IBJJFJul 5, 2017 by Hywel Teague
American Nationals Brackets Released: Keenan Is Back!
American Nationals Brackets Released: Keenan Is Back!
The brackets just got released for the IBJJF American Nationals and it features a mix of familiar faces, freshly promoted black belts, and one particularly renowned technical innovator in the form of Keenan Cornelius.
The brackets just got released for the IBJJF American Nationals (July 6-8) and it features a mix of familiar faces, freshly promoted black belts, and one particularly renowned technical innovator in the form of Keenan Cornelius.
The worm guard creator injured his knee in Japan in April, when he dislocated his kneecap during a match. He fought in a low-key superfight in Singapore since, but this is the first time we've seen Cornelius enter a tournament but judging from his recent social media shenanigans he's been prepping hard.
He and Atos teammates Lucas "Hulk" and Michael Perez were enjoying the good life in a mansion in Beverly Hills training with former opponent Gordon Ryan among others. When they weren't training, they were hanging out with hot chicks, driving supercars and having cookouts next to a pool. It's a hard life when you're being taken care of by a wealthy benefactor.
Lightweight
The lightweight division is probably the most competitive, and the bracket is loaded in a way that's going to deliver some pretty good matches whatever happens.
On side you've got the likes of John Combs and Jake Mackenzie, with tough opening rounds. Marcio Andre gets a bye so starts one step closer to the final. On the side side there's a nice clash of styles in Johnny Tama vs Kevin Mahecha, with the winner facing Renato Canuto (who is based in Las Vegas and has a home turf advantage). Gracie Barra veteran Rodrigo Freitas also sits on that side of the brackets. It's likely we'll see Andre vs Freitas in the final, but it's not guaranteed and anything could happen.
Middleweight
The middleweight division features the black belt debut of Dante Leon, one of the best-known brown belt competitors of the last couple of years and a recent silver medalist at Worlds. Two black belt bronze medalists are also in the division, with Yan Lucas on one issue and Jaime Canuto on the other. Nathan Mendelsohn is always one to watch, as is the relatively unknown but capable Ross Keeping, a British transplant to Sin City who impressed us at Abu Dhabi World Pro this year.
Heavyweight
The heavyweight division is where you'll find Keenan, along with other top American black belts such as Josh Hinger (moving up from his normal weight category) and Tanner Rice, who ranked #7 in our list of most successful Americans of 2017 to date.
Click here for all brackets
The worm guard creator injured his knee in Japan in April, when he dislocated his kneecap during a match. He fought in a low-key superfight in Singapore since, but this is the first time we've seen Cornelius enter a tournament but judging from his recent social media shenanigans he's been prepping hard. He and Atos teammates Lucas "Hulk" and Michael Perez were enjoying the good life in a mansion in Beverly Hills training with former opponent Gordon Ryan among others. When they weren't training, they were hanging out with hot chicks, driving supercars and having cookouts next to a pool. It's a hard life when you're being taken care of by a wealthy benefactor.
Black belt brackets
As said, the black belt divisions aren't super stacked (post-Worlds comedown / vacation / off-season still in effect for many) but feature an intriguing mix of names.Lightweight
The lightweight division is probably the most competitive, and the bracket is loaded in a way that's going to deliver some pretty good matches whatever happens.
On side you've got the likes of John Combs and Jake Mackenzie, with tough opening rounds. Marcio Andre gets a bye so starts one step closer to the final. On the side side there's a nice clash of styles in Johnny Tama vs Kevin Mahecha, with the winner facing Renato Canuto (who is based in Las Vegas and has a home turf advantage). Gracie Barra veteran Rodrigo Freitas also sits on that side of the brackets. It's likely we'll see Andre vs Freitas in the final, but it's not guaranteed and anything could happen.
Middleweight
The middleweight division features the black belt debut of Dante Leon, one of the best-known brown belt competitors of the last couple of years and a recent silver medalist at Worlds. Two black belt bronze medalists are also in the division, with Yan Lucas on one issue and Jaime Canuto on the other. Nathan Mendelsohn is always one to watch, as is the relatively unknown but capable Ross Keeping, a British transplant to Sin City who impressed us at Abu Dhabi World Pro this year.
Heavyweight
The heavyweight division is where you'll find Keenan, along with other top American black belts such as Josh Hinger (moving up from his normal weight category) and Tanner Rice, who ranked #7 in our list of most successful Americans of 2017 to date.
