Brown belt Gianni Grippo won another in his backyard, at the 2012 No-Gi Pan. Photo by Mike Calimbas.
Brown belt Gianni Grippo is one of the Jiu-Jitsu standouts of the season, and he was no different last Saturday, when he won the featherweight division at the No-Gi Pan.
“I trained a lot because I always feel obligated to win in my own backyard [New York],” Grippo told GRACIEMAG.com. “I made it past some tough opponents, including the light featherweight world champion, Mateo Maldonado. All of them were talented fighters, which made victory all the sweeter.”
In the featherweight final, Grippo faced a game Carlos Rosado (Gracie Barra). Cool and collected, he escaped a straight footlock and later slapped on practically the same hold, just from 50/50 guard and switching to a figure-four grip.
“My coach John Danaher went over the details of the footlock with me a lot, making me sharper with attacks and escapes with every training session. It all worked out. I did it like I did at the academy and got my fourth No-Gi Pan title,” he said in signing off.
Check out the barnburner below, and let us know: What did you learn from the match? How did you like the moves?
