by Daniel Barry

Created on: March 28, 2009

The 2009 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

Football has the Super Bowl. Baseball has the World Series. And hockey has the Stanley Cup. But for the world's best grapplers, the ultimate test is the Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship. Every year, hundreds of grapplers from around the world come to the Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship to show the world what they can do on the mat.

This year, the world's best are all meeting at California State Domingo Hills in Torrance, CA for the contest. The contest features a NCAA March Madness style bracket to determine the winner. There are several different brackets for weight classes and belt level. Sunday, March 29th is the final day of the competition and will feature the best black belts and brown belts in the entire world. Most of these fighters come from the two countries responsible for the current Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu phenomenon. Those two countries are the United States of America and, of course, Brazil. There are, however, several other countries represented at the 2009 Pan Jiu Jitsu Championships. Fighters will be coming from as far away as Russia, Japan, England and the Middle East to compete for the word title.

Five fighters in this year's tournament are sure to stand out from the crowd. These fighters include:

1. Guto Campos. A former Pan American champion and world champion. Campos also fights for the world-famous Abu Dahbi Combat Club. Campos is a former student of the world famous Rickson Gracie. Gracie, as most martial arts enthusiasts know is one of the men responsible for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
2. Roberto Godoy. Also a former Pan American champion and world champion. Godoy is also a 10-time state champion and professional MMA fighter.
3. Ricardo Arrivabene. Arrivabene is one of the most sought after BJJ instructors in the world. His extensive experience has helped him win the Pan American Championship, American National Championship, American National No Gi Championship and has also helped him become a professional MMA fighter.
4. Pedro Marocco. A Brazilian and American champion who has also won the Pacific Cup title. Marocco fights out of the world famous Sul Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Brazil.
5. Nickollas Curson. An OTM Champion and American National Champion.

Most of the black belts and brown belts are sponsored by various MMA apparel and MMA Sportswear companies. Although, due to the success of the UFC and other MMA leagues around the world, more and more mainstream corporations are beginning to sponsor fighters.

We'll find out for sure how the Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championships turn out on March 29th, 2009. But one thing is for sure. There will be no shortage of great fighters and jiu-jitsu action.

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