Weekend Recap: Professional category dials up the action at the Philippines National

July 8, 2024

After so many tournaments in quick succession, the AJP has decided to slow down a bit this weekend and focused all of its efforts on a single competition. Taking place this Saturday, July 6th, the AJP Tour Philippines National Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2024 took over the St. Benilde Gym in the city of Manila and welcomed athletes from all corners of the world as they sought to show their skills and rise to the title of champion.

As always, the Professional category was a show in its own right, bringing purple, brown, and black belt brackets to make sure there was never a dull moment in the tournament. Fighting both with and without the gi, competitors spared no effort to reach the gold, so without further ado, here are the highlights from the Philippines National!

Fighting no-gi in the 120kg division, South Korea's SeongHan Kim (KJ Competition Team) got a quick victory to take the title. Facing his teammate JeongHyeon Choi in the final, SeongHan went all out from the start and quickly overwhelmed his opponent, taking down and locking the winning submission with less than 30 seconds on the clock.

Earlier, local brown belt Alphonso Morales (Alliance) showcased his prowess and got the win in the 56kg division. Up against fellow countryman Juan Rulloda (Deftac - Six Blades Jiu-Jitsu), it didn't take long for Alphonso to seize the advantage on the scoreboard, but even more impressive was his control over the match as he continuously scored while giving his opponent no chance to score back. When the clock ran out, a 13-0 score gave Alphonso his rightful place atop the podium.

Meanwhile, in the purple belt, the South Korean Seong Hyeock Jeong (Alliance) defeated all of his opponents in the 77kg division and took home the coveted double gold. First, in the gi, Seong went up against the Omani Fahad Al Oraimi (Oman Sur Academy) in the semifinal and got the win by 7-1 to advance to the last round, in which he submitted the local Noah Uychoco (Fabricio International - FIT). Later on, Seong had a rematch against Fahad Al Oraimi for the no-gi gold. While Fahad had a better performance this time around, Seong still had the upper hand and once again emerged victorious, this time by a 3-0 score.

Check out the full results here!