Thank you to everyone who came out to the Savarese Jiu Jitsu Holiday Party last week. Also, thank you to Gelones Restaurant, Stop and Shop Lyndhurst and Josie’s Pizzeria for the amazing food. Hope everyone has an awesome holiday and Happy New year!
Jiu-Jitsu Champion Mike Perez at Savarese BJJ ! The Savarese Jiu-Jitsu Lyndhurst hosted 2x No-Gi World Jiu-Jitsu Champion Mike Perez Monday night at their Park Ave location. Perez is one of the top grappling competitors in the world now. Perez is 2x No Gi World Champion (purple & brown belt) , the 2015 ADCC North American Trials Champion & ADCC Veteran. He one day hopes to be an ADCC world champion and this year went to OT with the eventual champion Yuri Simones, losing a judges decision. he is also one of the instructors at the famous Atos Academy in San Diego CA, one of the top jiu-jitsu Academies in the world run by Andre Galvao, a 5x World BJJ Champion.
I want to thank Michael Perez for coming up and teaching at Savarese Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tonight. I have have had a lot of the best competitors and instructors in the world teach by me and this seminar was right up there at the top. He showed his “A†game, held nothing back and although I knew him as one of the best competitors in the world now, he was an excellent teacher as well. I was really impressed w how articulately he broke things down and chained them together. Iï¸ shouldn’t be surprised since he trains and teaches at one of the best Jiu-Jitsu Schools in the world but I couldn’t possibly recommend him more highly. Very, very good. If you are a school owner, you should look him up. He will definitely be back here. Thanks again Mike!
Savarese BJJ is known for having some of the best BJJ seminars in the world at it’s location. Many of the world’s top competitors and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructors have been in to teach at this Academy. The Academy always strives to be better and that is why the school is well known as one of the top BJJ schools in the northeast.
Professor Savarese and Perez
The Savarese Jiu-Jitsu team kills it at NJBJJF! Our competition team had a very good day at the prestigious NJBJJF tournament today w 7 of the 8 guys we had competing going home with hardware, many of them winning tournaments for the first time. I am so proud of you guys because for some of you, it’s been a tough road but you didn’t give up and reaped the rewards of hard work and perseverance. Like I always say, I am proud of all of you not because of your success, but because you aren’t afraid to fail. Winners have to fail first before they succeed and the fact that so many of you didn’t give up says a lot. It is the beginning steps of consistent winning.
Congrats to To:
Stephen McNicholas 1st place blue belt lightweight and expression of the day!
Edward Vecchione 1st place Master Blue Hwt
William Pike 1st place teenage blue belt lwt and 1st place no-go as well. Will’s 1st double Gold.
Greg Freideman also took double Gold, men’s white belt lt hwt gi and no-gi
Danny Lleonart  2nd Place brownbelt middleweight including a 44 sec sub!
Big Dan Czarnecki 2nd place mens bluebelt super Hwt
Sean Yadimarco 3rd place mens purplebelt lwt
Andrew Zeppetelli who fought well but came up short today.
The Savarese comp team will be competing in a bunch of tournaments soon, including the Toys for Tots tournament on November 18th (http://www.toysfortotsbjjtourney.org/), the Pride tournament on December 10th and the Kasai tournament in January. The FUJI BJJ tournament in January is also on the schedule. We hope to have success in all of these tourns in preparation for the World Championships in California in June. Our older competitors will also be competing in the World masters Championships in las vegas in August.
Here are the Savarese Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu recent promotions. All of our Savarese BJJ students make goals at the beginning of the year to improve and follow strict guidelines. And so many of them have done just that. Here is a list of all the students who have gone up in rank in the past 3 months:
Pete Bouzalakous – 2nd Stripe
Henry Talasan
Djendy Denot
Harun
Cristina Mastroeni-4th stripe
Maverick Garcia-2nd stripe
Gary Cassaro-2nd stripe
Josh Padilla-2nd stripe
Wilson Sanchez-1st stripe
Dave “The Rave” Veloso-2nd stripe
Peter Valdivia-4th Stripe
Donna Valdivia-3rd Stripe
Jenn Aviles-2nd Stripe
Carlos Aviles-2nd Stripe
Jon Dinces-2nd stripe
Dylan Hutchinson-1st stripe
Dominick Silva-1st Stripe
Brooklyn’s Fight To Win 51 features Lyndhurst grapplers from the Savarese Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school on Park Ave. Students of 2nd degree blackbelt Chris Savarese will appear on the show, the very first event of this kind in Brooklyn. The matches will be at the Aviator Sports Complex starting at 6;30pm. Savarese will also be cornering teammate Justin “Darth” Rader in the main vent vs Gianno Grippo from the Marcelo Garcia Academy in NYC.
