IBJJF European Championships: Rafael Lovato Jr. Wins First European Title at 38 Years Old

Feb 21, 2022BJJEE1 AdminArticles, BJJ News, Competitions/Tournaments

This year has started off with a bang! The 2022 IBJJF European Championships (February 15-20), which took place in Rome (Italy), were extraordinarily exciting… With the “cherry on top” of the tournament being, naturally, the black belt finals!
Here are the full results and highlights.

2022 IBJJF EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: RESULTS AND HIGHLIGHTS

Thalison Soares was the first European champion, as he took the roosterweight division by storm; ultimately choking out Welerson Da Silva in the final match (with a Collar Choke).

Espen Mathiesen won his first European title in the lightweight division, winning by advantage in the final match against Marcelo Fausto.

The middleweight European Championships title winner was Tainan Dalpra. His finals match was highly anticipated, as it was against Tommy Langaker, who is the 2020 European champion.
Dalpra won via Armbar, with over three minutes remaining in the match.

Adam Wardzinski, notorious for his Butterfly Guard game, won his first heavyweight division European title – doing so by winning the match against Dominique Bell.

And wouldn’t you know it… Rafael Lovato Jr., now 38 years old, has won his first European title ever! He did so in the ultra-heavyweight division, absolutely dominating his opponent, Guilherme Bacha.

Oh, by the way, didn’t we mention that you’ll have an opportunity to train with Rafael Lovato Jr., from March 24-27?
That’s right – and not just with the new European champion, but alongside Romulo Barral, Michelle Nicolini, & Marco Canha as well… In a training camp full of new techniques, drills, rolling sessions; but also an opening party, BBQ, wine tasting, and many other fantastic opportunities to both train and have a great time while at it!

Make sure to read more about this one-in-a-lifetime opportunity in our recent article, as well as to reach out to the Jiutopia Camp organizers.

Continuing on with the IBJJF European Championships results, Felipe Andrew proved his reign once again by taking home the super heavyweight title; as well as the absolute division one.

2022 IBJJF EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: FEMALE DIVISIONS

Mayssa Bastos won the light-featherweight division and her third European title… In just 45 seconds, with an Armbar against Rose-Marie El Sharouni.

Anna Rodrigues, from the Dream Art team, earned her second European title – in the featherweight division.

Fight Sports’ Maggie Grindatti won the medium-heavy division title, via a 7-0 dominance against Magdalena Loska.

The super-heavyweight and the absolute division came Gabrieli Pessanha’s way.

Competition rafael lovato jr. tournament