GF Team stand-out Patrick Gaudio says he was ready to give up his grappling career, but managed to bounce back from a series of knee injuries to conquer his first IBJJF black belt title yesterday. 

Gaudio made his post-knee surgery return yesterday at the 2015 IBJJF No-Gi Brazilian Nationals, winning gold in the -88kg category. This was Gaudio’s first tournament since a meniscus surgery in July. 

The middle-heavyweight emerged victorious in a stacked category. He won his opening match over Romeu Mendes with rear naked choke before meeting Gracie Barra’s Claudio ‘Caloquinha’ in the semi-finals. 

Gaudio conceded a sweep early on but escaped. Down on points he racked up a number of advantages before securing a guard pass midway through the match, going on to win 3-2. 

On the other side of the bracket MMA fighter and veteran black belt Ronys Torres of Nova Uniao would have met Gaudio in the finals but injured his ankle and was unable to continue. 

The victory marks Gaudio’s first IBJJF gold medal at black belt, something the 22-year-old is understably very happ[y about. 

“I had a very dark year because of my knee, I’d never had an injury like that and I had to do four MRIs to diagnose what I had wrong with my knee,” says Gaudio. 

“After the third MRI and not identifying anything, I was ready to give up fighting. With the support of my family and friends I could make a comeback, and today I’m very happy to get my first black belt title in the CBJJ [Brazilian national representative of the IBJJF].”

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