By TXMMA STaff
The official merit-based top Texas BJJ players for 2015 finally announced
2015 was an awesome year for the Texas BJJ Community.
For us here at TXMMA.com (Texas Mixed Martial Arts), we’ve taken great joy in working, being there and watching our sport grow. It seems like with each passing year we only continue to evolve and become even larger and more competitive as a group here in the lone star state and we’re honored to be your primary source in reporting and covering all to it.
As we’ve done every year since 2011 we’ve put together our Annual TXMMA Awards in order to recognize outstanding achievers and those that continue to receive a massive amount of support for their competitive exploits.
The People’s Choice Winners were already released this past January but the Official Awards have taken a bit longer. Without further adieu, here they are:
2015 TXMMA Awards – Official Results (BJJ Edition)
ASSOCIATION OF THE YEAR
Winner Notes: Vinicius Magalhaes’ Gracie Barra Texas won 2 out of the 3 IBJJF tournaments held in Texas in 2015 along with a plethora of local and regional tournaments. They also won the coveted black belt of the year award and competed well at all belt levels throughout the year while continuing to expand with multiple locations opening up across the state.
Runners-up: Bruno Bastos Association, Soul FightersTexas
ACADEMY OF THE YEAR
Winner Notes: This was a close category this year with a number of academies vying for the academy award. In the end it came down to three academies, finishing with Bruno Bastos BJJ Midland as the winner. Located in Midland, TX, representatives from Bastos BJJ travel the state regularly to attend competitions all over the state with members and instructors traveling internationally to compete as well.
Runners-up: Alvarez BJJ, Gracie Barra Westchase
BLACK BELT OF THE YEAR (ADULT)
Winner Notes: Inacio Neto had perhaps the best year of his competitive resume as a black belt, winning gold at the San Antonio Open, American Nationals, Houston Open, Atlanta Open and placing at many other tournaments. He also competed in superfight formats as well, taking on Robert Yamashita at F2W PRO 2, the first real pro BJJ event to grace the lone star state.
Runners-up: Diego Gamonal Nogueira, Samuel Snow, Eduardo Ramos da Silva
BLACK BELT OF THE YEAR (MASTERS)
Winner Notes: In perhaps the closest race since the inception of this award, Daniel Alvarez once again wins the title of top Texas black belt at the Masters level with over 17 titles to his name in 2015. His accolades included gold medals on at least four different continents, including wins at the Asian Open, Europeans, and Brazilian Nationals. This included perhaps the biggest win of his career over legend Felipe Costa.
To his credit, runner-up Raul Jimenez had one heck of a year as well. So close that this award was very close to having co-winners. Though behind Alvarez by just a few medals, Jimenez also had the best year of his career as a black belt, winning his own Masters Worlds and scoring double gold at tournaments all around the country.
Runners-up: Raul Francisco Jimenez, Marcus Antelante
BROWN BELT OF THE YEAR (ADULT)
Winner Notes: A Draculinho disciple originally out of Gracie Barra BH, Lucas Valente kept a busy year in 2015 – winning gold all over Texas along with prestigious competitions such as the Pans NOGI and American Nationals. He also competed at the local and regional level as well, winning superfights at events such as Grand Prix Grappling.
Also deserving of note is 2015 adult brown belt world champion Manuel Ribamar out of PSLPB Cicero Costha. He had a dynamite year of his own and would have deserved major consideration for this award had he established Texas residency. Likewise, Jose Portillo also finished his brown belt career strong as a runner-up for this same award.
Runners-up: Manuel Ribamar V. de Oliveira Filho, Jose Portillo, Matthew Romino Fox
BROWN BELT OF THE YEAR (MASTERS)
Winner Notes: A constant on the IBJJF competition scene, Jordan Shepler accomplished his goal of becoming 2015 masters world champion. He also scored gold at Europeans and about a dozen other events to win a TXMMA award for the third year in a row.
Runners-up: Vin Abadie, Emre Demirors
PURPLE BELT OF THE YEAR (ADULT)
Winner Notes: A close friend and training partner of Cabra BJJ’s Eddie Ricardo, Sebastian Black had his best competitive year in 2015 – a year where he won at the Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas and Austin Opens while also scoring silver at PANS Nogi.
