back in March and re-opened this past
weekend at the Austin Open. Registration for this event closed almost immediately after the initial announcement. We witnessed Jiu-Jitsu royalty both competing and coaching. Ronaldo Junior walking out with double gold, Manuel Ribamar snatching the gold in Middle Heavy with a nasty Kimura, Rafael Formiga coming in hot from winning the F2W belt the night before, to winning double gold; and GUI Mendes himself coaching rising stars Jessa Khan, Tainan Dalpra, and Johnatha Alves to victory. Several familiar faces from Friday’s SOLD OUT Submission Hunter event in San Antonio went on to continue the fight at Austin Open. (Myself included)
Although COVID is still not gone from our lives, it was exhilarating to see the Jiu-Jitsu community hungrier than ever.
Coming up next, the IBJJF has scheduled two more Opens with locations in Oklahoma City and Foley…
(If you didn’t google where that was after IBJJF announced it, you’re lying) ... and with much debate and controversy from the Brazilian community, the Pan American championships are scheduled for the second week of October in Orlando, Florida. No points required and no spectators.
This year has already proven to us that absolutely anything is possible, and to expect the unexpected. Will this be a tournament of upsets? Will we be doing a Christmas Worlds Championship? What’s next, Gordon Ryan will put on a gi?! Stay tuned for the next cliffhanger that 2020 has in store.