Thiago Ortiz was the standout black belt at the IBJJF Pan Pacific Championship, held October 16 to 18 in Melbourne, Australia. He reached the top of the podium at lightweight in both gi and no-gi and also made the open class final, where he took silver. A year after winning featherweight, he once again leaves the tournament with the continental title.
Classified by the IBJJF as a continental championship, the Pan Pacific is the federation’s biggest competition in Oceania and brings together athletes from Australia, Asia and the Pacific. The 2026 edition was the ninth in the tournament’s history; it was created in 2016 and not held in 2020 and 2021. The format kept the split schedule: Friday was reserved for no-gi, while Saturday and Sunday featured the gi matches. Sunday also hosted the Pan Pacific Kids.
THIAGO ORTIZ MOVES UP A DIVISION, WINS LIGHTWEIGHT IN BOTH FORMATS AND IS ONLY STOPPED IN THE GI OPEN CLASS FINAL
The 2025 gi featherweight champion, Thiago Ortiz made the move up to lightweight without missing a beat. On Friday, in no-gi, he won gold and left Danniel Jo Eyar with silver. Over the weekend, he did it again in the gi, this time with Jaemin Yoo in second place. Michael James Messo and Samuel Luke Smith rounded out the gi podium with bronze medals.
Triple gold slipped away in the gi open class. In the final of the no-weight-limit division, Ortiz fell to Sungwoon Lee, who claimed the tournament’s most prestigious title. Heeseoung Kim, also bronze at super-heavyweight, and Ricky Robert Pachon completed the podium. Despite the loss in his final match, the black belt left Melbourne with three medals: two gold and one silver.
Born in 2004, Thiago Ortiz was promoted to black belt by his own father, Edson Ortiz, who started training him as a child. As a brown belt, he caught the circuit’s attention with a silver medal at the 2024 World Pro in Abu Dhabi. Since reaching black belt, he has put together strong runs at IBJJF tournaments with an aggressive open guard game, and his second Pan Pacific title confirms his good form.
DOUBLE GOLD IN MELBOURNE: BELAL ETIABARI, OLIVIA SCHAUER AND ALANIS SANTIAGO WIN THEIR DIVISIONS AND THE OPEN CLASS
Among the big men, Belal Etiabari dominated the no-gi. He won super-heavyweight and the no-gi open class, leaving Anton Minenko with silver in both brackets. Minenko, however, did not leave the weekend empty-handed. In the gi, he was the super-heavyweight champion, with Thomas David in second place. David, in turn, won no-gi heavyweight gold, ahead of Nicholas Ian Hughes.
On the women’s side, two athletes left Melbourne with double gold. In the gi, Olivia Evelyn Schauer won medium-heavyweight, with Tahni Kaye Jeynes in second, and then took the open class over Yeongyeong Son, the lightweight champion. In no-gi, Alanis Coral Santiago Betancourt ruled middleweight, ahead of Emily Talevski, and repeated with gold in the open class, with Amy Prewett taking silver. Talevski was the gi middleweight champion, and Jeynes won no-gi medium-heavyweight.
FAMILIAR FACES ON THE PODIUM: ARIEL SHACHER TABAK AND MICHAEL MESSO REPEAT THEIR 2025 MIDDLEWEIGHT GOLD
Middleweight produced two repeat champions. In the gi, Ariel Shacher Tabak defended the title he won in 2025, this time with Felippe Beltrão taking silver. In no-gi, Michael James Messo also kept last year’s gold, with Ethan Michael John Cannon in second place. Cannon had been the no-gi lightweight champion in 2025. Thomas D. Messo, double no-gi gold medalist last year, won gi ultra-heavyweight this time and took silver at no-gi medium-heavyweight, losing the top spot to Devon Chad Coetzee.
Otavio Tome Serafim took silver at gi ultra-heavyweight, behind Thomas Messo, but bounced back in no-gi with gold in the same division, ahead of Alexander HungaHunga. In the lighter gi divisions, Koji Shibamoto won roosterweight, Rei Nagao took light-featherweight and Kazuhiro Suzuki was the featherweight champion, with Jonathan Santos taking silver. Eduardo Tinoco won medium-heavyweight and Maartin Froneman won heavyweight. In no-gi, Takashi Oguro won light-featherweight and Fionnbar John Carey won featherweight.
The Pan Pacific is gaining weight on the calendar as Australian Jiu-Jitsu grows on the international stage, led by names like Nico Maglicic, an IBJJF world champion in both gi and no-gi. At this year’s Worlds at the Pyramid, the Australian reached the heavyweight final and took silver against Rider Zuchi. The 2025 Pan Pacific heavyweight and open class champion, Brazilian Uanderson Ferreira, will be at The Crown on November 8, in the same middleweight bracket where Andy Murasaki will chase a third title in California.
2026 PAN PACIFIC ADULT BLACK BELT CHAMPIONS:
GI – MEN
Roosterweight: Koji Shibamoto
Light-featherweight: Rei Nagao
Featherweight: Kazuhiro Suzuki
Lightweight: Thiago Munoz Ortiz
Middleweight: Ariel Shacher Tabak
Medium-heavyweight: Eduardo Bernardo Tinoco
Heavyweight: Maartin Froneman
Super-heavyweight: Anton Minenko
Ultra-heavyweight: Thomas D. Messo
Open class: Sungwoon Lee
GI – WOMEN
Lightweight: Yeongyeong Son
Middleweight: Emily Talevski
Medium-heavyweight: Olivia Evelyn Schauer
Open class: Olivia Evelyn Schauer
NO GI – MEN
Light-featherweight: Takashi Oguro
Featherweight: Fionnbar John Carey
Lightweight: Thiago Munoz Ortiz
Middleweight: Michael James Messo
Medium-heavyweight: Devon Chad Coetzee
Heavyweight: Thomas David
Super-heavyweight: Belal Etiabari
Ultra-heavyweight: Otavio Tome Serafim
Open class: Belal Etiabari
NO GI – WOMEN
Middleweight: Alanis Coral Santiago Betancourt
Medium-heavyweight: Tahni Kaye Jeynes
Open class: Alanis Coral Santiago Betancourt
Full results are on the official IBJJF page, for gi and no-gi.
This article was originally published in Portuguese: read the original version.
