IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championships: Congrats Kingz Athletes

 Last week was the 2022 IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championships! Fully rebounded from the past two years of pandemic restrictions, this year’s edition featured more than 4,600 competitors. That made for an event jam-packed with incredible matches! womens gi pants

We wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate all our Kingz athletes on their performances last week. Win or lose, you stepped out there on the competition mat and made us proud!

However, there were some standout performances that we wanted to highlight:

Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu

Living up to his nickname, Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu is a machine! At nearly 42 years old, Cyborg is showing the jiu-jitsu world that age is just a number and means nothing to him.

After three hard fought battles in the Ultra-Heavy weight division, Cyborg faced Gutemberg Perreira in the finals. The match featured some incredible scrambles, with Cyborg playing his distinctive heavy pressure passing game. Gutemberg was penalized with two points for attempting to flee the mat, which Cyborg capitalized on, smartly preventing the younger fighter from being able to recover the rest of the match.

Tainan Dalpra

Tainan Dalpra has done it again! The AOJ black belt has added another gold medal win to his collection, making him a two-time IBJJF Pans champion!

With less than two years at black belt, Tainan is proving himself to be a force to be reckoned with. Tainan dominated arguably one of the toughest divisions: Middle weight. His first match against Roberto Jimenez was expected to be an exciting one… and it did not disappoint. Tainan’s technical prowess had him hunting submissions, passes and back takes, then ultimately led him to catch Roberto in a beautiful triangle finish. Tainan then finished Eduardo Avelar with a choke from the back, and secured two points against Ronaldo Junior in the semi-finals. Finally, his aggressive passing game payed off against tough guard player Jeferson Guaresi in the finals.

And we must mention: with his latest Europeans win, Tainan is well on his way toward a Grand Slam!  

Erich Munis 

There is just no stopping Erich Munis!

With two perfect armbar finishes in the Super-Heavy division – against Wilson Almeida and Vinicius Trator – Erich closed out with teammate Marcus Vinicius Ribeiro. The Dream Art black belt then battled it out in the Open Class, with three tough matches before he found himself in the finals against veteran legend Fellipe Andrew. A sweep in the first minute secured Erich two easy points, and after nearly nine minutes of Fellipe visibly struggling to pass Erich’s guard, the younger fighter scored another sweep in the last minute of the finals to win the title.

Melissa Stricker Cueto 

Melissa Stricker Cueto is proving herself a fierce competitor this 2022 season!

Having long distinguished herself in the South American and Brazilian tournaments, Melissa is making a name for herself on the international scene. After a hard-fought battle against Larissa Almeida, Melissa secured the win to face Fight Sports’ Maggie Gindatti in the finals. A beautiful cross-choke submission secured Cueto her first Pans gold medal at black belt! 

With Pans typically seen as a warmup for Worlds… it’s looking like Melissa may follow her 2021 World Championship win with another!

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