BJJ Stars 19: Gregor Gracie Captures Masters Grand Prix as Renato Moicano Submits Patricky Pitbull
Gregor Gracie captured the BJJ Stars 19 Masters Grand Prix while UFC lightweight Renato Moicano submitted Patricky Pitbull in under four minutes during a memorable night in São Paulo.
Gregor Gracie took home the night’s biggest prize while UFC lightweight Renato Moicano made quick work of former Bellator champion Patricky Pitbull at BJJ Stars 19.
BJJ Stars brought some familiar names back to center stage Friday night in São Paulo, with Gregor Gracie capturing the promotion’s Masters Grand Prix and Renato Moicano scoring an impressive submission victory over Patricky Pitbull.
Held July 31 at Vibra São Paulo, BJJ Stars 19 was built around a 16-man absolute Masters tournament featuring an experienced field that included Gracie, Rafael Lovato Jr., Rafael Formiga, Jaime Canuto, Horlando Monteiro and several other longtime competitors. The winner stood to collect R$200,000.
By the end of the night, that prize belonged to Gregor Gracie.
Gracie worked his way through four matches and recorded three submissions, ultimately winning the one-night tournament and collecting the R$200,000 prize, approximately $39,400 USD.
📱 FLO EVENT MEDIA | GREGOR GRACIE
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His performance also delivered a reminder that Masters competition does not necessarily mean ceremonial competition.
BJJ Stars assembled established black belts with decades of experience, then put a substantial cash prize on the line. The result was a tournament built around competitors who may be past the traditional adult division stage of their careers but remain very capable of producing meaningful professional jiu-jitsu.
The Masters Grand Prix wasn’t the only story of the evening.
UFC lightweight Renato Moicano stepped onto the grappling mats against former Bellator lightweight champion Patricky Pitbull in one of BJJ Stars 19’s featured supermatches.
And Moicano didn’t need much time.
After countering an early takedown attempt, Moicano found himself working from inside Patricky’s guard. He advanced to mount, isolated the head and arm, and finished with an arm triangle choke in just under four minutes.
For Moicano, the result offered another reminder that the jiu-jitsu responsible for many of his most memorable MMA performances translates just fine when striking is removed from the equation.
The timing makes the appearance even more interesting. Moicano remains an active UFC lightweight and is currently scheduled to face Brian Ortega at UFC 331 on September 19 in Los Angeles.
JJM Take
BJJ Stars 19 offered two different examples of why professional jiu-jitsu has become increasingly interesting.
Gregor Gracie’s victory demonstrated that accomplished Masters athletes can still produce compelling competition when the field, stakes and presentation are right.
Moicano’s appearance showed something different.
Active MMA fighters do not necessarily have to wait until retirement to return to professional jiu-jitsu. Grappling events can provide another competitive outlet where fighters can showcase a specialized part of their skill set without taking the same punishment associated with an MMA bout.
Put those ideas together and BJJ Stars suddenly has a pretty interesting formula.
Recognizable names, legitimate competition and enough at stake to make the matches matter.
For one night in São Paulo, it worked.
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