Weekend Recap: AJP brings powerful competitions to China, Brazil, and Russia

March 17, 2025

We are halfway through March and the AJP continues to spread Jiu-Jitsu's influence through its exciting tournaments around the world, giving athletes from all countries the chance to rise in the international scene by facing some of the best names out there. This weekend, the organization made its way to three different countries, bringing a Regional to the southern region of China in addition to Internationals in both Brazil and Russia. Without further ado, let's check out the highlights from each championship.

AJP Tour South China Regional Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2025: Xiaosong Shi takes the double gold in Guangzhou

Coming to the Huadu Gymnasium on both days of the weekend, the South China Regional was a beacon that attracted both local and foreign athletes to the city of Guangzhou, giving competitors the chance to take their Jiu-Jitsu to the next level through competition while also racking up important points to climb the AJP global rankings.

Highlighting the tournament, the Chinese black belt Xiaosong Shi (Kuzushi BJJ) had an incredible run as he entered two different brackets and attained the coveted double gold. His first stop was the 77kg division, which was decided via round-robin and began with a match between the Malaysian Lih Ren Chew (Leverage Combat Academy) and Brazil's Lima Daniel (GP Mixed Martial Arts), with the former beating the latter by 3-1. Xiansong made his first match in the second round, submitting Lima Daniel around the three-minute mark and seizing an advantageous position in the count. The third and final duel had Xiaosong facing Lih Ren Chew in a challenging battle, with neither side managing to land a submission until the clock ran out and Xiaosong taking his final win by 4-1 to become the division champion.

With one gold medal conquered, Xiaosong decided he still had some fuel left in the tank and joined the No-Gi 77kg division, entering a best-of-three bracket against the Malaysian Lih Ren Chew. For his part, Lih Ren Chew was a well-rounded opponent and managed to avoid most of his opponent's attacks, but Xiaosong didn't take long to use his technical prowess and take the upper hand, beating Lih Ren Chew in the first match with a 6-0 score followed by a 5-0 win in the second and final match of the bracket to become a double champion.

Check out the full results here!

AJP Tour São José International Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2025: Vyctor Buzatto, Kamili Silva, and Carla Lima rise as double champions in Brazil

Taking place on Saturday, March 15th, the São José International landed at the Centro Arena Multiuso de São José, in the state of Santa Catarina, for an entire day of competition, welcoming athletes of all ages and graduations to show their skills as they fought for the top spot on the podium.

Among the many champions that rose at the event, three local Professional black belts stole the spotlight by conquering the coveted double gold. On the men's side, Vyctor Buzzato (Commando Group) started his campaign in the 77kg division with a decision win over Bruno Souza (Rilion Gracie) in the semifinal followed by a narrow 1-0 victory against Lucas Godinho (Checkmat International) in the final to take his first title. Later on, he joined the Open Lightweight division, quickly submitting the Argentine Simon Tschernij (Ratão Jiu Jitsu International) in the quarterfinals before outscoring two compatriots in the final stretch of the bracket, beating Anderson da Trindade (Instituto Gracie Kore) by 7-1 in the semis and then overcoming Rosil Filho (Instituto Gracie Kore) by 5-2 to become a double champion.

Over on the women's side, two athletes became double champions. First, Kamili Silva (Checkmat International) was unstoppable in the competition as she first entered the 62kg division and submitted both Edcléia Magalhães (Art and Soul - Diogo Nascimento) and Anny Carvalho (Atos) for the gold, before landing another submission against Larissa Batista (Piazza Jiu Jitsu) in the Open Lightweight final to once again climb the podium. Meanwhile, Carla Lima (Reinel Spyker Jiu Jitsu) showcased her technical prowess by submitting Maira Corney (Zenith BJJ) in the 70kg division final and then defeated Eduarda Silva (Ataque Duplo) twice - first by submission and then by 2-0 - to take Open Heavyweight title.

Check out the full results here!

AJP Tour Saint Petersburg International Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2025: Ivan Popov and Tamerlan Eslemesov keep the double gold in Russia

Last but not least, the Saint Petersburg International also took place on Saturday and brought athletes from all over the world to the Platonova Academy in Russia, offering 600 global ranking points in addition to gold and glory for each of the tournament's champions.

With memorable battles taking place in every level of the tournament, two Professional black belts from Russia took the action to the next level and became double champions in their homeland. The first was Ivan Popov (Commando Group), who started his campaign in the 77kg division and took the title with a whopping 10-0 win over Leonid Garbuzov (Checkmat International). Ivan returned to the mats later looking for another medal and soon joined the No-Gi 77kg division, with two opponents between himself and the top of the podium. After a quick submission over Leonid Mokrinskiy (Sech Jiu Jitsu) in the semifinal, the gold round came as a rematch between Ivan and Leonid Garbuzov, with the latter much more prepared this time around but still falling short in a 2-1 score.

The other highlight goes to Tamerlan Eslemesov (Top Team Fight Club), a Russian black belt who currently sits atop the European rankings. Fighting both with and without the gi in the 120kg division, Tamerlan started with the cloth and went up against Ilia Putilin (Stoneguard) in the final, scoring multiple times before seizing the opportunity to end the match with a submission around the two-minute mark. He later returned to the mats for the No-Gi title and ended up facing Ilia Putilin once again in the gold round. More familiarized with his opponent's game, Tamerlan wasted no time and went all-out from the start, quickly overwhelming his opponent, landing four points, and then submitting with a little over thirty seconds on the clock to take his second title.

Check out the full results here!