1. Deep Half Guard Is Still King

In stark contrast to the gameplan at the adult level, deep half guard has long been the preferred guard for many masters competitors. With the shortened five- or six-minute matches, sliding into deep half and then scoring a late sweep to win 2-0 is a solid strategy for Master Worlds. The dominant passing positions typically achieved after a deep half sweep usually allow the athlete to coast out the remaining time in an over-under or double-unders position.

Master 1, however, saw a significant amount of 50/50 play this year, with getting the first and only two points of the short match being the same goal. Lightweight champion Breno Bittencourt was particularly successful with the 50/50 game on his way to gold in Las Vegas.

Watch: Breno Bittencourt vs Jake Mackenzie

2. Open Class No Longer A Priority

The call of the Las Vegas casinos, restaurants, and pools may be keeping many of the best Masters athletes from sticking around for the open class. Not many of the weight class champions opted to do the open class at the black belt level, with only one champion signed up at Master 1 and two champions at Master 2. Considering there are nine weight classes per age group this is a very low turnout for the open class. Some champions are surely battling injury and decided to opt out, like Vitor Oliveira at Master 1 who is returning from surgery.

3. Are Some Veterans Getting Better With Age?

In the Master 4 and 5 divisions, some of the older athletes are looking better than ever. Alexandre “Soca” Freitas, now a five-time Master Worlds champion, was vocal after his final about feeling his technique and strategy is better now than in his days as an ADCC champion. Considering the way Soca dismantled his entire division, it's hard to disagree with him.

Watch: Alexandre Soca rolls through Master Worlds

Marco Barbosa also looked very impressive at Master 5, coming back after a long layoff to win the lightweight division. Along the way Barbosa defeated the reigning king of his division, Wellington “Megaton” Dias, in the semifinal with a beautiful counter to Megaton’s uchi mata.

4. Adult Success Does Not Make Masters Worlds Any Easier

While some big-name competitors from adult such as Marcos Tinoco, Claudia Doval, and Karen Antunes looked unstoppable in Las Vegas, many competitors fell to names you wouldn’t think capable of defeating them.

As we are seeing more and more every year, many competitors who are currently active and successful in the adult division turned out to compete at Master 1. Josh Hinger, currently prepping to compete at ADCC next month, even competed at Master 2.

The masters level continues to grow and new competitors might find things tougher at Master Worlds then they imagined. The Master 1 featherweight final was fought between Tiago Barros and Osvaldo Queixinho, currently ranked fourth and sixth at the adult level. Even the aforementioned Hinger fell short this year, losing by Triangle to Luis Marques after defeating Alan Finfou in the semifinal.

Watch On Demand the 2019 IBJJF World Master Jiu-Jitsu Championship