Weekend grappling recap: Cage Fury BJJ, BJJ Stars, and Ocean BJJ Pro
We look back at the major highlights and results from the world of submission grappling and BJJ this past weekend.
Grappling and BJJ fans had plenty of high-level action to choose from over the weekend, with a number of the sport’s top athletes competing in a variety of rulesets.
Below, we take a look at the most significant results and highlights from around the world of grappling that went down last weekend.
Cage Fury BJJ 15: Sabatini, Ocasio, and Hishaw win title matches
Cage Fury BJJ 15 (formerly known as Fury Grappling) took place on Saturday, September 20, 2025, and featured a trio of title matches.
In the main event, current UFC standout Pat Sabatini showcased a solid guard game and successfully defended his welterweight crown with a hard-fought victory over talented wrestler and highly touted MMA prospect Richie Lewis. Sabatini maintained his guard for the entirety of the regulation period. In golden score overtime, he avoided a near back-take before getting into a deep leg entanglement that caused Lewis to flee the mat, effectively giving Sabatini two points and the win.
Before that, reigning bantamweight champion Junny Ocasio avenged a 2021 loss to Estevan “Giant Slayer” Martinez with a dominant display of well-rounded grappling. Ocasio used the threat of a leg lock to score an early sweep in regulation and continued to apply steady pressure and secure clean guard passes. Martinez was able to survive to overtime, but yet again, Ocasio used the threat of his world-class leg locks to score a sweep and retain his welterweight title and continue to assert himself as one of grappling’s top pound-for-pound talents.
And in the evening’s first title match, rising star Taylor Hishaw employed her high-paced, relentless guard passing to pick up a closely contested victory over Nicole Mathew. While Hishaw was unable to secure a clean pass in either regulation or overtime, her constant aggression was enough to earn her the judges’ decision and the Cage Fury BJJ bantamweight title.
Also, no-gi standout Amanda Mazza suffered defeat against Emily Hansen in a surprising way. Mazza looked to be just a breath away from finishing the match with a rear-naked choke, only to break her own arm in the process. Initially, Mazza thought she had broken her opponent’s jaw. Moments later, she realized that she had snapped her own forearm.
BJJ Stars 17: Alvarenga wins featherweight grand prix
ADCC veteran Ruan Alvarenga impressed at BJJ Stars 17, winning three straight against top-flight opposition to win the featherweight grand prix and a R$100,000 prize. The event went down on Saturday in São Paulo.
Alvarenga utilized his aggressive top game to earn victories over Lucas Canto and young phenom Kalebe Pereira on his way to the tournament final, where he squared off with two-time gi world champion Meyram Maquine. While neither athlete was able to score during the match that took place entirely on the feet, the judges ultimately sided with Alvarenga for his solid arm-drag attempts.
Elsewhere on the card, in gi action, Leo Ferreira picked up perhaps the best win of his still-young black belt career, scoring a late takedown to secure a points victory over decorated veteran Fellipe Andrew. Also, recent UFC BJJ title challenger Rerisson Gabriel earned a points win over Diego Sodre, and Rider Zuchi submitted Nolan Stuart.
Ocean BJJ Pro: Sarah Galvao shines on short notice
A number of elite no-gi athletes competed at the Ocean BJJ Pro Championship Finale on Saturday in Italy.
Perhaps most notably, young black belt prodigy Sarah Galvao stepped up on just hours’ notice to win the eight-woman 65kg bracket. Fresh off a strong showing at CJI 2, Galvao took out Roksana Wodzynska, Emma Rosini, and Gamila Kanew to further solidify herself as one of the planet’s top no-gi competitors.
Galvao wasn’t the only CJI 2 veteran who impressed, as Polish standouts Pawel Jaworski and Marcin Maciulewicz each won their divisions. Jaworski turned in perhaps the best performance of the night, taking out Tarik Hopstock and Kenta Iwamoto before submitting British standout Jed Hue with a Z-lock in the under 80kg final.
And in the over 65kg women’s division, ADCC veteran Eleftheria Christodolou scored a Submission of the Year contender with a clean anaconda choke finish over Jessika Tortilla in the tournament final.
