The votes have been tallied and the results are in for the People’s Choice Awards portion of the 2012 TXMMA Awards – BJJ / No-GI Grappling Edition.
We’ll bring you all the official award winners later this week as we wrap up panelist results but all the top vote-getters are below after 13,677 votes were cast in total.
These are your (community) winners and show which grapplers/organizations were able to garner the most support from their peers so we see these awards as being almost as important (albeit in a different way) compared to the official merit-based awards.
Enjoy.
2012 TXMMA Association of the Year – People’s Choice Award
This award is meant to recognize the association who had the most successful year overall in Texas during 2012.
RCJ Machado and SMAA share the people’s choice award this year with an asterisk due to our error in combining the two organizations. Nonetheless, both teams had an impressive year with SMAA in particular winning Fight to Win’s annual team award amongst other accolades.
2013 Winner – RCJ Machado / SMAA
1st runner-up – Gracie Barra
2nd runner-up – Nova União
3rd runner-up – Team Tooke
2012 TXMMA Academy of the Year – People’s Choice Award
This award recognizes the team / organization for the most successful competition year overall in Texas during 2012. This award also replaces the coach of the year award for 2012 as whoever wins this will assume that award de-facto.
Winning people’s choice this year is Eddie Ricardo’s Cobra BJJ who seemingly came out of nowhere to win the vote. As far as top accomplishments go, they performed very well at the NAGA Worlds tournament in Dallas and competed in tournaments ranging from local to competitions in Oklahoma and Alabama.
2013 Winner – Cobra BJJ
1st runner-up – Solis Martial Arts
2nd runner-up – Alvarez BJJ
3rd runner-up – Gracie Barra Texas
2012 TXMMA Black Belt Competitor of the Year – People’s Choice Award
Winning the people’s choice award at black belt is Brazilian Top Team Plano’s Diego Gamonal Nogueira. His impressive finishes in 2012 include 1st place at the No-Gi Pan Ams and a second place finish only to Andre Galvao at the IBJJF Houston Open.
2013 Winner – Diego Gamonal Nogueira (BTT)
1st runner-up – Bruno Bastos (Bruno Bastos Midland / Nova Uniao)
2nd runner-up – Daniel Alvarez (Alvarez BJJ / Nova Uniao)
3rd runner-up – Alejandro Siqueira (Gracie Barra) 55
2012 TXMMA Brown Belt Competitor of the Year – People’s Choice Award
Winning the people’s choice award at brown belt is Brazilian import Kaue Damasceno (Nova Uniao). He hails from the Bangu section of Rio de Janeiro but spent much of his time this past year living and training in Midland alongside coach Bruno Bastos. While here he scored impressive performances including an absolute win at the Gracie Grappling Cup in San Antonio this past November along with numerous local and national wins.
2013 Winner – Kaue Damasceno (Bastos BJJ / Nova Uniao) 231
1st runner-up – Raul Jimenez (Team Gaucho / Alliance) 92
2nd runner-up – Mike Harmon (Paragon Austin) 59
3rd runner-up – Clay Copeland (Texas Punishment Crew) 50
2012 TXMMA Purple Belt Competitor of the Year – People’s Choice Award
Winning the people’s choice award at purple belt is Braden Masters of Genesis BJJ. He came out impressively early in the year with a double gold at Tournament of Champions 10 followed by an impressive performance at the Houston Open where he did battle with the likes of Keenan Cornelius. He continued that momentum all throughout the year and stayed busy medaling for the duration of 2012.
2013 Winner – Braden Masters (Genesis)
1st runner-up – Carlos Rosario (Jeff Messina / BJJ Revolution)
2nd runner-up – Brad Barnes (Bastos BJJ / Nova Uniao)
3rd runner-up – Matthew Waltmon (Peak Performance)
2012 TXMMA Blue Belt Competitor of the Year – People’s Choice Award
Winning the people’s choice award at blue belt is Travis Lutter disciple Bobby Alexander. Aside from making time to debut in MMA in 2012, Bobby also made time to medal at statewide competitions including the 2012 Europa Torque Tour show this past August.
