See Every Colored Belt Double Gold Performance From No-Gi Worlds
See Every Colored Belt Double Gold Performance From No-Gi Worlds
There were plenty of world-class colored belts putting forth herculean efforts in the hunt for gold.
There's no denying that the 2018 No-Gi World Championships was an unforgettable affair.
While most of the attention was on the big name black belts duking it out in the most stacked No-Gi Worlds in years, there were plenty of world-class colored belts putting forth herculean efforts in the hunt for gold. Here we highlight the champions from each of the colored belt absolute divisions.
It should be noted that every member of this list took home double gold except one, who took home gold and silver. That is a serious indication that they are definitely the talents you should be keeping an eye on in the colored ranks. Hit the links below to watch each and every absolute final from blue through brown belt.
Watch every match from No-Gi Worlds
Steffen M. Banta – Blue Belt
New blue belt prospects are always difficult to stay on top of, but nothing serves as an intro quite like taking double gold at one of the biggest events of the year. Enter Steffen Banta, a Soul Fighters athlete whom we’ve been hearing quite a lot about this week.
He took double gold in medium heavy and the absolute of the adult blue belt division after an impressive run, and we look forward to seeing more of the rising talent.
Absolute Final
Medium-Heavy Final
Olivia Obodoagha – Blue Belt
Coming from the champion factory that is Team Lloyd Irvin, Olivia Obodoagha also took home double gold in the absolute and superheavy divisions.
Absolute Final
Super-Heavy Final
Taylor Kettler – Purple Belt
Taylor Kettler from Renato Tavares battled his way to the final of the ultra-heavyweight division where he narrowly lost out to GF Team monster Wallace Costa. Not to be dissuaded, Kettler clawed his way back to to the final of the absolute division where he faced Wallace once again, this time besting the GF Team representative by referee’s decision
Absolute Final
Elisabeth Clay – Purple
Elisabeth Clay is no stranger to our highlight reels – the young women is one of the youngest-ever athletes to qualify for ADCC and has been wreaking havoc in just about every event she has entered for the past few years.
Clay added another double gold performance to her resume, and the Ares competitor’s absolute final with Unity Jiu-Jitsu representative Chloe McNally delivered one of the most exciting matches of the day.
Absolute Final
Medium-Heavy Final
Matheus Lutes – Brown Belt
Matheus Lutes has compiled a hell of a resume over the past year. A breakout star from KASAI, Lutes cemented himself as one of THE elite brown belts to watch in 2019 by taking home double gold at No-Gi Worlds besting Victor Hugo (one of the toughest ultra-heavies in the game today) in the process.
Matheus Lutes – Marcelo's Mind Changed Me
Absolute Final
Middleweight
Kendall Reusing – Brown Belt
With double gold at brown belt, Kendall Reusing helped Gracie Barra win the women's team title at No-Gi Worlds. Check out the throw to submission in the absolute final, a dominant win.
Post-Absolute Interview
Absolute Final
Super-Heavy Final
