Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu World Tour in Los Angeles had over 750 players from all over the world compete at the Los Angeles Convention Center. For the first time, a separate category for the Para Jiu-Jitsu athletes was conducted, thanks to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.$125,000 in prizes was at stake at the event.
Rorion Gracie, oldest son of Helio Gracie, who holds a ninth degree red belt and also the co-founder of UFC [Ultimate Fighting Championship] had a message for the participants– “train hard, be patient, keep healthy, as you always have to maintain a healthy lifestyle to keep on improving your jiu-jitsu skills. The UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation has been doing incredible work over the past years and I can’t wait to come to Abu Dhabi”
The Abu Dhabi Grand Slam is one of the most valuable, if not the most valuable sports leagues in the Middle East and the most valuable jiu-jitsu world tour in the world. It has an estimated television reach of 700 million homes and over 65 million viewers around the world with 18 international TV partners. The TV rights of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam is distributed by TSJ’s parent company – DANTANI, Inc. Sports
“The first day started well, we delivered a better event compared to last year’s LA event, this is a testament to everyone involved from top to bottom. For us, Jiu-Jitsu is about developing the youth’s mentality as human beings, developing their skills and the community – that is why we donated $15,000 to the Los Angeles Midnight Mission in presence of Counsul General of the UAE to Los Angeles, H.E Abdulla Alsaboosi and President & CEO of Los Angeles Midnight Mission, G. Michael Arnold” Said Mr.Tareq Al Bahri, Director of Abu Dhabi Grand Slam
“This was a very successful event hosted here in Los Angeles at the Convention Center. I congratulate all the participants who took part, and we look forward to continue our relationships with the Los Angeles community.” Said H.E Abdulla Alsaboosi, Counsul General of the UAE to Los Angeles
Male Black Belt Winners
56kg – Jose Lima.
62kg – Joao Miyao.
69kg – ThiagoMacedo.
77kg – Renato Canuto.
85kg – Victor Silverio.
94kg – Lucas Barbosa.
110kg – Igor Silva.
Female Brown/Black Belt Winners
49kg – Mayssa Pereira Bastos.
55kg–Amanda Nogueira.
62kg–LuizaMontiero.
70kg–Ana Carolina Srour
90kg – NathielyMelo De Jesu.
Male Master 1 Winners
62kg – Gabriel Moraes
69kg – Rene Lopez
77kg – Vitor Oliveira
85kg – Andre Julio De Sa
94kg – Robert Oliveira
110kg – Victor Barreto
Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Los Angeles second day saw some exceptional fights among the Para Jiu-Jitsu athletes and the white, blue, purple belts in different weight categories.
Elcirley Silva, the man behind the Para-Athletes movement said “I lost my leg 3 years ago, my professor Mario, told me one day, let’s go to Abu Dhabi, it is the best place for Jiu-Jitsu, they are taking the level of the sport up and they can help us build our own division. It was really difficult to arrange the money but we made it to the World Pro in April.
“We did the first world championship for the Para Jiu-Jitsu Athletes in Abu Dhabi in April 2017 at the World Pro, we were there with 56 Para-Athletes and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed told me that he will make sure to organize Para-Jiu-Jitsu competitions in Brazil. He then told me that, from now on – there will be a separate category for the Para-Jiu-Jitsu Athletes in every Grand Slam.
“This really made me very happy, this was my dream, to have our own category, because we have so many veterans, and people who were born with disability. Jiu-Jitsu saved the life of my professor, it saved my life and they save the life of families. Because when someone with disability comes to a competition like the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam and the UAEJJF treats them like a hero, and compete in front of the fans, win a medal and feature in a top Jiu-Jitsu magazine – this is a moment of pride”
“His Highness Sheikh Mohammad is changing the history of our sport, forever. UAEJJF has done this for us, we are all one.”
UAE players won a total of 33 medals in different weight and belt categories.
Para Jiu-Jitsu Winners
Class 13: Jorge Nakamura
Class 13: Wilson Pinto
Class 13: Nick Hyndman
Class 2: Rustin Hughes
Class 1: Ronald Mann
Class 1: Langston Stevenson
Class 2: Elcirley Silva
Class 13: Nicholas Palmer
Class 10: Rafael Rodrigues
Male Purple Belt Winners
62kg: Francisco Andrade
69kg: Jose Luna
77kg: ItaloAzevedo
85kg: Ronaldo Junior
94kg: Darin Deangelis
110kg: Austin Baker
Female Purple Belt Winners
55kg:Brenda Larissa
62kg: Nicole Evangelista
70kg: Rafaela Guedes
90kg: Kendall Reusing
