Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Mike Atkin decided he wanted to face the best grapplers in the World and entered the Adult division. He had a good battle with a much-younger competitor from Grace Florianopolis before succumbing to an armbar halfway through the match.


Nia Daniels proved that she is one of the toughest Blue belts in the World by defeating three opponents before coming up a bit short in the Finals. Nia is a beast and has been competing non-stop since she began training. She was promoted to Blue belt in April right before the PanAms so she has improved QUICK!




Mike Easton has got to be one of the most multi-talented Combat Athletes out there. Mike is primarily an MMA fighter but remains true to his roots and in true Team Lloyd Irvin fashion, is dedicated to improving his skills in all areas of fighting. Mike brought out his lightning-quick takedowns and guard-passing, even collecting two submissions on his way to the semi-finals. There he faced Joao Catisti (Godoi JJ Club).

Catisti, who had pulled guard in his earlier fights, surprised everyone with a quick double-leg. Mike swept Catisti back quickly and the match turned into a sweep-for-sweep scramble. In the end, the initial points would prove to be too much and Mike would lose on points. Catisti went onto win Gold. Great performance for Mike!


Nyjah Easton earned her 2nd International Medal, going 1-1.

Ryan Hall quickly submitted his 1st opponent and won a lopsided points decision to start the day off. In the quarterfinals, he faced Rubens Calasans (Oswaldo Alves), who had placed third at last year's Mundial in the blue belt division. Calasans and Ryan both pulled guard from the get-go. Calasans quickly came up and earned 2 pts for a sweep. Calasans played a very tight game, forcing the under-over position, and leaving very little openings. Eventually, the Team Lloyd Irvin fighter hit an armdrag and managed to jump on the Brazilian's back standing up, catching a TIGHT gi choke in transition. After the match, Ryan told me that he heard his opponent's neck cracking. However, Rubens was a tough bastard and grabbed Ryan's elbow and pulled him off his back, limiting Ryan to an advantage rather than 4 pts for the back. The match ended 2-0.

Ryan then competed in the Open division, catching a flying triangle and an armbar from the guard, before losing 5-0 to Super Heavyweight division winner, Gustavo Elias from Chute Boxe.


Julius Park won his first three matches 11-0, 9-0, and 4-2 before coming up short in his fourth match.

Roberto Torralbas had some tough matches over the weekend. In his first match, Roberto put an advantage on the board very quickly for a near-pass against his adversary from BJJ Revolution. With only a minute left in regulation, Roberto's opponent came up with a single-leg. Both grapplers came completely to their feet before Roberto threw his opponent back to the mat with his signature Uchimata. The referee actually awarded the other fighter an advantage for a "near-sweep". The match was now tied. As the fighters came to the middle, we were shocked when the official gave the decision to the fighter who had been losing for 6 minutes and had received his advantage on a very controversial call!

In the Open division, Roberto used his superior takedown skills to defeat a much larger grappler from Alliance. He then faced Alfredo Miras (Brasa), last year's lightweight Gold medalist at Blue Belt. The Brazilian pulled a deep 1/2-guard from the buzzer but Roberto managed to smash him down, earning himself an advantage. It was a game of centimeters as both purple belts struggled to secure position. Miras managed to unbalance Roberto and come back on top for 2 pts. Roberto went into his own guard gameplan (funny because it was exactly what we had been working during his last visit) and swept Miras back with only about 60 seconds remaining. Roberto tried to jump on the Team Brasa competitor's back and earned another advantage but the match exploded into a non-stop scramble. With only about 10 seconds left, Miras' got in deep on Roberto's legs and took him down, earning the winning 2 pts. Very good fight!


Despite not taking place in Brazil, the Worlds were definitely the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament, I have ever been to. I always leave them remotivated to train and with a greater insight into BJJ. For all the up-and-coming competitors at the school, I highly recommend you make it to an international-level competition as soon as you can. It has a slightly different feel than the local ones and often requires an adjustment period for new competitors. Get it over with now!


And like always, a special thanks to Medora for all the great pictures!