Runners-up: Vincent Saenz, Diego Almeida, Andrew Kimler
PURPLE BELT OF THE YEAR (MASTER)
Winner Notes: Coming back from a serious knee injury is no small feat but Jordan Burton did just that in time to win gold at the IBJJF Masters World Championships. He also won at Houston IO, multiple local tournaments, and competed at the pro level with his great performance at F2W PRO 2.
Runners-up: Christopher West, Benjamin Annunziato
BLUE BELT OF THE YEAR (ADULT)
Winner Notes: This was a close category with the 3 competitors listed all having made a solid case for the award. Andy Cordova edged it out with placings at both PAN and WORLDS at his belt level. Meanwhile, Oranday and Valladares also did great on the IBJJF competition circuit and Valladares’ dominance in sub-only matches deserves mention as well.
Runners-up: Jorge Valladares, Damion Oranday
BLUE BELT OF THE YEAR (MASTERS)
Winner Notes: 2015 World masters champion David Johnson also won at American Nationals, Miami IO, and a plethora of other tournaments national and otherwise. He was a very clear winner for this award.
Runners-up: Javier Orona, Chad Rizzo
WHITE BELTS OF THE YEAR (ADULT + MASTERS)
Winner Notes: An world championship bronze mealist in 2015, Edward Galan also achieved gold in the San Antonio, Dallas and Austin IO’s in 2015 to earn himself the statistical title of #1 male white belt for the year.
Runners-up: Seayn O’Donoghue, Freeman Jaison, Christopher Reyna
BLACK BELT OF THE YEAR (FEMALE)
Winner Notes: A perennial placer at both Pans and Worlds, Fabiana Borges once again earned the award in 2015 based on those impressive merits once again this year. Monique Ricardo also deserved serious consideration for her own accomplished in 2015 – missing only a medal at a major to finish up as a runner-up this time around.
Runners-up: Monique Ricardo
BROWN BELT OF THE YEAR (ADULT)
Winner Notes: With a world NOGI title at brown belt, Danielle Alvarez earned herself an unopposed title at brown belt this year. PCB Ciceco Costha’s Nathiely Karoline spent a large part of her year in San Antonio this year and would have deserved serious consideration as well as a world champion had she established residency.
Runners-up: Nathiely Karoline
BROWN BELT OF THE YEAR (MASTERS)
Winner Notes: A double gold medalist at the masters world championship, Veronica Mota-Messina also won people’s choice in this category as well – making her THE undisputed women’s masters brown belt of the year in 2015.
Runners-up: Taissa Drummond, Kristine Felts
PURPLE BELT OF THE YEAR (ADULT)
Winner Notes: Winning her second belt level of 2015, Danielle’s purple belt portion of 2015 had her winning at Santa Cruz PRO, Pan, Europeans, and IO’s in San Francisco, Houston and Atlanta among other competitions.
Runners-up: Victoria Maiel, Valerie Taylor Covey
PURPLE BELT OF THE YEAR (MASTERS)
Winner Notes: She had a heck of a 2014 but Laura Heiman Martins really came into her own in 2015 – winning gold at masters worlds and double medaling at the same event. She also scored double gold in San Antonio and Austin as part of an awesome year.
Runners-up: Karen Kovach, Georgina Staley
BLUE BELT OF THE YEAR (ADULT)
Winner Notes: Winning both the blue and white belt awards for 2015, Leslie McLea has quietly slipped onto the radar as one of the top up-and-coming female competitors out of Texas. She medaled at Pans and World, won at Worlds NOGI, San Antonio, Dallas and Houston as part of her 2015 competition season.
Runners-up: Julia Ottolino, Maribel Ramirez
BLUE BELT OF THE YEAR (MASTERS)
Winner Notes: Miriam Villar achieved a silver medal at the masters world championship while winning both Dallas and Houston as a blue belt in 2015. To add to that, she also won masters worlds nogi as a purple belt to finish off her year.
Runners-up: Terri Reeve, Michele Billings
WHITE BELT OF THE YEAR (Adult + Masters)
Winner Notes: Winning both the blue and white belt awards for 2015, Leslie McLea has quietly slipped onto the radar as one of the top up-and-coming female competitors out of Texas. She medaled at Pans and World, won at Worlds NOGI, San Antonio, Dallas and Houston as part of her 2015 competition season.
