Weekend recap: Brazil and Russia take the stage with stellar AJP tournaments

August 26, 2024

Another solid weekend for the books here at AJP as the organization holds true to its commitment of constantly giving athletes the chance to hone their skills at a competitive level while increasing the sport's influence around the globe. This time around, Brazil and Russia were the countries chosen to host Internationals while welcoming both local and foreign fighters to the AJP mats. Without further ado, let's check out the highlights from each championship.

AJP Tour Lages International Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2024: Lilian Oliveira keeps the double gold in Brazil

On Sunday, August 25th, the Lages International landed at the Ginásio Jones Minosso for an afternoon of high-level competition, with colored and black belts putting on their best performances as they sought to become AJP champions in their respective weight divisions. Cue Lilian Oliveira, a Brazilian black belt representing Takashi Haguihara who conquered the double gold in the tournament.

Her first stop in the competition was the Master 1 95kg division, facing PS Phoenix BJJ Team's Patricia Silva in the final round of the bracket. The fight lasted the entirety of the regulated time, but Lilian quickly seized the initiative and dominated her opponent throughout the five minutes, scoring multiple times while offering almost no chance for Patricia to do the same. When the clock ran out, a 10-1 score gave Lilian her first big win of the day.

Later on, Lilian felt confident enough to make her way back to the battlefield and entered the Open Heavyweight division. Waiting for her in the bracket was a familiar face, as Patricia Silva was locked and loaded to get some payback on the division final. The match, however, played out much like the first and Lilian once again dominated her opponent, closing the duel with a submission around the four-minute mark and getting the double gold to close her stellar campaign.

Check out the full results here.

AJP Tour Baikal International Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2024: Khulan Batbaatar and Alexandr Matveev take the gold in Russia

Still on Sunday, the Baikal International took over the Baykal Arena in Irkutsk and welcomed athletes of all ages and graduations to put their skills to the test while seeking the top spot of the podium. With colored belts of all levels climbing the mats and showing their mettle, the brown belts Khulan Batbaatar (Thunder BJJ Academy) and Alexandr Matveev (Stoneguard) were the highlights of the tournament, overcoming challenging opponents and conquering the gold.

A Mongolia representative in the competition, Khulan Batbaatar went straight for the brown/black 95kg division of the competition. In it, she was faced with the local Alina Bartanova (Stoneguard) in the gold round and put her full skillset on display, scoring 3-0 before ultimately submitting around the two-minute mark to take the title.

Meanwhile, the Russian Alexandr Matveev had his work cut out for him in the 85kg division, facing his fellow countryman Dmitriy Shikhanov (Strela Team) for the gold. Extremely balanced from beginning to end, the battle took up all five minutes of regulated time and featured powerful performances from both competitors, who managed to avoid any dangerous moves from one another and kept the scoreboard almost unchanged. At the end of it all, a narrow 1-0 score gave Alexandr the win and the top spot on the podium.

Check out the full results here.