2013 Winner – Bobby Alexander (Team Lutter)
1st runner-up – Cooper Cardinale (Alvarez BJJ)
2nd runner-up – Corey Bacak (Gracie Barra North Houston)
3rd runner-up – Joseph Alanis (RPBJJ)
2012 TXMMA Female (Purple+) Competitor of the Year – People’s Choice Award
Winning people’s choice in the advanced portion of the female competitor award was purple belt Lana Hunter of San Antonio. If memory serves correct, she was promoted to the rank in 2012 and more than held her own competing locally and also out of state at competitions like the IBJJF Pan Ams.
2013 Winner – Lana Hunter (Soul Fighters)
1st runner-up – Lora Hallock (Paragon Texas)
2nd runner-up – Sue Ausman (Travis Lutter)
3rd runner-up – Fabiana Borges (Gracie Barra North Austin)
2012 TXMMA Female (White/Blue) Competitor of the Year – People’s Choice Award
Winning people’s choice in the white/blue portion of the female competitor award is Brandy (New) Hernandez of Octagon MMA. The voting was close between her and fellow blue belt Natalie Biasca of Alvarez BJJ but in the end she pulled it out 398-354 in this category with her medals in DFW area tournaments as her calling card to victory.
2013 Winner – Brandy New (Octagon MMA)
1st runner-up – Natalie Biasca (Alvarez BJJ / Nova Uniao)
2nd runner-up – Olympia Watts (Gracie Barra)
3rd runner-up – Laura Heiman (Paragon Texas)
2012 TXMMA Teen Competitor of the Year – People’s Choice Award
In what was undoubtedly the most competitive people’s choice vote of this year’s awards, Andy Cordova of Gracie Barra Texas beat out Alvarez BJJ’s Justin Rebolloso 1301-1225 at final count. Between both these kids what we have are Pan-American, Mundial, and No-Gi world champions with a score of regional titles in between so they are both winners in our book and deserve recognition for an outstanding year in 2012. The battle now moves on to the panelist portion of our awards which should likewise prove close.
2013 Winner – Andy Cordova (Gracie Barra Texas)
1st runner-up – Justin Rebolloso (Alvarez BJJ / Nova Uniao)
2nd runner-up – Jay Gloria (Alvarez BJJ / Nova Uniao)
3rd runner-up – Mark Delarosa (Genesis)
2012 TXMMA Kids Competitor of the Year – People’s Choice Award
Cross-over competitor Dillinger Kovach of Johnny Bedford’s Fitness Fight Factory wins here in our first-ever Kids Competitor of the Year category. Competing in wrestling along with BJJ and No-GI grappling, Dillinger won numerous local, regional, and national accolades in all three sports in 2012.
2013 Winner – Dillinger Kovach (F3)
1st runner-up – Cora Sek (Team Tooke)
2nd runner-up – John Abney (SMAA / Ground Dwellers)
3rd runner-up – Jaden Two Lance (Aloiso Silva)
2012 TXMMA Referee of the Year – People’s Choice Award
This is one of the awards we view as being actually more important as a people’s choice award as opposed to an official one due to the subjective nature of the choosing. With that being said, Eric Lincoln won the 2012 people’s choice honor by a large margin with fellow DFW resident and IBJJF ref Stephen Hall not far behind. Road warriors Renan Chavez and Alejandro Siqueira round out the final four.
2013 Winner – Eric Lincoln
1st runner-up – Stephen Hall
2nd runner-up – Renan Chavez
3rd runner-up – Alejandro Siqueira
2012 TXMMA Submission of the Year – People’s Choice Award
The purpose of this award is to recognize the best submission in a BJJ/Grappling match that we were able to capture in the state of Texas during the 2012 year.
In somewhat of surprise simply based on their belt rank at the time as opposed to the other finalists, Cruz Ybarra of BTT wins the honor with his awesome armbar sub of GB Texas’ Jordan Burton during their blue belt match at this past year’s Austin Open. Well-earned too considering it was an awesome finish.
2013 Winner – Cruz Ybarra (BTT) vs. Jordan Burton (GB Texas)
1st runner-up – Spenser Gilliam (Solis MA) vs. Levi Mowles (BQuick)
2nd runner-up – Fabiana Borges (Gracie Barra) vs. Christy Thomas (Relson Gracie)
3rd runner-up – Robert Yamashita (Elite MMA) vs. Raul Jimenez (Gaucho / Alliance)
2012 TXMMA BJJ Match of the Year – People’s Choice Award
This award will decide what the TXMMA Community saw as the most notable match that we were able to capture this year.
