2021 IBJJF Pans Results: Tainan Dalpra Wins First Pan Championship as Black Belt
Competing in his first IBJJF Pan Championship as a black belt, 20-year old Art of Jiu-Jitsu product Tainan Dalpra took home gold in a loaded middleweight division. Dalpra defeated elite black belt competitors Ronaldo Junior and Yago de Souza in the final two rounds of the tournament.
In the first round, Dalpra used relentless guard passing, immovable top control, and positional dominance to dispatch Unity Jiu-Jitsu’s Italo Moura by a score of 29-0.
Next, Dalpra squared off with IBJJF South American champion Alexandre de Jesus. Dalpra again showed off his world-class guard passing, racking up a score of 10-0 before finishing de Jesus late with a classic kimura from side control.
The semifinals saw Dalpra take on Atos representative and number one seed Ronaldo Junior in one of the tournament’s most anticipated match-ups. Unfortunately, the contest would end due to injury. About halfway through the match, with Dalpra up by two points on the strength of an early sweep, Junior injured his knee while defending a guard pass, forcing an early end to the match while sending Dalpra to the finals.
In the finals, Dalpra faced 2016 Pans champion Yago de Souza, who easily gave Dalpra his toughest match of the weekend. After an extended battle in the 50/50, Dalpra was able to sweep to top position to go up two points with less than five minutes remaining. De Souza tried to sweep Dalpra back, but was unable. In the final seconds of the match, de Souza nearly took Dalpra’s back in a scramble, even securing one hook, but Dalpra’s defenses held up just long enough to prevent the score, giving Dalpra the gold in his first-ever Pans as a black belt.
Tainan Dalpra was awarded his black belt on the podium of the 2020 Pans, a tournament he has now won at blue, purple, brown and black belt.
