It was a wild final round at the IBJJF Pans, with champions emerging and AOJ claiming their first major team title.

Art of Jiu-Jitsu finally won their first team title in the adult divisions, with their strong run to finish black belt being a deciding factor in their trophy. AOJ is only a single academy and going up against affiliations with many schools producing athletes so it's very impressive to see them able to come out on top. The next stop will be the Worlds, which is now an even more interesting team race after the finish here in Florida.

Both of AOJ's key featherweights made the final and then closed out, as Diego Pato took the title by walkover against Cole Abate. Cole took out World Champion Sam Nagai on his way to the finals and secured himself key seeding points for Worlds, and Pato continues his Grand Slam run. Also representing AOJ was Tainan Dalpra, who won middleweight in a great display with a 6-0 victory over Andy Murasaki in the finals. He was able to show more wrestling in this match and reestablished himself again as the man at middle. His Grand Slam run will continue at Brazilian nationals.

One of the biggest stories of the tournament, even though he wasn't a champion, was Roberto Jimenez. The Studio76 representative fought with passion and excitement all weekend and only added to his legend by taking double silver. Roberto had highlight reel finishes and epic matches, punctuated by an all-time final against Adam Wardzinski that was back-and-forth. Roberto did pick up probably his biggest gi win ever by beating world champion Gustavo Batista early in the day with a surprising display of physical power. Roberto would go on to lose the absolute final to the larger Gutemberg Pereira on advantages, but what he did this tournament will surely stay with fans.

Gabi Pessanha submitted Izadora Cristina and Isa Lemos to win both her finals by submissions, earning her eighth and ninth black belt Pan golds. She continues to set a new standard in dominance for modern gi jiu-jitsu.

There were some unbelievable upsets but none was more surprising than the final at light-feather where Rerrison Gabriel beat Diogo Reis for his first major gold at black belt. The rookie black belt was patient and composed against the more experienced Reis and won a razor close decision after ten minutes of competition. He was also able to beat Malachi Edmon in that same run and now goes into Worlds as the top dog.

In one of the most surprising submissions from the finals, Janaina Maia beat Luiza Monteiro with a straight ankle lock that got the tap faster than anyone else in the finals. This was a big statement from Janaina, who will now be one of the favorites heading into Worlds later this year. Also, speaking of upsets, Thaynara Victoria won her light-feather division after her major upset yesterday. Today, she used a last-second sweep to dramatically pick up the win against Murphey in the finals. It was a wild run for the young black belt in her debut year at the rank.

After controversy and frustration earlier in the tournament, Marcus Scooby of Alliance won the ultra-heavy class. After the submission win, Scooby was clearly elated to have won such a big tournament after coming close in Lisbon earlier this year. Nolan Stuart won the super-heavy class in a solid breakout performance that was punctuated by his use of the omoplata and monoplata to great success.