Click here for all brackets
American Nationals Black Belt Entrants
| BLACK / Adult / Male / Rooster | |
| Ronald Stephen Henderson Jr. | CheckMat |
| Chad Daniel Lundy | Cleber Jiu Jitsu |
| Nobuhiro Sawada | Tri-Force Jiu-Jitsu Academy |
| BLACK / Adult / Male / Light-Feather | |
| Fabbio Passos de Alencar | Alliance |
| Lucas dos Santos Pinheiro | AMBJJ - Alex Martins Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu |
| Takahito Yoshioka | Atos Jiu-Jitsu |
| Rene Eduardo Lopez | Brasa Caio Terra |
| Henry Iribe | Gracie Humaita South Bay |
| Luis Felipe Ninja de Moraes Pinto | Leonardo Peçanha Association |
| Edmund Li | Nova União Hawai |
| BLACK / Adult / Male / Feather | |
| Jason Alexander Gagnon | Alliance |
| Nicollas Welker Amorim Araujo | Alliance |
| Orlando Machado da Silva Junior | Alliance Jiu-Jitsu |
| Jonathan Van Buren | Ares BJJ |
| Osvaldo Augusto Honorio Moizinho | Ares BJJ |
| Kim Terra | Caio Terra Association |
| Thiago Augusto Araujo Macedo | Rodrigo Pinheiro BJJ |
| Felipe Hugo de Souza Simplicio | Soul Fighters BJJ Connecticut |
| Silvio Duran de Barros Saraiva | Vitor Shaolin BJJ |
| BLACK / Adult / Male / Light | |
| Johnny Joachin Tama Apolinario | Alliance |
| Kevin Javier Mahecha | American Top Team |
| Breno Henrique Abreu Bittencourt | Ares BJJ Brasil |
| Kauan Argimon Barboza | Carlson Gracie Team |
| John Taylor Combs | Easton BJJ |
| Jacob Williams Mackenzie | GF Team |
| Blake Michael Nolan | Impact Jiu Jitsu |
| Issa Able | Nava BJJ |
| Marcio Andre Costa Barbosa Junior | Nova União |
| Rodrigo Lamounier de Freitas | Rodrigo Freitas Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu |
| Scott Richard Thometz | SBG International (SBGI) |
| Renato Forasieppi Alves Canuto | Zenith BJJ |
| Victor de Matos | Zenith BJJ |
| BLACK / Adult / Male / Middle | |
| Piter Frank Almeida Silva | Alliance |
| Nathan Albrecht Mendelsohn | Coalition 95 |
| Christian N Broadnax | GD Jiu-Jitsu Association |
| Dante Leon | GF Team |
| Jaime Soares Canuto | GF Team |
| Ross Daniel Keeping | Gracie Humaita Las Vegas |
| Rennick Keolani Kama Jr. | LEAD BJJ |
| Yan Lucas Cordeiro Paiva | Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu |
| Marcos Alexandre Campos de Almeida | Rodrigo Pinheiro BJJ |
| Shawn D. S. Cox | Yemaso Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu |
| BLACK / Adult / Male / Medium-Heavy | |
| Tarsis Carvalho Humphreys | Alliance |
| Lucas Daniel Silva Barbosa | Atos Jiu-Jitsu |
| Valdir Araujo de Lima Júnior | Fight Sports BJJ |
| Manuel Ribamar V. de Oliveira Filho | Ns Brotherhood |
| Cleves Filip Goiano de Matos | Roll Jiu-Jitsu Academy |
| Igor Matosinho de Paiva | Soul Fighters BJJ Tijuca |
| Diego Dias Ramalho | ZR Team California |
| BLACK / Adult / Male / Heavy | |
| Charles Kilyan Mcguire | American Top Team |
| Keenan Kai-James Cornelius | Atos Jiu-Jitsu |
| Joshua Roy Hinger | Atos JJ International |
| Arnaldo Maidana de Oliveira | CheckMat |
| Daniel Hampton | GD Jiu-Jitsu Association |
| Felipe Larry Matias Oliveira | Nova União |
| Wellington Modena Peroto | One Jiu-Jitsu USA |
| Tanner Wade Rice | Soul Fighters BJJ Connecticut |
| Nicholas Lawrence Haas | Zenith BJJ |
| BLACK / Adult / Male / Super-Heavy | |
| Dany Guy Steve Gerard | Atos JJ International |
| Gabriel Procópio da Fonseca | BTT |
| Christopher Gene Engle | Cascao Jiu-Jitsu |
| BLACK / Adult / Male / Ultra-Heavy | |
| Felipe Cabral Pinheiro Abad | Ares BJJ |
| Joseph Moku Kahawai Jr. | Beyond Jiu-Jitsu |
| Gabriel Lyrio Lucas | CheckMat |
| Gustavo Dias Elias | Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu |
| BLACK / Adult / Female / Light-Feather | |
| Tassia Vanessa Ferreira | Gracie Barra |
| BLACK / Adult / Female / Feather | |
| Ana Talita de Oliveira Alencar | Alliance |
| Tammi Alana Musumeci | Brasa Caio Terra |
| Patrícia Maria N. Fontes dos Santos | CheckMat |
| Ana Carolina Schmitt | Gracie Humaita |
| Emilie Maxine M. H. Thylin | Gracie Humaita |
| BLACK / Adult / Female / Light | |
| Danielle Renee Alvarez | Gracie Humaita |
| Jena Rae Bishop | Gracie Humaita |
| BLACK / Adult / Female / Middle | |
| Evelyne Déry | Brazilian Top Team |
| Beatriz de Oliveira Mesquita | Gracie Humaita |
| Nivia de Souza Moura | Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu |
| BLACK / Adult / Female / Super-Heavy | |
| Charlene Marie Coats | Coalition 95 |
| Hillary VanOrnum | Impact Jiu Jitsu |