Clay Copeland (TPC) and Julian Vega (Elite MMA) win this year for their awesome match at the 2012 IBJJF Houston Open. No need to say more. Just watch the video!
2013 Winner – Clay Copeland (TPC) vs. Julian Vega (Elite MMA)
1st runner-up – Albert Hughes (Genesis) vs. Chris Westfall (Lutter)
2nd runner-up – Justin Rader (Lovato) vs. Pablo Silva (Gracie Barra)
3rd runner-up – Carlos Diego Ferreira (Team Ferreira) vs. Rafael Lovato (Lovato) (video)
2012 TXMMA No-GI Match of the Year – People’s Choice Award
This award will decide what the TXMMA Community saw as the most notable match that we were able to capture this year.
This year, Carlos Diego Ferreira of Arsenal BJJ and the visiting Bill “The Grill” Cooper out of Paragon win the people’s choice award for their epic clash at Grappler’s Quest Houston.
2013 Winner – Carlos Diego Ferreira (Team Ferreira) vs. Bill Cooper (Paragon) (video) 56
1st runner-up – Brandon Mullins (GB Texas) vs. Jason Soliz (TX 3rd Coast MMA)26
2nd runner-up – Michael Perez (Team Lloyd Irvin) vs. Julian Vega (Elite MMA) 23
3rd runner-up – (TIE)Gustavo Carpio (Marra Senki) vs. Spenser Gilliam (SMAA)17
3rd runner-up – (TIE)Travis Tooke (Team Tooke) vs. Renan Chavez (Zion MMA)17
2012 TXMMA Women’s Match of the Year – People’s Choice Award
This award will decide what the TXMMA Community saw as the most notable match that we were able to capture this year.
Talented Texas grapplers Danielle Alvarez (Alvarez BJJ) and Lora Hallock (Paragon) take home the proverbial people’s choice award for their early January 2012 machup at Tournament of Champions 10.
2013 Winner – Danielle Alvarez (Alvarez BJJ) vs. Lora Hallock (Paragon)
1st runner-up – Fabiana Borges (Gracie Barra) vs.Christy Thomas (Relson Gracie)
2nd runner-up – Stephanie Cantu (Revolution) vs. Sarah Boyd (Genesis)
3rd runner-up – Tammy Griego (Gracie Barra) vs. Danielle Alvarez (Alvarez BJJ) (video)
2012 TXMMA Youth Match of the Year – People’s Choice Award
This award will decide what the TXMMA Community saw as the most notable match that we were able to capture this year.
Two of the state’s most talented young ladies take the 2012 people’s choice award in Julie Rodriguez (Paul Thomas) and Kayla Deleon (Revolution) for their matchup at the 2012 Austin Open.
2013 Winner – Julie Rodriguez (Paul Thomas) vs. Kayla Deleon (Revolution)
1st runner-up – Justin Rebolloso (Alvarez) vs. Matthew Hernandez (Paragon)
2nd runner-up – Jay Gloria (Alvarez) vs. Austin Dill (Paradigm)
3rd runner-up – Cain Menn (Paul Thomas) vs. Charlie Pineda (Tooke)
2012 TXMMA Tournament of the Year – People’s Choice Award
The purpose of this award is to recognize the best overall tournament of the 2012 year that was held in Texas by Texas-based promotions.
This year, Fight to Win and World Grappling Circuit win the people’s choice award for their effort in putting on the 2012 Summer Classic that featured 470 competitors and a 1 point margin team win for Gracie Barra over BJJ Revolution. Definitely a competitive day of grappling.
2013 Winner – 2012 Summer Classic
1st runner-up – Gracie Grappling Cup – San Antonio
2nd runner-up – AGF Fall Classic
3rd runner-up – (TIE) 2012 Battle of H-Town
3rd runner-up – (TIE) 2012 Austin Open
2012 TXMMA Non-Local Tournament of the Year – People’s Choice Award
The purpose of this award is to recognize the best overall tournament of the 2012 year that was held in Texas by out of state promotions.
The 2012 IBJJF Houston Open runs away with the people’s choice award in 2012 with a lineup that included Andre Galvao and the Mendes brothers alongside other young talents like Keenan Cornelius and Gianni Grippo.
