
By Jeffrey Ochavillo
It’s that time again for all of those fans and fighters of BJJ, the Copa de Marianas rocked the mats of the Phoenix Center on Saturday with a wide range of competitors from different dojos coming out for this one tournament to display who was the best. It was an all-day competition that had incorporated many divisions from white belts to brown, and got things interesting with the addition of the no-gi division that comes once in every couple of years. In the end, submissions were given, fighters were held breathless, and winners had to be made.

Josh Santos (Vida BJJ) battles Mike Sanchez (Purebred) in a featured brown belt match. (photo by Andre Gadia)
With the absence of defending purple belt absolute champion Frank “The Crank” Camacho, many other fighters such as Eric Sian and Kevin Cruz were there to fill the gap to bring the light back into this tournament.
Competing for the gold in the Brown Belt Absolute Division were Eric Sian and Javier Mirelez, both from Purebred and very close teammates. In a friendly competition it was Sian who prevailed with a 5-0 submission, as Mirelez could not escape Sian’s strong guard. Sian remained on top for the entire fight and found a gap to put Moralez on a stack. To finish it off, Sian used a technique he called “gooncho” to secure the win and the gold.
“Not having placed in Copas de Marianas for brown belt in the past, it was a great feeling to finally earn gold for the very first time. Even though it was against my teammate, it made the match even more fun and the gold just topped it off,” said Sian about his first gold medal.
In another interesting matchup of fighters was in Purple Belt 131-145 Division, Kevin Cruz came high above the pack and over the runner up, Scotty Eclavea, with a 16-2 victory. With both fighters winded after three minutes of grappling and tugging, Cruz found a way to pull guard then followed with a clean sweep. With that he took the dominant position on top and put Eclavea on a hold. It was a long five minutes but Cruz held him down long enough to secure the win.
After his match, Cruz mentioned the feeling of gold as he was still trying to catch his breath. “It feels great because all of my hard work didn’t go to waste. Having to deal with school and work at the same time made it difficult to be fully prepared, so I had to get as much training in.” He took in more air and concluded, “No matter win-or-lose, always have to come here fighting hard.”
Jayronne Gandaoli of Purebred won the female absolute division gold while teammate Rebecca Tomada placed silver.
At the end of the day, it was Purebred that dominated the tournament by taking all of the places in the overall division counting.
The event was a great turnout for many fighters who wanted to display their talent in the sport of BJJ. Even though the players and the fans start fierce and rowdy both on the side and on the mat, at the end of the day they will shake hands and hug it out and celebrate together enjoyment BJJ has brought to all of us today.

Purebred’s Alan Cepeda goes up against a Vida BJJ foe in the purple belt division. (photo by Andre Gadia)

Trev Jones (Zenith, black gi) compete on his way to the purple belt gold medal. (photo by Andre Gadia)


Foody’s Fun Facts
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ND Royals Rugby Player Makayla Atoigue lays down her Foody’s Fun Facts and shares her dream vacation spot
GPS Sports Calendar
May 2022
- MO
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- 25
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- 1
Events for May
2nd
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET #4
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
Events for May
3rd
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA RUGBY LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS VOLLEYBALL QUARTERFINALS
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
Events for May
5th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
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6th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
IIAAG BOYS VOLLEYBALL SEMIFINALS
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
Events for May
7th
GPD HOT PURSUIT 5K
MARIANAS OPEN
ISA MIDDLE SCHOOL TRACK & FIELD
ISA RUGBY LEAGUE
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
Events for May
9th
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET #5
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
Events for May
10th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER All-Star Meeting
IIAAG GIRLS BEACH VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG GIRLS SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP
IIAAG BOYS VOLLEYBALL FINALS
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
Events for May
10th
Events for May
12th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS VOLLEYBALL ALL-ISLAND MEETING
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER SEMIFINALS
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
Events for May
12th
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14th
14th JUDICA CRABAO 5K
ISA MIDDLE SCHOOL TRACK & FIELD
ISA RUGBY LEAGUE
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA GIRLS SOCCER FINALS
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16th
ISA TRACK & FIELD ALL-ISLAND MEET
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ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE All-Star Meeting
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17th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL
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Events for May
18th
ISA RUGBY LEAGUE SEMIFINALS
IIAAG GIRLS MIDDLE SCHOOL BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
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19th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE SEMIFINALS
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
Events for May
20th
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL All-Star Meeting
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
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21st
Pre-Memorial Day 13-Miler
GETTING GUAM HEALTHY 5K BUBBLE RUN/HEALTH FAIR
ISA MIDDLE SCHOOL TRACK & FIELD All-ISLAND MEET
ISA RUGBY LEAGUE FINALS
ALPHA WARRIOR ESPORTS CHAMPIONSHIPS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE FINALS
2022 Guam Track & Field National Championships
Events for May
23rd
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL SEMIFINALS
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
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24th
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26th
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL FINALS
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27th
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Events for May
29th
Events for May
30th

Baseball
DODGERS HAND TRITONS FIRST LOSS

Running/Track
FBLG, BMS CONQUER MIDDLE SCHOOL TRACK & FIELD ALL-ISLAND

Volleyball
ROSARIO: BOYS VOLLEYBALL MVP

Baseball
NINETE, JR. WINS 2022 BASEBALL MVP

Running/Track
PANTHERS SWEEP ALL-ISLAND TRACK & FIELD MEET
Foody’s Fun Facts
Foody’s Fun Facts with Makayla Atoigue
ND Royals Rugby Player Makayla Atoigue lays down her Foody’s Fun Facts and shares her dream vacation spot
Foody’s Fun Facts
Foody’s Fun Facts with Makayla Atoigue
ND Royals Rugby Player Makayla Atoigue lays down her Foody’s Fun Facts and shares her dream vacation spot
COMING SOON …
- IIAAG & ISA Championships
- YOUTH FOOTBALL LEAGUE KICKOFF June 4
- GSPN Boys Volleyball All-Star Game
- Pacific Mini-Games in Saipan