This Saturday, April 28, the IBJJF 2012 Phoenix International Open took place at Phoenix College in the American state of Arizona. For the second year in a row, team Nova Uniao took top spot in the overall team results. The troop was led by NU USA leader Gustavo Dantas with the help of NU Texas leader Bruno Bastos: “Finding a reason to celebrate isn’t hard work — hard work is a reason to celebrate.”
Ultraheavyweight black belt champion Bruno Bastos / Publicity photo
Bruno Bastos won the ultra heavyweight division of the adult black belt contest and took third in the open class “It’s an honor to have Bruno competing in Arizona, I tell all my students, I think he is the most experienced black belt from NU, he has been competing nonstop for twenty years.” said Dantas about his counterpart. In the purple belt division, the featherweight Christian Broadnax, middleweight and absolute runner-up Issa Able and medium heavyweight Daniel Hampton dominated their divisions against some stern competition: “There were a lot of good out-of-state competitors, and with the Arizona Jiu-Jitsu community growing strong, the Phoenix Open will grow a lot in the next few years.”
Nova Uniao will be back in action at the Dallas Open and Long Beach Spring Open.
Nova Uniao restarted their mission of again winning a World Championship title a few years back, and this year of 2012 they are planning on bringing a strong team: “Winning the Worlds, it’s a big challenge, but we are realistic and we will get there at some point. We are setting the goal of getting on the podium, but I would not be surprise if we accomplish our main goal sooner,” asserted Dantas.
Overall team standing:
1 – Nova União – 273
2 – Gracie Barra – 182
3 – BJJ Revolution Team – 117
For complete results from Phoenix Open 2012, click here.
