Ed Tapia Wins at the Jiu Jitsu World League

Ed Tapia took first place—his first time competing as a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Black Belt.

Londonderry resident Ed Tapia took first place at the Jiu Jitsu World League—New England II, held at the DCU Center in Worcester on March 5, 2024. This was Tapia’s first time competing as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt.

“I weighed 177 lbs when I signed up for the tournament, but I ended up moving up two weight classes to compete in the 208 lbs division because there wasn’t an opponent in my weight class,” said Tapia. He weighed in at 190 lbs and faced fellow black belt John Sanders in a best two out of three series. Professor Sanders runs Sanders Jiu Jitsu with Professor Ashley Ferrara at 25 Old Dover Rd, Rochester, NH 03867.

Sanders performed very well in the first match, which ended 4–4 in Tapia’s favor due to a penalty Sanders received earlier for an illegal grip on Tapia’s pant cuff. “I think it would’ve gone his way if he didn’t have the penalty,” said Tapia. “Sanders was aggressive and on top most of the first match.” Sanders attempted several chokes and swept Tapia off his base with ease, finishing the match on top while attacking a knee bar as time expired.

Their second match was a different story—Tapia won 15–0. After an initial ankle-pick attempt, Sanders defended and pulled guard, moving into the butterfly sweep that had worked well in their first match. Both athletes came up to turtle, with Tapia on the bottom. Sanders tried to take Tapia’s back, but Tapia escaped and countered with a sweep. Sanders recovered butterfly guard, but Tapia passed to side control, attempted a knee-on-belly position, and was briefly swept before regaining top position and finishing the match in mount.

Tapia expressed gratitude to his instructors and teammates at BTT Boston, Seaside Jiu Jitsu / BTT Lynn, Top Fight Jiu Jitsu / BTT Rowley, and BTT Westford. He also thanked Levi Moura, one of the head instructors at BTT Back Bay, for coaching him during the finals match.