Flowers and team at the Pan. Luisarturo Hernandez.
Gracie Barra’s Jéssica Oliveira Flowers’ career is taking off. The 25-year-old originally from GB Amazonas has an impressive résumé, with a title in the Los Angeles Grand Slam, a runner-up finish in the 2015 ADCC, and the Pan she won in March in the medium heavyweight division, coupled with the silver in the absolute, right behind Tayane Porfírio.
“I had a good showing in the Pan,” she says, “but I hope to fix some mistakes made in the competition. No doubt one of the biggest challenges was maintaining my weight. On the day of the absolute, for example, I had to practically go without food to be able to hit the weight the next day.”
Flowers came to prominence when she defeated Gabi Garcia in a semifinal match of ADCC 2015 in São Paulo. That result prompted the organization to invite her to take part in ADCC 2017, scheduled to take place in Finland this September.
“I was on my way to practice when I opened my email and saw the invitation,” she recalls. “I was very happy. I will prepare well for this big event, but my focus now is my next competition, which will probably be the Worlds. I hope to surpass what I did at the Pan.”
[Based on a press release.]