Thierry Felipe wins open class in his black belt debut
At the IBJJF Sacramento Open, he beat Crown rival Papasidero in the open class final, while Nolan Stuart took ultra-heavyweight gold
Thierry Felipe competed as a black belt for the first time this Saturday, October 17, at the IBJJF Sacramento Fall International Open, and left with the open class title. He won three matches along the way, the last one against Francisco Papasidero, who is in the same bracket as Thierry at the 2026 Crown on November 8.
At ultra-heavyweight, gold went to Nolan Stuart, the 2025 Crown heavyweight champion, who stopped Thierry in the semifinal. On the same day, Thierry also won the no-gi ultra-heavyweight title.
“My first tournament at black belt and I’m already on top of the podium!” Thierry wrote on Instagram, in Portuguese. “Really happy to start this new chapter on the right foot. Every sacrifice, every training session and every drop of sweat is paying off!”
His run to open class gold
Thierry opened the open class against South Korea’s Seungmoon Baek, the lightweight runner-up at the tournament, and then beat Alliance’s Lucas de Oliveira Lima, who had eliminated featherweight champion Leonardo Vilela. On the other side of the bracket, Papasidero started in the second round and beat Atos’ Joao Vitor Venancio to reach the final.
The final matched up two Crown ultra-heavyweights, and the 22-year-old from Salvador, in northeastern Brazil, came out on top. Promoted to black belt by Marcio Andre on September 8, Thierry had moved up his black belt debut to compete in Sacramento before Long Beach.
“Now it’s all focus on the Crown! We’re ready for another big battle. See you on November 8, in my best shape!” he added.
Nolan Stuart closes out ultra-heavyweight with Papasidero
In the division, Nolan beat Thierry in the semifinal and reached the final against Papasidero, who had beaten DreamArt’s Pietro Leal. The two train together at Brea Jiu-Jitsu and closed out the bracket, with gold going to Nolan. Thierry took bronze.
“Champion of the Sacramento open today, I had a good fight and I’m feeling good for the final goal that is The Crown! I closed the category with my training partner @fraanbjj, we keep working!” Nolan wrote on Instagram.
The American returns to Long Beach to defend his Crown heavyweight title, a division where he will not face Thierry or Papasidero. Those two are at ultra-heavyweight, along with Erich Munis, who has won that division in all three editions of the tournament.
No-gi gold too
In the no-gi tournament, held the same afternoon, Thierry beat Pietro Leal in the ultra-heavyweight final, in a two-man bracket, and finished the day with two golds and a bronze. The no-gi open class went to Aspire To Inspire’s Marco Vinicius Mendes Brito, who beat CheckMat’s Alex Liscano Filho in the final.
Adult black belt champions in Sacramento
Gi, men
- Light featherweight: Cicero Livio Ribeiro Paiva (Ares BJJ)
- Featherweight: Leonardo de Barros Vilela (Lucas Leite BJJ)
- Lightweight: Eduardo Vieira (JFC Almeida JJ)
- Medium heavyweight: Joao Vitor de Arruda Venancio (Atos), only competitor
- Ultra-heavyweight: Nolan Stuart (Brea Jiu-Jitsu)
- Open class: Thierry Felipe (Marcio Andre Jiu-Jitsu)
Gi, women
- Featherweight: Luana Magalhaes Camara Pessoa (Titanium Jiu-Jitsu), only competitor
- Super heavyweight: Elizabeth Mitrovic (Alliance), only competitor
- Open class: Elizabeth Mitrovic (Alliance)
No-gi, men
- Featherweight: Leonardo de Barros Vilela (Lucas Leite BJJ)
- Lightweight: Marco Vinicius Mendes Brito (Aspire To Inspire)
- Middleweight: Louis Steven Accaria (CHJJ)
- Super heavyweight: Alex Liscano Filho (CheckMat), only competitor
- Ultra-heavyweight: Thierry Felipe (Marcio Andre Jiu-Jitsu)
- Open class: Marco Vinicius Mendes Brito (Aspire To Inspire)
No-gi, women
- Lightweight: Beatriz Gutierrez Campos (Brasa CTA)
- Medium heavyweight: Greta Notaro (Alliance)
- Super heavyweight: Elizabeth Mitrovic (Alliance), only competitor
- Open class: Elizabeth Mitrovic (Alliance)
Results according to the official IBJJF brackets.
Read also: Thierry Felipe wants the $20,000 and the big names at The Crown.
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