We take a look at tournament results from three continents, plus the details on a marathon submission-only superfight — all this and more in our essential weekend recap. 

Alliance rules in Atlanta 

The IBJJF hosted the Atlanta Winter International Open in Atlanta on Saturday, and it was no surprise that Alliance topped the podium in the team scores, given one of its three HQs is based in the city. 

Principal founder Romero "Jacare" Cavalcanti hoisted the trophy after his soldiers won a collective 483 points – 169 points ahead of second-place Roberto Traven BJJ. 

Alliance's total was boosted in particular by the black belt medal haul: Gianni Grippo won the lightweight bracket, Marcos Tinoco took gold at middle, Matheus Diniz and Jon Satava closed out the medium-heavy division, and then Diniz and Tinoco did the same in the absolute. Not a bad weekend for the guys, who all train together at Marcelo Garcia’s New York gym. 

UAEJJF update: Results from Johannesburg, Moscow, and Mexico City 

We’re just under three months away from the UAEJJF Abu Dhabi World Pro, scheduled for April 24-28 at the Mubadala Arena. 

In 2017 the UAEJJF debuted a new system whereby only two athletes of the same nationality can enter the same black belt bracket. The highest-ranked black belt from a country automatically gets to be the first representative when World Pro comes around, so we’ll start to see more names travel to UAEJJF events to get their ranking points. 

The vibe at World Pro in 2017 was different to previous years — it really felt like a true world cup, in that countries were put at the forefront and not athletes or teams. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at what when down over the weekend in three very different locations.

Angola packs a punch in South Africa 

Angolan athletes took gold in all of the male adult brown and black belt divisions at the South Africa National Pro in Johannesburg – and they were all from Gracie Barra Angola. 

We saw a huge contingent of Angolan athletes at the 2017 Abu Dhabi World Pro, and if these early results indicate anything then we could see them back again, and in force. 

The Angolans come with strong stand-up skills (they boast a solid judo pedigree), and they always bring a lot of crowd support and plenty of enthusiasm and energy! 

Male Gi / Brown / Adult / 77kg 

Fady Saad – Gracie Barra Angola 

Male Gi / Brown / Adult / 77kg 

Walter dos Santos – Gracie Barra Angola 

Male Gi / Black / Adult / 94kg 

Ruben Lemos – Gracie Barra Angola 

Beasts from the East in Russia 

There were no adult black belt categories at the Europe Continental Pro in Moscow, but the brown belt results threw up something interesting. 

The 69kg and 77kg divisions were won by Brazilian athletes Gabriel Sousa of ZR Team (above) and Marlus de Souza of SAS, respectively. 

The 85kg, 94kg, and 110kg brackets were all won by athletes with closer origins: 85kg gold went to Murtazali Murtazaliev of Kyrgyzstan, the 94kg division was won by Croatian athlete Luka Skoric, and Khasan Varando of Russia was crowned the 110kg champ.

Combs cleans up in Mexico City

A lot of no-shows among the brackets of the Mexico National Pro but one black belt showed up in style. 

John Combs won gold at 77kg with two submissions in under two minutes total. He tapped out Alexis Alduncin of Renzo Gracie Mexico in 1:32 and finished Alberto Serrano Govea in only 23 seconds! 

Goncalves and Crelinsten prove themselves 'Finishers'

A brown belt and a black belt won cash prizes at the Show The Art “Finishers 5” event in Rockaway, NJ, on Saturday, with Ethan Crelinsten of Tristar/Renzo Gracie winning $2,000 and Marcel Goncalves taking home $1,600. 

Crelinsten won four matches in regulation (EBI rules) in an under 170lb bracket despite weighing only 145lb. Goncalves had to go to a crazy fourth overtime in a marathon main event superfight with Jason Rau to be declared the winner! 

Watch the full event here: