Road to Double Gold: Hazel Butcher-Salazar Dominates At Pans
Road to Double Gold: Hazel Butcher-Salazar Dominates At Pans
After a sterling run at juveniles, Hazel Butcher-Salazar won 6 matches on her way to purple belt double gold at the IBJJF Pans
Hazel Butcher-Salazar's stock continues to rise as the young Alliance purple belt captured double gold at the IBJJF Pan Championship, winning gold in the heavyweight and open classes after six victories. With this kind of performance and the caliber of victories she was able to achieve, she established herself as one of the best purple belts on Earth heading into the World Championships later this year.
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Hazel is fresh to the adult IBJJF scene but was one of the most impressive juvenile blue belts in the world last year with a double gold performance at Worlds, after winning gold at every major event. This is all after a successful kids career as well, meaning Hazel has a lot of experience for being just a purple belt.
Hazel's double gold run was really built off of her guard passing, with a ton of pressure - especially for a young purple belt - being a difference maker in nearly every match. Combine that with a very aggressive guard and back takes and she has a style that will be tough for others to deal with.
Let's take a look at some of her matches from yesterday, starting with her heavyweight final. This was a really fun match early, and Hazel had to fight through a near back take and armbar before coming up into a guard pass. Once she was on top, Hazel's pressure and pinning was unstoppable as she racked up a dozen points on her way to a suffocating win.
The absolute run was really where I think she put in her most impressive work, with some really skilled athletes in the mix. The bracket included the European absolute champion Nikolett Kis, former blue belt Pan absolute champion Luandra Barbosa, colored belt standout Eliza Nascimento, and more. In the end, it would be Hazel standing alone at the top of the podium.
Hazel pulled the top-seed first round of the absolute, Luandra Barbosa (the video says Aché by mistake). Luandra won the medium-heavy division that and was listed as one of our top-10 purple belts to watch coming in. She's also someone who tends to do her best work in the open class, making this an even more daunting matchup. Luandra did get to her spider guard, usually her best position, but it was that top work of Hazel that eventually neutralized and crushed that, passing her way into a deep knee cut and eventually mounting. Just to make sure that was no fluke, Luandra ended up reguarding and Hazel passed her way to mount, then took the back, and then secured the submission win over the 1-seed with only seconds left on the clock. It was a really impressive statement to kick off the bracket.
After two more submission wins in the open class with chokes from the back, the absolute finals were set. Eliza Nascimento had defeated her rival Nikolett in the other semifinal and now it was heavyweight champion against lightweight champion. While Eliza is certainly very talented, the size and skill of Hazel was too much - she was able to pressure, pass, and mount to rack up points on her way to the finals victory.
Hazel Butcher-Salazar really arrived as an adult IBJJF competitor with this statement performance, showcasing a strong top game and an ability to finish against skilled opposition. Now she heads into the rest of this IBJJF season as someone that fans and opponents alike should be keeping an eye out for.
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