This is one of the most stacked cards that Fight To Win (fighttowin.com) has ever put on. 2 former UFC veterens will be on the card as ADCC champion JT Torres takes on former UFC Champion Benson Henderson and Jake Shields goes against Murilo Santana. Savarese had this to say “Pumped for Friday Nights Fight To Win 51 show at the Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn. So excited that this show is coming to Brooklyn I’ll be cornering my student Sean Yadimarco and my teammateJustin Rader in his co Main Event match vs the excellent Gianni Grippo. If you live in he NJ/NY, don’t miss this show, it’s gonna be epic! Jt Torres bs former UFC champion Ben Henderson in main event, former UFC star Jake Shields bs the excellent Murillo Santana. Hope to see everyone there.”
fight to win 51
Savarese BJJ’s Yadimarco takes bronze! Sean Yadimarco, the Lyndhurst Martial Arts student, took 3rd place at the prestigious 2017 No-Gi Pan Am held in NYC this weekend. (http://ibjjf.com/2017/09/2017-pan-no-gi-partial-results/) Yadmiarco, a purplebelt under Professor Chris Savarese won 3 matches in the lightweight purplebelt class before losing to World silver medalist Italo Azevedo.
Savarese had this to say about Yadimarco….”Really proud of this kid right here. He is dedicated to his craft and is constantly testing himself and trying new things to get better. He placed 3rd in the no-gi Pan Am today despite being a purple belt for only a couple of months. I expect him to grow from his experience today and come back stronger. What a fantastic job he did today! We are so proud of him, he trained very hard for this!
Yadimarco is one of the leaders of the Savarese BJJ competition team, one of NJ’s best. He will next be fighting onthe Fight To Win 51 in Brooklyn NY. That card will feature ADCC champion JT Torres taking on former UFC Champion Ben Henderson in the main event, with No-Gi World Champions Justin “Darth” Rader from Lovato BJJ in Oklahoma vs Gianni Grippo of Marcelo Garcia in the co main event. Other events the team will be competing in soon are the Kasai Fighting Champion in October and NJBJJF on Nov 5th.
The Fight To Win 43 card features Lyndhurst BJJ students Sean Yadimarco and Caitlin McManus from the Savarese BJJ Academy. The event will take place at Central Regional High School in Bayville NJ on August 5th. Yadimarco will take on Alex Nemeth from the Vitor Shoalin Academy and McManus will take on Natalie Bryjova  the Diesel Training Center.
There are tickets are available for $600 Front Row Table (10 seats), $60 Front row table seats, $500 2nd Row Table (10 seats), $50 2nd row table seat or $40 General Admission.