Runners-up: Hosanna Rull, Amanda Jimenez
TEEN COMPETITOR OF THE YEAR (BOYS)
Winner Notes: The undisputed pick for this award, Roberto Jimenez won everywhere in 2015 – from teen matches to those featuring adult blue and purple belt opponents at the adult level. He even has a nogi win over a legit high level black belt on his resume from last year.
To his credit, Darryl Lebus also deserves mention for his statistical accomplishments on the IBJJF circuit this past competition season. He along with Tyler Brennan are definitely also ones to watch out for moving forward.
Runners-up: Darryl Lebus, Tyler Brennan
TEEN COMPETITOR OF THE YEAR (GIRLS)
Winner Notes: This was one of the toughest awards to hash out with 2 competitors (and BFA champions) really shining. Both Jessica Crane and Kaya Deleon are exceptional competitors. They’ve also both won at the adult level up to purple belt. It’s hard not to give it to both here but dual winners just weren’t in the card. With that, Jessica Crane edges it out based on her IBJJF accomplishments – including Pan Kids and American Nationals Gold. If wrestling were a consideration, Kayla (who just won 2015 State Gold) might have gotten the nod. They’re both awesome and worthy Texas reps.
Runners-up: Kayla Deleon
KIDS COMPETITOR OF THE YEAR (BOYS)
Winner Notes: “Ice” Cole Abate finished off the year as the #1 ranked IBJJF juvenile in his division and won at both Kids Worlds and American Nationals while also placing at Pan Kids. He also competed at the pro level as well, competing at F2W PRO 2.
Runners-up: John Pershing Abney, Freddy Marquez
KIDS COMPETITOR OF THE YEAR (GIRLS)
Winner Notes: Cora Sek had herself a landmark year in 2015, competing all over the place and earning Fight to Win’s #1 ranking for the year. She also competed at F2W PRO, EBI, and a number of other tournaments while also competing against adults for the first time.
Runners-up: Emily Fernandez, Jasmine Gallegos
SUBMISSION OF THE YEAR
► 2015 Award Recipient: Dustin Snow (F2W PRO 1)
UPSET OF THE YEAR
► 2015 Award Recipient: Roberto Jimenez def. Washington Luis (GPG)
IRONMAN COMPETITORS OF THE YEAR
Winner Notes: To our knowledge, these were the competitors who put it on the line the most in 2015, competing and winning at a high-level. This award is a recognition of their grind.
INSPIRATIONAL COMMUNITY MEMBER OF THE YEAR
Winner Notes: Battled stage 4 cancer all year long, training and competing anyways, whenever she could. And when she was too weak to get on the mats, you could always find her volunteering and working at tournaments. Wherever her battle took her, she was always determined to keep jiujitsu by her side. Happy to report her cancer recently went into remission. In her own words, “jiujitsu saved my life.”
TOURNAMENT OF THE YEAR
Winner Notes: Always an important event, this is one competitors and teams from all over the state continuously show out for.
BRAND OF THE YEAR
Winner Notes: In a pivotal year for the brand, War Tribe Gear went all out with a decision to support women’s BJJ. You’ll now find their gear on women all over the country. The brand currently boasts Mackenzie Dern and Angelica Galvao amongst their sponsored athletes and added Andre Galvao in 2015 as well. They’ve also sponsored countless competitors, events and good causes both locally and internationally as well.
As runner-up, Cruz Combat has also been a flagship brand based out of the lone star state. You’ll find their unique designs around the BJJ market, and they do a lot on the MMA side as well.
Runner-Up: Cruz Combat
► 2015 Award Recipient: Girls in Gis
Winner Notes: It’s hard to minimize the effect Girls in Gis has had on the Texas BJJ community. Since they’ve come about the women of this state have gotten closer and closer, and more women have hit the mats than ever before in 2015. GIG gas been a large part of that growth and they continue to charge ahead in support of women’s BJJ.
TEXAS BJJ LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Winner Notes: Influential in the growth of BJJ specifically in the San Antonio area, Sergio Correa is recognized for all his achievements as someone who has added a lot directly and indirectly to the growth of BJJ in the state.