Congratulations to everyone who competed at the 2014 Long Beach BJJ Pro this past weekend. Yuri Simoes was the big winner on Sunday, in his first match he took on a game Carlos Eduardo de Araujo Farias, Yuri was able to come up with a big take down before dominating the rest of the match and winning on points. In the final, Yuri faced one of the top Americans in James Puopolo. The match ended with a submission and Yuri took home the gold and the money.
Purple belts Ryan Walsh and Benji Silva also competed. Benji had several tough matches and came home with a bronze medal. Ryan had one of his most impressive performances to date, first winning his weight class but falling just short in the open class final. These guys are always training hard and representing the association well.
From our Arizona affiliate, Mario Gaxiola, placed second in his division and third in the Brown Belt Master 2 Open Class. Unfortunately, Samir and Queixinho did not have anyone else in their division and closed out. I hope to see more support for these professional tournaments in the future. Happy Holidays.
