AJP Africa Continental: Masters set the tone for the tournament in Egypt

September 22, 2023

In an already stacked month, with installments of both the ADGS Miami and Asia Continental, the AJP has brought yet another big tournament for fight fans and athletes. Starting this Friday, September 22nd, the AJP Tour Africa Continental Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2023 keeps the ball rolling and brings the organization’s signature action to the Hall 1 Cairo International Stadium, in Egypt, and gives competitors another solid shot at gathering points to rise through the rankings.

On the first day of the tournament, amateurs and masters took to the stage and set the tone for the rest of the competition with memorable duels. The Master 1 black belt categories were the highlights of the day, so check out below how each division played out and, for the full results, click here!

MEN’S GI / BLACK / MASTER 1 / 62KG

In the lightest division, two athletes from different countries went all out to take the gold. Representing the Abu Dhabi Police Academy, the Brazilian Luiz Ribeiro fought twice against UAE’s Haitham Hanawi to take the title. In the first match, Luiz was completely dominant and scored 7-0 before ultimately submitting his opponent. The second and last bout of the division saw Haitham more comfortable as he faced the Brazilian, but that was still not enough to pull the brakes on Luiz’s attacks, who landed yet another submission to rise to the top of the podium.

MEN'S GI / BLACK / MASTER 1 / 77KG

A.F.N.T’s Talison Costa was the big winner in the 77kg division. The Brazilian athlete started his campaign by facing his Emirati teammate Abdulla Almarzooqi in a duel that saw the former landing a well-placed submission to advance in the bracket. Meanwhile, Thiago Marques also went up against Abdulla and also submitted to reach the final, but ended up not showing up for the last round, giving Talison the win by walkover.

MEN'S GI / BLACK / MASTER 1 / 85KG

Another A.F.N.T. athlete reaches the podium. The Brazilian master Flavio Vianna brought his A-game to the mats, seeking to seize the division gold, but his opponent Bruno Borges didn’t give him an easy time. In the first of two matches for the gold, Flavio fought a tough battle and managed to snag the win by 1-0. In the final, Flavio once again saw himself evenly matched by Bruno, who this time started ahead on the scoreboard. However, Flavio stayed the course and managed to tie the score at 1-1 and held that score until the end of the bout, taking the title by scoring last.

MEN'S GI / BLACK / MASTER 1 / 94KG

An action-packed round-robin was formed to fight for the 94kg division title. The first match saw the American Thiago Macedo land an 8-0 score before submitting local athlete Mostafa Ahmed. Mostafa brushed off the defeat and returned to the mats, but was unable to hold his own against Dante Cano, who also took the win via submission. In the last bout of the bracket, both Dante and Thiago used all the weapons in their arsenal, but it was Dante who managed to take the win, with a 1-0 sitting on the scoreboard.

MEN'S GI / BLACK / MASTER 1 / 120KG

Igor Sousa was the champion in the 120kg division. In the first match of the bracket, Igor put his skills to the test against the Egyptian Hassan Mahmoud. Despite being far from his home country, the Brazilian showed why he is currently ranked in the top 10 of South America and stood his ground against the local opponent, putting his game to work and scoring 5-0 before submitting Hassan to rise to the top of the podium.

WOMEN'S GI / BROWN / BLACK / MASTER 1 / 95KG

Brazil’s Priscilla Assunção fought in a best-of-three bracket against the Emirati Marwa Alhosani to take the title. In the first match, Priscilla put her heart on the mat and allowed her Jiu-Jitsu to do the talking, landing the scoreboard at 3-0. The second match would turn out to be the division’s last, as Priscilla once again came out victorious, this time using a 2-0 score to put the gold medal on her shoulders.

MEN'S NO-GI / BLACK / MASTER 1 / 69KG

In a clash between A.F.N.T teammates, Hugo Shiomi and Haitham Hanawi fought in a best-of-three for the No-Gi 69kg title. But despite both athletes being from the same training grounds, Hugo dominated the bracket from the get-go, quickly submitting Haitham in the first match. The second duel was almost a deja vu, as Hugo once again wasted no time in landing a winning submission and taking his rightful spot atop the podium.

MEN'S NO-GI / BLACK / MASTER 1 / 77KG

A round-robin was the battlefield that defined the 77kg division champion. Everton Dantas came in hot and kicked off the bracket by dominating Talison Costa in the starting bout, landing a 7-0 to advance to the finals. In the second round, Talison redeemed his previous defeat by returning to the mats and scoring 6-0 against Abdulla Almarzooqi. The third and last round matched up Everton and Abdulla, with both athletes fighting a well-balanced match that ended in victory for Everton, by 1-0.

MEN'S NO-GI / BLACK / MASTER 1 / 85KG

Despite already having conquered the 85 kg title in the gi, Brazilian Flavio Vianna decided it wasn’t enough and returned to the mats to seize the division’s no-gi gold. In the bracket’s first match, local athlete Omar Gharieb almost didn’t know what hit him, as Flavio quickly imposed his game upon the adversary and gave him near to no room to counter-attack, ending the bout at 16-3. For the last match, Omar was ready for Flavio’s fighting style and had a much better time holding his ground against the Brazilian, but Flavio still managed to prevail and climb the podium for the second time, this time by a 1-0 score.

MEN'S NO-GI / BLACK / MASTER 1 / 120KG

After taking the 94kg gold in the gi, Dante Cano found his back to the mats to fight without the cloth and take the 120kg title. Dante showed he meant business on his very first match, as he dominated Egyptian Hassan Mahmoud and qualified for the finals with an astounding 14-0. In the gold round, Dante went up against Thiago Borges and the fight was balanced at first, but Dante tipped the scales with a submission and seized his second title at the Africa Continental.