Main Event
Black Belt NOGI Heavy Weight Title Fight
Tom Deblass (Ocean County BJJ) vs Joao Assis (CheckMat)
210lbs Black Belt NOGI
Kory Acchione (Madama Jiu Jitsu) vs Tex Johnson (Unity)
155lbs Black Belt NOGI
Jeff Lentz (Lentz MMA) vs Thiago Brito (G13)
125lbs Black Belt Gi
Kristian Woodmansee (Atos) vs Chris Noonan (Hive Martial Arts)
165lbs Black Belt NOGI
Frankie Roberts (Silver Fox BJJ) vs Steven Barnett (Inferno MMA)
210lbs Black Belt Gi
Steve Mathis (Triton Fight Center) vs Radji Bryson-Barrett (Team Jucao)
200lbs Black Belt NOGI
Joseph Kuchta (Madama Jiu Jitsu) vs Joseph Marino (Pellegrino Jiu Jitsu)
180lbs Black Belt NOGI
Garret Lavaggi (Ocean County BJJ) vs Greg Soto (Precision Jiu jisu)
Heavy Weight Black Belt GI
Eric Johnson (Osagame BJJ) vs Mark Fitzpatrick (Pellegrino MMA)
165lbs Brown Belt Gi
Marcus Johnson (Garden State BJJ) vs Christopher Brookens (Robson Moura)
185lbs Brown Belt NOGI
Michael Oettinger (Renzo Gracie) vs George Sullivan (Pellegrino MMA)
140lbs Brown Belt Gi
Natalie Bryjova (Diesel Training) vs Caitlin McManus (Savarese BJJ)
170lbs Brown Belt NOGi
Howard Niego (Renzo Gracie) vs Jay Isip (Pellegrino MMA)
160lbs Brown Belt NOGI
Nick Manela (Gracie Barra) vs Andrew Branch (AMA FIGHT CLUB)
200LBS BROWN BELT GI
URIJAH SUAREZ (BALANCE) VS MATTHEW HOLTHAUS (PELLEGRINO MMA)
150LBS BROWN BELT NOGI
JASON PATTON (MARTINEZ BJJ) VS ASHURE ELBANNA (DANTE RIVERA BJJ)
135LBS BROWN BELT GI
KYLE HUANG (ROOTS ATHLETICS) VS TINH TUPY (PELLEGRINO MMA)
185LBS PURPLE BELT NOGI
DAVID MATIAS GONZALEZ (OCBJJ) VS GUI MITONE (MADAMA)
115LBS PURPLE BELT GI
MELISSA FEINBERG (TRITON FIGHT CENTER) VS ANDREA JORDAN (PELLEGRINO MMA)
160LBS PURPLE BELT NOGI
AMANDA LEVE (RABJJ) VS BRITTNEY ELKIN (EASTON BJJ)
170LBS PURPLE BELT GI
JUSTIN GIOVE (INFERNO MMA) VS JOE MOZDEN (BALANCE)
215lbs PURPLE BELT NOGI
BILLY JOHNSON (SUB FORCE BJJ) VS ED MCCAY (OCBJJ)
145LBS PURPLE BELT GI
VALOR BOYER (127 BJJ) VS CHRIS TUZENEU (PELLEGRINO MMA)
155LBS PIURPLE BELT NOGI
ANDREW VIDAL (BRUNSWICK BJJ) VS NATHAN RAY (ADVANCED MARTIAL ARTS)
165LBS PURPLE BELT GI
ALEX NEMETH (VITOR SHAOLIN BJJ) VS SEAN YADIMARCO (SAVARESE BJJ)
175LBS PURPLE BELT NOGI
BRIAN DEMURO (SJBJJ) VS RYAN MCCARTHY (INFERNO MMA)
155LBS PURPLE BELT NOGI
JESUS MALAGA (MADAMA) VS CHRIS GRUSEMEYER (BALANCE)
HEAVY WEIGHT PURPLE BELT GI
ALAN WRIGHT (BULLPEN) VS GIL ISABEL (DANTE RIVERIA BJJ)
110lbs BLUE BELT GI
Júlia Balmante (BTT) VS GABBY ETZEL (THE HIVE)
165LBS TEEN NOGI
BRIAN RAST (NORTH JERSEY MMA) VS SAVION MARANON (COVEL BJJ)
70LBS YELLOW BELT GI
NICK COLALILO (NICK CATONES MMA) VS LEVI FOOTE (THE HIVE)
On wednesday night, the top ranking BJJ instructor taught at Lyndhurst Martial Arts Academy Savarese BJJ for 3 hours. 5th degree blackbelt Professor Dave Adiv (gracienewjersey.com) is the highest ranking BJJ instructor with a school in NJ. The Savarese Academy is home of one of his blackbelt students, Professor Chris Savarese. Students of the Savarese Academy as well as students for all over NJ came in and out of the seminar, which lasted over 3 hours.
Adiv is known by those in the art as one of the best teachers of the Fundamental movements of BJJ. One of the first American blackbelts in the art, he worked very closely with the Helio Gracie side of the Gracie Family while coming up through the ranks. At one time, he was a top student at the Gracie Humaita Academy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Adiv’s first Academy produced many of the first Americans blackbelts under the great Royler Gracie. He is still producing top students today as shhown by UFC standout Mickey Gail.
