AJP Africa Continental: Check out the highlights who conquered the gold in Egypt

February 24, 2025

While the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam brought another action-packed show to Rome, the AJP Tour Africa Continental Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2025 gave athletes another high-profile tournament to take part in this weekend. Held between February 21st and 22nd at the New Capital Indoor Hall, in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, the competition welcomed warriors of all ages and graduations to its mats and offered a whopping 1400 global ranking points in addition to the coveted gold medal. With five fight areas set up at the venue, the Africa Continental received the Amateur and Master categories on the first day, followed by Youths and Amateurs on the second and final day of the event.

Highlighting the tournament, the black belts from the Professional categories showcased their skills while giving fight fans and their younger peers a glimpse into what it takes to compete at the highest level. In the 69kg division, the Brazilian Guthiery Melo (MOD UAE) entered a best-of-three bracket against the Russian Shamil Avtorkhanov (Brasa Russia), taking the first win via submission and the second by a 5-1 score. Meanwhile, the Turkish Kerim Keles (GFTeam) outscored the local Abdelrahman Kerchah (Beyond Submissions Egypt) twice for the 77kg title, the Russian Tamerlan Eslemesov (Top Team Fight Club) scored 3-0 over Brazil's Flavio Serafin (MOD UAE) before submitting the Brazilian Vinicius Ladeira (MOD UAE) to become the 94kg champion, and the Brazilian Fabio Martins (MOD UAE) emerged victorious from a round-robin in the 120kg division, beating the local Osama Mohamed (Egyptian Samurai Team) by 1-0 and then submitting his compatriot Thiago Pessoa (MOD UAE) around the two-minute mark.

On the no-gi side, the 85kg division saw the rise of Russia's Ignatiy Bufeev (Strela Team) in a round-robin, first beating the Turkish Kerim Keles (GFTeam) by 13-3 and then landing a lightning-fast submission against the local Ahmed Arafa (Egyptian Samurai Team) with less than 30 seconds on the clock. The Russian Tamerlan Eslemesov (Top Team Fight Club) made his way back to the mats and the Brazilian MOD UAE duo Flavio Serafin and Vinicius Ladeira, outscoring the former by 4-0 and submitting the latter to earn another title in the 94kg division. Last but not least, the 120kg division was conquered by Brazil's Fabio Martins (MOD UAE), who first submitted his compatriot Thiago Pessoa (MOD UAE) and then got a tough win via decision over his teammate Ismael Rhazoui.

Before the Professionals dialed the action up on the second day, two Master 2 athletes went above and beyond with their campaigns during the first day of the competition and took home the coveted double gold. Competing in the 85kg division, the American Todd Fox (Team Vaghi) first outscored two opponents to take the top spot on the podium and then made his way back to the battlefield, outscoring his first adversary and submitting the last one to conquer his weight class once again. Meanwhile, the 120kg division was dominated by the Brazilian Thiago Pessoa (MOD UAE) both with and without the gi as the athlete submitted two opponents and outscored another two on his way to becoming a double champion.

Missed out on the action? Click here to see the full results and go to TX7.com to relive every second of the action across all five fight areas. Don't forget to follow @ajptour on social media to stay up-to-date on all the main Jiu-Jitsu tournaments that take place around the world.