Over the weekend of September 16 and 17, 2023, the IBJJF Toronto Open was held, and many BJJ top grapplers traveled to Canada to compete. Joao Gabriel Rocha put on the most spectacular performance of the weekend, winning every match he played in across four separate levels. He managed to win the absolute division on both days, in addition to winning gold medals in the ultra-heavyweight division in both the gi and no gi. The accomplishment is more astounding because he worked so hard on the mats and had to compete against some challenging opponents.

Rocha defeated Clay Mayfield in the gi absolute division final. Even though he finished that competition with a silver medal, he was still able to take home two gold medals in the medium-heavyweight class. On the second day, Mayfield once more attempted to win the absolute division in the no gi edition. However, he was unsuccessful and received a bronze medal. Emilio Hernandez was the lightest participant to place on the podium in the absolute class. Despite being unable to leave with as many medals of higher value as Mayfield and Rocha.

Shortly after winning gold medals at featherweight, Hernandez brought home two bronzes in the absolute division. Although his gi weight class featured no competition, Hernandez defeated top opponent David Weintraub in no gi. Even though Brianna Ste-Marie is one of the most accomplished Canadian grapplers, the IBJJF Toronto Open 2023 had surprisingly few female competitors. Only the gi absolute division had two competitors, and Bruna Maciel won the lone female black belt bout to take home the hard-earned gold medal. There were no female black belt weight divisions that could match two competitors.

This was all about the IBJJF Toronto Open 2023. The players across the different regions visited Canada to roll with the top grapplers. BJJ fans can explain their excitement to see the legendary grapplers competing with each other.