What a great night at Savarese BJJ. My first instructor, 5th degree black belt Professor David Adiv gave an awesome seminar for over 3 hours showing his true passion for teaching the art of Jiu-Jitsu. IMO, he is truly one of a kind, I believe he is one of the best teachers of Jiu-Jitsu in the WORLD. His ability to break down the simplest principles is simply unmatched. I have never watched him teach even something as simple as a basic shrimp where I don’t learn something. His instruction is priceless in my opinion and I consider myself so lucky to have him to turn to at any time. I explained to my students that Savarese BJJ would not exist if not for him. Thank you David for your time, your knowledge and always showing me what a true professor of Jiu-Jitsu is.
Savarese BJJ blackbelts w David Adiv
There have been a bunch of recent Savarese BJJ promotions. Many of our students made goals at the beginning of the year to improve and so many of them have done just that. Here is a list of all the students who have gone up in rank in the past 3 months:
Brian Procel was recently promoted to blackbelt, only the 4th under Professor Savarese. Blackbelt is a tough rank to earn at Savarese BJJ, kudos to Brian for getting that hard earned belt.
Leo Alves
Ariana Zeppetelli
Sean Yadimarco
Pete O’Connor
Caitlin McManus
Elliot Santiago
Andrew Kuntz
Eric Estevez-Purplebelt 3rd stripe
Joe O’Connor -Purplebelt 1st Stripe
Brian O’Connor-Purplebelt 1st Stripe
Ed Vecchione
Ivette Ponte
Craig Lum
Alex Cole
Rochelle Cole​
Rich Jimenez
David Geissler
Tom O’Connor-Bluebelt 4th stripe
Mike O’Connoe-Bluebelt 2nd stripe
Baba Ojo- Bluebelt 2nd stripe
Clinton Haque-Bluebelt 2nd stripe
Jack Z-Bluebelt 1st Stripe
Steve McNicholas-Bluebelt 1st stripe
Tony Urena-Bluebelt 1st stripe
Pete Bouzalakos-Bluebelt 1st stripe
Theresa Zeppetelli
Djendy Denot-4th stripe
Christina Mastroeni-3rd Stripe
Kevin Wilton-2nd stripe
Dave Veloso-2nd Stripe
Peter Valdivia-2nd Stripe
Donna Valdivia-2nd Stripe
Jenn Roldan- 1st Stripe
Carlos Aviles-1st stripe
Maverick Garcia-1st Stripe
Recent Savarese BJJ Promotions
Savarese BJJ’s great tournament showing was on display saturday at a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Tournament in NJ. It was a great day for the Savarese BJJ competition team today at the NJBJJF (https://www.njbjjf.com/).
Leo Alves, Sean Yadimarco, Caitlin McManus and Ariana Lynn wanted to tune up for the Worlds in 2 weeks and came up pretty well. Leo continues his submission streak w 2 more subs. He has won 9 of his last 10 matches by submisson. He closed his division w Sean, who had his best tournament of 2017 so far imo. Caitlin also won her division. Ari dominated her first match, losing in the finals by a refs decision.( btw, we haven’t won a refs decision at the NJBJJF in 2 yrs).
Congrats to William Pike, from our Training 4 Life team who showed some mental toughness that I always like to see. Will had a tough day at the Big Apple Open 2 weeks ago and came back strong today to earn a silver medal in his division, winning his 1st match by over 20 pts. Our little beast Kayla Zep bumped up and took silver in her division. Anthony Del Guercio had a good match too unfortunately suffering a knee injury that we hope isn’t serious. Also congrats to Babatunde Ojo who finished strong but came up short. Also congrats to our kids, w 10 kids competing, 8 took gold or silver.
Reagan Roxas gold,
Antonio Santiago gold,
Mateo Santiago gold,
Brandon Adragna gold and silver,
Taylor Adragna gold and silver,
Mikey Carreira silver,
Angelina Pettigano silver,
Angelina Velastegui silver
Kaylee Carreira bronze
Sophia Velastegui bronze
I always tell the team, I am always so proud of those who put it on the line, not because of your success but because you aren’t afraid to fail. Competition success come with great sacrifice and many of you showed great dedication to improving. Oss.
