Keenan Cornelius and Isaac Doederlein claimed the black belt open weight titles and the tickets to Abu Dhabi at the Los Angeles National Pro on March 5. Both left Los Angeles Southwest College with double gold. 


Cornelius -- Andre Galvao's star American black belt -- submitted his two opponents in the -94kg division with a choke from the back and an armbar. One match in the heavy open weight against Aaron 'Tex' Johnson was won by points to secure the travel package.

Doederlein won his debut match by an 18-0 points lead and finished his final against Clark Gracie's Brandon Walenksy by choke from the back. In the light open weight division he won his first match on points and his second in a rematch against Walensky, which was won by points. He faced Gracie Barra's AJ Agazarm in the final where a guard pass earned him the travel package.


After losing in the final of the open weight division at the New York International Pro two weeks ago, Tara White won double guard on her home turf. What;s more, she also faced black belt veteran Tammy Greigo in the -90kg brown/black belt division and the purple/brown/black belt open weight, defeating her both times by points. She went on to win the final against purple belt Natalie Van Hamersveld by a couple guard passes to get her trip to Abu Dhabi.


In the colored belt divisions, Cole Franson and Dominique Bell won the brown belt light and heavy open weight divisions respectively. Purple belt males from Gracie Barra, Connor Donaldson and Julian Vanderlinden won their open weight divisions. Blue belt open weights were won by AOJ's Liam Moss, who is in his first year of competing as an adult, and Darin Deangelis. The other female ticket went to blue belt Danielle Stein Martinez.

This was the last opportunity for North Americans to earn their trip to the Abu Dhabi World Pro in April. 

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