December 11, 2023
Traveling around the world with its tournaments, the AJP has ensured that the fires of competition were burning bright this weekend. With two championships held on Saturday and Sunday, December 9th and 10th, the organization provided local and foreign athletes with yet another chance to gather some much-needed points to climb the ranking early on in the season. Check out below the highlights from each championship!
AJP Tour Tokyo International Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2023: Takayuki Watanabe keeps the Open Class gold in Japan
Ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam World Tour Tokyo, which will take place on January 13th and 14th, the AJP Tour Tokyo International Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2023 gave a brief glimpse into what we can expect from the very first ADGS of the season 2023-2024. In the Sumida City Gymnasium, colored and black belts fought tooth and nail for the gold medal in the Land of the Rising Sun.
But while every athlete that rose to the mats has their merit, the Japanese black belt Takayuki Watanabe (Axis Jiu-Jitsu Academy) stole the show as he stepped into the battlefield and conquered the gold in the Open Heavyweight division. Facing the American Seth Sarrett (Uprising Jiu-Jitsu), Takayuki had a tough battle ahead of him but made sure to leave no room for his opponent to jeopardize his victory. At the end of the five minutes of regulated time, the scoreboard sat at a 9-0 for the local athlete, who took his rightful place atop the podium to receive his medal.
Check out the full results here!
AJP Tour Funza International Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2023: Professional black belts submit their way to the title in Colombia
On that same weekend, AJP was also holding another tournament across the world, in the South American country of Colombia. With the Coliseo Municipal as the battlefield, athletes of all ages and graduations made their way to the mats and fought for gold, glory, and a headstart in the organization’s rankings.
Two Professional black belts from different countries rose among their peers in the tournament, submitting every single opponent who stood between them and the coveted gold medal. First, the Brazilian Davi Carlos (Atrixion MMA) took complete control of the 69kg bracket, defeating the local Christian Cabrera (Affinity Studios Colombia) in the semifinal and then landing his second submission over the Ecuadorian Luis Aviles (Apex EC Jiu-Jitsu) to become the champion.
Meanwhile, in the 94kg division, the Mexican Juan Albarello (Team Predador Ecuador) showed his skills as he climbed the mats and started his campaign by submitting two of the local athletes. In the semis, Juan submitted Richard Vargas (Affinity Studios Colombia) to advance to the finals. In the gold round, Juan completely dominated Esteban Gutierrez (Team FCJJ Colombia), scoring 10-0 before ultimately submitting to climb the podium.
Check out the full results here!