2013 Winner – IBJJF Houston Open
1st runner-up – IBJJF Dallas Open
2nd runner-up – NAGA World Championship
3rd runner-up – Grapplers Quest – Houston 15
2012 TXMMA Tournament Venue of the Year – People’s Choice Award
In yet another 100% subjective type of category, Legends Sports Complex wins the people’s choice award for grapplers’ favorite venue in 2012.
2013 Winner – Legends Sports Complex – Spring, TX
1st runner-up – NYTEX Sports Centre – Richland Hills, TX
2nd runner-up – Don Coleman Coliseum – Houston, TX
3rd runner-up – Delco Center – Austin, TX
2012 TXMMA Seminar of the Year – People’s Choice Award
Rubicon Fightsport’s red belt seminar featuring Deoclecio Paulo wins the people’s choice award this year by a margin of ONE vote (66-65) over Nova Uniao’s Worlds Training Camp. Definitely well-earned regardless of closeness considering it was the very-first red belt seminar in Texas BJJ history.
2013 Winner – Deoclecio Paulo at Rubicon Fightsport
1st runner-up – Nova Uniao Worlds Training Camp
2nd runner-up – Carlos Machado – 5 Brothers Training Camp
3rd runner-up – Roger Gracie at Rilion Gracie Academy
2012 TXMMA Favorite GI Brand of the Year – People’s Choice Award
Da Firma Kimono Company (DFKC) wins the GI brand category this year with somewhat of an asterisk considering we accidentally left another Texas-founded GI brand (DOM) off the list accidentally. Still, the award was definitely well-earned considering positive feedback from such notables including Alvis Solis, Lana Hunter, Roger Narvaez, and others who wear the brand. As for DOM, they still managed to pull off winning 1st runner-up over national powerhouse Shoyoroll by a margin of one vote even though all their fans had to write in.
2013 Winner – Da Firma Kimono Company
1st runner-up – DOM Fight Gear
2nd runner-up – Shoyoroll
3rd runner-up – Fenom
2012 TXMMA BJJ Sponsor of the Year – People’s Choice Award
In another close category, San Antonio-based Honor Fight Gear pulls off the 2012 people’s choice award over DOM Fight Gear by a margin of 276-221. Make sure to look out for them at tournaments all across Central Texas.
2013 Winner – Honor Fight Gear
1st runner-up – DOM Fight Gear
2nd runner-up – Fear Tapping Out
3rd runner-up – Cruz Combat
2012 TXMMA YouTube Video of the Year – People’s Choice Award
In one of our “just for fun” categories, Budo Videos scores the people’s choice win for their Rolled Up feature on Vinicius “Draculino” Magalhaes and his Gracie Barra Texas academy. Definitely a recommended watch along with the rest of the Rolled Up Series.
2013 Winner – Rolled Up Episode 32: Draculino – Where the old school meets the new school
1st runner-up – Kurt Osiander – Escape from Side Control
2nd runner-up – Greatest BJJ Match ever! “Buchecha” Almeida vs Rodolfo Vieira 2012 worlds
3rd runner-up – Shoyoroll x Budovideos.com x WANTVSNEED Presents: World Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2012 HL
2012 TXMMA BJJ/Grapping Community Service Award
This award is in recognition for outstanding community service in 2012. Consideration given to those mentioned during our end-of-the-year nomination period.
Enlightened Warriors takes the people’s choice award this year for their Austin-area youth program that’s been opening a lot of young eyes to Jiu-Jitsu all while helping keep them focused on the positive aspects of martial arts as opposed to being out on the streets.
2013 Winner – Enlightened Warriors – Youth Program
1st runner-up – Alvarez BJJ – Komen Race for the Cure / Mission Arlington
2nd runner-up – UFFL Grappling – Fight for Cash
2012 TXMMA Lifetime Achievement Award
This award is in recognition for the following individuals’ lifetime achievements in furthering the sport of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specifically within the state of Texas. Achieving this official award places the winner into our TXMMA Hall of Fame.
Carlos Machado (the first black belt who opened up in Texas) takes the well-deserved people’s choice award win this year and should be one step closer to being an official part of the TXMMA Hall of Fame provided he wins the panel vote this week.
2013 Winner – Carlos Machado
1st runner-up – Alvis Solis
2nd runner-up – Eric Williams
3rd runner-up – Joseph D. Shelley