Merida International: Colored belts put on impressive performances for the gold in Mexico

August 18, 2025

Bringing the AJP action to the Unidad Deportiva Francisco de Montejo in Mexico, the AJP Tour Merida International Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2025 landed in North America and set up a stage for local and foreign athletes to shine as they showed their best moves and techniques. Offering 600 global ranking points on top of the coveted AJP gold medal, the competition drew colored belts of all ages and backgrounds to step up to the mats in hopes of gaining enough experience and recognition to advance to the next level in their careers.

Such was the case of Nathan Merowka, a 20-year-old French purple belt representing Gracie Barra Merida who joined the competition and became the champion after an impressive performance in the Professional 77kg division. Fighting in the final against the local Alejandro May, from Brasa Cancun, Nathan left no room for doubt when it came to his technical knowledge as he quickly seized the lead on the scoreboard and proceeded to take almost complete control of the match and put the scoreboard at a whopping 11-0 in the first few minutes of the bout. In the latter half of the match, Nathan decided to add insult to injury and launched a submission attack around the three-minute mark, getting the three taps from his opponent and taking the top spot on the podium.

Also highlighting the event, the local white belts Jantzhael Padron and Santiago Estrada left their marks in the competition as they took the victory in the Amateur category with promising displays of technique. First, the Almeida JJ México representative Jantzhael Padron came out on top of the 85kg final against his compatriot Mextli Hernandez, from Gracie Barra Playa Del Carmen, using his skills and strategy to take the lead on the scoreboard and then controlling the movements to end the duel with a 4-1 score. Then, on the no-gi side, Santiago Estrada used his countless hours of training in the Gracie Barra Merida mats to conquer the 94kg division title, going all-out from the start of his final against Axel Xooc to land two points and lock a winning submission against the Bujutsu athlete around the one-minute mark of the match.

Check out the full results here, relive the thrills of the competition on TX7.com, and follow @ajptour on social media to know when the next big AJP event will be coming to your country.