IBJJF Open - Long Beach 2006

Budapest, November 28, 2006.

There were about a hundred fighters there, a real melting pot of talent including Canadians, Poles, and Mexicans... honestly, it felt like the Mexicans might have even been the biggest group present! Aside from our crew from Black Dragon - Alliance Jiu-Jitsu, we had Bojan Mirković's guys from the Winning team showing up, and one of them actually walked away with gold in his division.

Taking home first place in their respective categories were Dubravko Čolić, Martin Starčević, Denis Bažulić, and Jakov Šperanda.

Since this was our very first time stepping onto the mats for a gi tournament, things felt a little unpolished regarding the rules. Our matches felt way too short and were heavily focused on tactical maneuvering rather than action. Most of the competitors were just playing for points, which isn't really our style of fighting.

The officiating was handled by Brazilians, and I thought they did a pretty decent job. The rulebook looks a bit more intimidating than Submission Wrestling, but once you get the hang of how the submissions work, it’s actually quite straightforward. There was even an American there—a big shot from the IBJJF—who was handing out the awards.

Once the weight classes wrapped up, they moved into the Open weight tournament, where each team could enter two fighters per belt level. We entered Matko and myself for the white belt division, along with Dubravko and Ilija for the blue belt side, but they never actually put us on the bracket! By the time the matches kicked off and we realized nobody was calling our names, the window had already closed. That was really the only hiccup with the organizers.

All in all, we had a blast! We had a great time hanging out, but the most important thing was getting a taste of how the sport operates in other places. BJJ is exploding right now, both in terms of skill level and the sheer number of people involved. It gave us a clear picture of what we need to tighten up during our own training sessions, and we came back feeling incredibly motivated to hit the mats harder. Gracie Barra Canada is planning to host a submission-only tournament this spring, followed by another BJJ event in the fall.

Blue Belt -94 kg

1st place Dubravko Čolić, Black Dragon - Alliance
3rd place Ilija Čavarović, Black Dragon - Alliance

Blue Belt -88 kg

3rd place Bojan Mirković, Winning team

White Belt +100 kg

1st place Martin Starčević, Black Dragon - Alliance

White Belt -100 kg

1st place Jakov Šperanda, Black Dragon - Alliance
3rd place Mario Vranješ, Black Dragon – Alliance

White Belt – 88 kg

1st place Denis Bažulić, Black Dragon – Alliance
2nd place Dario Plichta, Black Dragon – Alliance

White Belt – 82 kg

1st place Marino, Winning team
2nd place Matko Kvesić, Black Dragon - Alliance

Brandon Hayes73, you in this photo too? Which one are you?

Brandon Hayes73 said:Budapest, October 28, 2006

.....

Big congrats to the guys!

Keep up that momentum! 👍

- Stipe -

Good grief, did they even leave anything for the Canadians?
And what about how the Mexicans fared? How many fights did it actually take to snag a medal? Come on, give us some actual details here.

Congrats, guys! Well done.👍

Congrats. 👍

Joining in on the congratulations

Bazooka said:Brandon Hayes73, are you in this photo too? Which one are you?

Standing in the back >L : someone, probably David, Sharon, Elijah, Martin, maybe someone else
Down low >l : what was Matthew thinking with that haircut🤣 , Plichta

Or maybe not😬

nice work, guys👍

Zachary Alvarez8 said:nice work, guys👍

If I remember correctly, not even that long ago, everyone was tearing Bob apart. Turns out he’s actually doing just fine after all...

here we go again🙄

He’s getting dragged for those fake Muay Thai scores on the academy's official site—but honestly, it wasn't even the scores that started this mess. He was the one who went after the whole sub-wrestling scene here in the States first, so people were really just stepping up to defend their own community and the integrity of the tournament.

Zachary Alvarez8 - MT score - 67-0

hiddensailor14 said:I’ll jump in on the congratulations too.
top >L : someone, probably David, Sharon, Elijah, Martin, or whoever else
bottom >l : what on earth did Matthew do to his hair?🤣 , Plichta
Or maybe he didn't.😬

The first guy in the top row from the left is Matthew. 🙂

Nathan Adams55 said:If I recall correctly, not all that long ago, everyone was tearing Bob to pieces. It turns out he’s actually doing just fine...

It seems that just as much as he was unfairly criticized before, he's being brought up without cause now too!
Out of the three in his category, he was firmly in third place! There was simply no way for him to be fourth, even if he had tried! 👍

Well, damn... Honestly... It wasn't exactly a legendary tournament back then anyway.

Nathan Adams55 said:Oh, for crying out loud... Seriously... It wasn't exactly some massive tournament back then either.

Hmm... well, maybe not. Look, there were about a hundred fighters there, which actually counts as a pretty large turnout. However—and this is the thing—BJJ suffers from a specific issue you just don't see in other combat sports. It’s the way categories are structured. You aren't just splitting people by weight; you have to factor in belt levels too. So, you take your weight classes—say, 150, 165, 185, 205, 225, and 225+ lbs—and then you slice those groups up again into white, blue, purple, brown, and black belts. Suddenly, you end up with a bracket that only has three or four competitors in it. It’s an absolute mess. And honestly? In a place like the US, where BJJ hasn't quite hit mainstream saturation yet, that kind of thin matchmaking is practically inevitable.

wanderingridge said:Hmm... well, maybe not. I mean, there were about a hundred fighters there, which is actually a pretty decent turnout, but BJJ has this weird issue that you just don't see in other martial arts. It’s because tournaments aren't just split by weight classes—they also divide everyone by belt level. So, if you take categories like 150, 165, 185, 205, 225, and 225+ lbs, and then try to slice those up into white, blue, purple, brown, and black belts, you end up with situations where there are only like three or four people in a whole bracket. I guess that happens a lot here since BJJ isn't quite as huge in the States as it is elsewhere.

Honestly, splitting things up for purple, brown, and black belts isn't really the issue for us... 😁

But man, we have so few blue belts around here.

- Steven -

There were four purple belts in the mix... everyone else was just rocking white or blue. To wrap things up, two guys from Brazil wearing brown belts put on an exhibition match.

Man... look, this isn't some backyard Jiu-Jitsu where you hand out ranks and colored belts just because someone showed up with a handful of cash and a smile...

briskjackal5 said:Categorizing things into purple, brown, and black isn't exactly a struggle for us...😁

But honestly, we barely have any blue ones either.

- Steven -

Look, fine, but that’s just how it is out there. Though, I suppose even so—if you only had white and blue and then split them into categories, the numbers would practically drop by half immediately. We aren't quite at that stage yet; that's just the reality here.
It’s still a bit unfair, though. Pizdek and his crew are technically much closer to the purple/brown/black level than they are to white, yet they're stuck with whites (I mean, damn it, when the situation is this bad and we have so few specialists left 😬).

Exactly! With our white squad featuring Kvesa, Pizdek, Bažulić, Plihta, Marina, and the rest of the crew, the blue team was honestly lucky they didn't have to face us directly!
I suspect the "black" team would have to give it their absolute all just to stand a chance, and even then, there wouldn't be any guarantees or refunds for their efforts! 😉

🤣

It’s honestly such a relief that they’ve decided to implement separate seating sections at the Indian Wells Masters too...

Donald Trump said:🤣

It is honestly such a blessing that they have implemented separate belt rankings at the Los Angeles Open as well...

They simply shouldn't be combined, nor should they ever be!
I wasn't being sarcastic at all, so there really was no need for that reaction from you!
My genuine belief is that some of our local fighters could actually pose a serious threat to many athletes who hold much higher belt rankings than they do. 👍