With WNO 26 and Polaris 31 happening just hours apart, it was a pretty big weekend for Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ).
Both cards were pretty stacked with talent, which included two lightweight champions retaining their respective titles. Decorated IBJJF champ Diego “Pato” Oliveira defended his WNO title against Keith Krikorian, while teenage BJJ prodigy Helena Crevar defended her Polaris title against Anabel Lopez Beard. Both champions proved to be technically superior to their challengers, but there are a few other BJJ stars that stood out more and stole the show this weekend.
Here are the biggest winners from WNO 26 and Polaris 31:
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Roberto Jimenez and his insane flying armbar
There’s a reason I put Roberto Jimenez’s bout as the top match to watch in WNO 26 in my preview. The 24-year-old has a reputation for putting on exciting matches, and boy did he deliver at WNO 26.
Not only did he get revenge at his fellow IBJJF world champion in Elder Cruz, he won the rematch in style. Jimenez was the biggest winner this weekend after that insanely quick flying armbar that absolutely stole the show.
Mateusz Szczecinski leads Team Europe to victory
Making the biggest impact at Polaris 31 is Mateusz Szczecinski, who beat four men and landed two submissions in one night. Polaris Squads — and team grappling as a whole — is always a fun format, and the Polaris welterweight champion in Szczecinski was the main driving force that led Team Europe to a dominant win over Team North America.
Among his four wins was this pretty nasty armbar over PJ Barch. He locked it up so quick, it’s actually easy to miss on first watch.
Check here for full results and highlights from Polaris 31.
Tainan Dalpra and his nasty choke
Also impressing this weekend was two-time gi world champion Tainan Dalpra, who remained undefeated in professional no gi competition. Dalpra followed up his recent IBJJF Euros win in the gi, with a no gi win just over a week later at WNO 26.
The AOJ star looked great once again, finishing Rene Sousa with a pretty nasty a seated arm triangle. Since Dalpra’s been proving to be really good at no gi too, hopefully he faces better competition next.
Check here for full results of WNO 26.
Jozef Chen eliminates 3 opponents from Team North America
Also standing out from Polaris 31 is Team Europe’s Jozef Chen, who eliminated three opponents from Team North America. The ADCC Trials winner beat Mike Perez and Chris Wojcik twice, and also came close to upsetting the much larger Devhonte Johnson on his third straight match. Chen and Szczecinski alone combined for seven victories, which led to a wide victory for Team Europe.
It’s hard to over emphasize just how good this B-Team BJJ star is at just 20 years of age.
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