IBJJF European Open recap: Leandro Lo wins double gold, Mackenzie Dern also victorious

The IBJJF is one of the premier organizations in the competitive grappling industry. Many of the top names in past and present have competed on these mats throughout the world. This past weekend the 2017 season kicked off with the European Championships. Leandro Lo’s debut as a heavyweight was one of the biggest storylines heading into the weekend of action and Lo did not disappoint; leaving the event with double gold.

Lo set the grappling world afire with an amazing 2016. This year he is transitioning to the heavyweight division and the European Open was his first performance in the weight class. Lo would defeat Tanner Rice for the divisional title and Claudio Calasans for the Absolute crown.

Lo is a five-time world champion in three different weight classes. He’s set out to equal the accomplishments of Saulo Ribeiro, and attempt to win four world titles in four different weight groups. That would be a massive career accomplishment to go along with his performance in 2016 where he captured the IBJJF World and Pan Ams titles, the UAEJJF Abu Dhabi World Pro Title and three Grand Prix championships.

Mackenzie Dern was the only American competitor to earn the gold medal. She won the featherweight title by defeating Emilie Thylin to take defend the black belt title she won in 2015. Kristina Barlaan, Alec Baulding, Gianni Grippo and Rice rounded out the group to make it to the final match.

Black Belt Divisional Results

MALE ADULT DIVISIONS

ROOSTER WEIGHT FINAL

Koji Shibamoto defeated Rodnei Barbosa on advantages (2×2 pts)

3rd Place: Guilherme Montenegro/ Vincent Nguyen

LIGHT-FEATHER WEIGHT FINAL

Mikey Musumeci defeated Gabriel Moraes by way of 2×0 pts

3rd Place: Hiago George / João Miyao

FEATHER WEIGHT FINAL

Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles defeated Gianni Grippo by way of 5×0 pts

3rd Place: Gabriel Marangoni / Isaque Paiva

LIGHT WEIGHT FINAL

Luan Carvalho closed the division with Márcio André for Nova Uniao

3rd Place: Andris Brunovskis / Masahiro Iwasaki

MIDDLE WEIGHT FINAL

Marcos Tinoco defeated Alec Bauling by way of 4×2 pts

3rd Place: Isaque Bahiense / Jaime Canuto

MEDIUM-HEAVY WEIGHT FINAL

Rodrigo “Pimpolho” Fajardo defeated Horlando Monteiro by way of 2×0 pts

3rd Place: Matheus Spirandeli / Vinicius Garcia

HEAVY WEIGHT FINAL

Leandro Lo defeated Tanner Rice by way of Armbar

3rd Place: Adam Wardzinski / Jesse Urholin

SUPER-HEAVY WEIGHT FINAL

Mahamed Aly defeated Lucio “Lagarto” Rodrigues by way of 2×0 pts

3rd Place: Chris Bowe / Vitor Toledo

ULTRA-HEAVY WEIGHT FINAL

Igor Silva closed the division with Ricardo Evangelista for GF Team.

3rd Place: Carlos Farias / Gustavo Dias Elias

OPEN WEIGHT FINAL

Leandro Lo defeated Claudio Calasans by way of 4×0 pts

FEMALE ADULT DIVISIONS

ROOSTER WEIGHT FINAL

Serena Gabrielli defeated Outi Jarvilehto by way of Points 4×2 pts

LIGHT-FEATHER WEIGHT FINAL

Gezary Matuda defeated Kristina Barlaan by way of 15×0 pts

FEATHER WEIGHT FINAL

Mackenzie Dern defeated Emilie Thylin by way of referee decision

LIGHT WEIGHT FINAL

Beatriz Mesquita defeated Luiza Monteiro by way of advantages (0x0 pts)

MIDDLE WEIGHT FINAL

Ana Carolina “Baby” Vieira defeated Paivi Aittamaa by way of slide-in choke from the back

MEDIUM-HEAVY WEIGHT FINAL

Nathiely de Jesus defeated Ida “Xuxu” floisvil by way of choke

HEAVY WEIGHT FINAL

Claudia Do Val by WO

SUPER-HEAVY WEIGHT FINAL

Tayane Porfirio defeated Venla Luukkonen by way of choke from the mount

OPEN WEIGHT FINAL

Tayane Porfirio defeated Beatriz Mesquita by way of 1 advantage (0x0 pts)