AJP Newsletter February 2025: Your Monthly Recap of the Highlights from all over the world

February 1, 2025

Another stellar month of competition for the books here at AJP. After January eased fight fans and athletes back into the action, February brought the organization back to its usual high-octane flow of tournaments, with the normal stream of tournaments each weekend in addition to the long-awaited return of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam. We have a lot of ground to cover so fasten your seatbelts and let's check out the highlights from February.

Abu Dhabi Grand Slam World Tour Rome 2025: Professional black belts become champions and make history in Italy

Held between February 21st and 23rd, the ADGS Rome brought the tour's signature action back to the land of gladiators for three days of competition in the first Grand Slam of 2025. With athletes of all ages and graduations gathering at the Centro Olimpico Matteo Pellicone to put their skills to the ultimate test, the tournament was opened with performances by the Amateur category on the first day, followed by Youths and Masters on the second, and Professionals on the third and final day.

Bringing their skills to bear in the Eternal City, the black belts from the Professional category closed the tournament memorably with the finals of each weight class. Starting with the men, the 56kg division saw Andrew Santos score at the last possible moment to tie the score and beat Omar Alsuwaidi, while Khaled Alshehhi got an early advantage and controlled the match to beat Matheus Onda to the 62kg title. Nurzan Batyrbekov outscored Mohammed Alsuwaidi in the 69kg final, Lucas Protasio confirmed his favoritism and took the 77kg title by defeating Luiz Santos via points, and Rui Neto got the 85kg gold medal after a decision win over Uanderson Ferreira. Up on the 94kg division, Clemer Canário turned the tables on the favorite Marcos Carrozzino with a triangle armbar, and Matheus "Ta Danado" Xavier used the scoreboard to overcome the experienced Ricardo Evangelista and climb the 120kg division podium.

On the women's side, Grasielle Brandão outscored Giulia Gregorut for the 49kg title, Gabriela Pereira landed a sneaky leglock to take out Maria Luisa Delahaye in the 55kg final, Nikolett Kis used her technical know-how and beat Natalia Zumba on points to become the 62kg champion, and Nia Blackman got the better of Gabriela Barroso via decision after a very strategic duel. Last but not least, the 95kg division saw the return of Yara Soares, who went up against Isabely Lemos and locked a quick armbar to maintain her reign over the bracket.

AJP Tour Africa Continental Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2025: Tamerlan Eslemesov conquers the double gold in Egypt

Taking place in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, the Africa Continental landed at the New Capital Indoor Hall between February 21st and 22nd offering AJP athletes from all over the world a chance to compete against some of the toughest names of the international scene while also giving each champion a whopping 1400 global ranking points. With five fight areas set up at the venue, the tournament was opened by the Amateur and Master categories on the first day and closed by the Youths and Professionals on the second and final day of the event.

Representing Top Team Fight Club at the tournament, the Russian Tamerlan Eslemesov showcased his technical prowess as he entered two different brackets and emerged victorious from both. With both titles conquered in the 94kg division, Tamerlan started the competition on the gi and went up against Flavio Serafin in the first match of the bracket, overcoming his opponent over the course of the regulated time and taking the win by 3-0. In the final match, Tamerlan was faced with Vinicius Ladeira, who got his spot in the gold round after a whopping 13-2 victory over Ignatiy Bufeev in the semis. Once again, Tamerlan was in control during the duel, scoring multiple times while giving his opponent no chance to do the same, but the chance to end the match early reared its head and Tamerlan just went for it, attacking with precision to lock the winning submission around the one-minute mark.

With one gold medal in tow, Tamerlan returned to the battlefield later on and joined the No-Gi 94kg bracket. With Flavio Serafin and Vinicius Ladeira also taking part in the round-robin, the first match saw Flavio getting a headstart after submitting Vinicius. In the second round, Tamerlan finally took the stage and showcased his know-how as he outscored Flavio by 4-0. The third and final round saw Tamerlan going up against Vinicius in a brief but intense match, with the former taking control of the flow of the battle, scoring 3-0, and then landing the golden submission around the two-minute mark. With two consecutive victories in the bracket, Tamerlan returned to the top of the podium for the second time that day.

AJP Tour Brazil National Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2025: Wesley Felix, Beatriz Mendonça, and Katiane Rodrigues become double champions in Fortaleza

Bringing the action on the first weekend of the month, the Brazil National landed at the Ginasio Paulo Sarasate on February 1st and 2nd to give fight fans another show as local athletes swarmed the venue to conquer the coveted AJP gold medal. With eight fight areas and competitors of all ages and graduations, the tournament took the action to the next level with each weight class hosting memorable duels.

Among the many names that rose to the top of the podium in the event, three Professional black belts managed to stand out from their peers with incredible performances that allowed them to conquer both their divisions and the Open Weight brackets. On the men's side, Wesley Felix got his first gold after submitting three opponents back to back in the 94kg bracket, later returning to the mats and making another flawless campaign with three fights and three submissions to take his second title.

Over on the women's side, Beatriz Mendonça and Katiane Rodrigues were the highlights. The former first entered the 62kg division and overcame three opponents on her way to the title, only to return after and submit another two adversaries to also become the Open Lightweight champion. As for the latter, the starting point was the 70kg division, in which she outscored two opponents to take the gold. Some time later, Katiane joined the Open Heavyweight bracket, submitting two opponents and becoming a double gold medalist at the tournament.

UPCOMING: Abu Dhabi Grappling Grand Prix Belgrade, Nationals, Regionals, and much more!

Bringing another competition for the AJP roster, March stands to be even more explosive than its predecessors with the arrival of the Abu Dhabi Grappling Grand Prix. With its debut edition coming to the Serbian capital of Belgrade, the tournament comes to boost the AJP's No-Gi circuit with a rule set that focuses solely on the action and forgoes the usual Jiu-Jitsu point system. With 2000 ranking points up for grabs for each champion, the event aims to take the international No-Gi scene to the next level, even going as far as adding different fighting styles to make sure only the best will get the chance to become champions. The registration window for the Abu Dhabi Grappling Grand Prix Belgrade remains open until March 16th, so don't waste any more time and take this chance to become part of the AJP's history as the organization once again makes history.

March will also feature the AJP's usual batch of tournaments. On the National side, the organization will be visiting Australia and Colombia on March 1st, Lithuania and South Korea on March 22nd, and Ecuador between March 22nd and 23rd. As for the Regionals, the AJP has tournaments ready to visit four different countries this month, with competitions in Russia's Ural on March 1st, South China on March 15th and 16th, Central Panama on March 23rd, and back in Russia again for Central Black Earth on March 30th.

Last but not least, here's the list of Internationals for the month of March: Graz (March 1st), Benguela (March 2nd), Abilene (March 8th), Mykolaiv (March 8th), Belgrade (March 15th), Saint Petersburg (March 16th), São José (March 16th), Lima (March 22nd-23rd), Sochi (March 23rd), Frankfurt (March 29th), Barcelona (March 30th).