Two-time IBJJF world champion Victor Hugo had a landmark weekend at the 2023 IBJJF Brasileiro in São Paulo, where he conquered double gold, submitting six of his seven opponents.

Hugo, who holds back-to-back IBJJF ultra heavyweight world titles in 2021 and 2022, achieved a career milestone with his submission heavy outing. He had not previously earned double gold at an IBJJF major as a black belt.

But Hugo shone throughout the tournament, demonstrating equal levels of dominance and tenacity to come back from deficit.

In the ultra heavyweight division, Hugo submitted Jackson Ferreria in the quarterfinal, before meeting Victor Honorio, who kept the match competitive until the final moment. Hugo went on to submit Cleyton Flores in the final.

In the absolute division, Hugo earned submissions in each of his four matches, including a late kneebar in the semifinal against Pedro Alex, and a statement-making choke from the back in his second consecutive bout with Honrio.

This outing marked Hugo’s first entry at Brasileiros as a black belt. The last time he competed at the tournament, in 2019, he was a brown belt. That year, Hugo earned double gold at Brasileiros and went on to achieve a Double Grand Slam.

Speaking of Double Grand Slams, Infight’s Gabi Pessanha returned to Brasileiros, and, for the third consecutive year, secured double gold. 

That puts the Carioca star on track to achieve a Double Grand Slam for the second consecutive year. Her two gold medals at Brasileiros mark her eighth consecutive double gold performance in IBJJF competition. If she keeps the streak alive at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach next month, she’ll become the first athlete in history to win back-to-back double Grand Slams.

Along with Pessanha, both Mayssa Bastos and Luiza Monteiro remain on track to achieve a Grand Slam in 2023, and could complete their campaigns with successful outings at Worlds.

Tainan Dalpra is the only male athlete still on track to complete a Grand Slam after his sensational homecoming trip to Brasileiros — his first as a black belt.

Dalpra, who has achieved multiple World, European and Pans titles at the highest rank, had not previously competed at Brasileiros since before blue belt. But the massive crowd at Brasileiro accepted him with explosive cheers leading up to his entry to the mat, following each of his two dynamic submission victories, and his final dominant points victory alike.

Tainan Dalpra’s stardom has been proven. On Sunday morning, FloGrappling released a trailer for a feature-length documentary about Dalpra’s rise. See the trailer for The New Guard: Tainan Dalpra here.

Here are all of the 2023 IBJJF black belt Brazilian National Champions:

• Female roosterweight: Brenda Larissa, who’s gold medal marks her first major IBJJF title
• Female light featherweight: Mayssa Bastos is on track for a second consecutive grand slam, this time in a heavier weight category
• Female featherweight: Bia Basilio secured her fifth Brasileiro title as a black belt
• Female lightweight: Luiza Monteiro is on track to grand slam in the lightweight category this year
• Female middleweight: Andressa Cintra earned her second consecutive Brasileiro title
• Female medium heavyweight: Maria Malyjasiak became the first-ever Polish grappler to win a Brasileiro gold
• Female heavyweight: Thanyara Silva earned gold in her rookie year at black belt
• Female super heavyweight: Gabi Pessanha earned her 16th straight major gold.
• Male roosterweight: Lucas Pinheiro  submitted all three of his opponents from the back
• Male light featherweight: Diogo Reis collected his second straight Brasileiro gold
• Male featherweight: Isaac Doederlein became the second American in history to earn two Brasileiro titles
• Male lightweight: Lucas Valente collected two impressive submissions on the weekend
• Male middleweight: Tainan Dalpra submitted two of three to earn his first black belt Brasileiro gold
• Male medium heavyweight: Gustavo Batista earned his first Brasileiro black belt title with a spree of submissions
• Male heavyweight: Fellipe Andrew submitted the field for his second Brasileiro title
• Male super heavyweight: Pedro Lucas, a rookie black belt who secured his first major title
• Male ultra heavyweight: Victor Hugo earned double gold in a major for the first time in his black belt career