Euros 2020: Tommy Langaker Takes Home Gold

Tommy Langaker was one of the most exciting fighters of the first black belt day at this year’s IBJJF European Championships. After beating Mathias Luna and Ronaldo Souza Junior at the beginning of the day, Langaker booked his place in the final and guaranteed himself a medal.

Langaker fought Mathias Luna first and this was undoubtedly one of the best matches of the day as Luna was able to keep up with the frenetic pace Langaker sets. The two fought to a decision where Langaker won by the thinnest of margins, 6-6 on points, 1-1 on advantages and 1 penalty to Luna. He then faced Ronaldo Souza Junior and finished the fight before the halfway point by locking up a tight Triangle Choke.

He met Pedro Ramalho in the final of the Middleweight division and the match started off just as fast-paced as any match with Langaker does. While Langaker scored the first sweep points of the match, Ramalho was more than game as he showed excellent guardwork in returning the favor and scoring a sweep of his own.

Ramalho then quickly went 4-2 up by passing Langaker’s guard and establishing a brief side control before he could reguard. Langaker eventually managed to recover and take Ramalho’s back, it was only brief though as he switched to yet another Bow and Arrow Choke almost immediately. From here it was a matter of a second or two before he had Ramlho fully extended and tapping.

This marks the first time that Tommy Langaker has won the IBJJF European Championships at black belt after coming second last year. He also came second at the IBJJF World Championships and given how great he’s looked lately, he might just better that as well.

Brackets for every age and belt category for the IBJJF European Championships 2020 can be found on the IBJJF website here.

This article is part of our coverage of the IBJJF European Championships 2020, click here for the latest news.