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Meggie Ochoa, Mark Co win world championships at the Mundials 2015


“Discipline and consistency. I owe these two factors all I have attained in my life. Things have never happened overnight. Results have appeared as a consequence of decades long toil. It is necessary to persist.”
– Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Master Carlos Gracie Jr.


Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art that focuses on grappling, specifically ground control. Though relatively young, the sport is gaining traction with athletes and hobbyists training with the popularity of mixed martial arts. Moreover, the martial art believes in the idea that a smaller person can successfully defeat a much larger opponent with proper technique, timing, and discipline.

From May 28-31, the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) held the 2015 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Long Beach, California, USA. The best of the best in the world of BJJ were on hand to compete in the prestigious tournament; including the best Filipino grapplers from various local camps. At the end of the four day festival, two Filipino came out on top.

mark-co Meggie Ochoa, Mark Co win world championships at the Mundials 2015  - philippine sports newsMark Oliver Ho Co, from the Kamphius-Fabricio camp, overcame twelve competitors in the Rooster (Galo < 126.5lbs/57kg) division in the white belt category during the first day of competitions. In the quarterfinals, Co was able to submit New England United BJJ’s Garrett Jackson with a triangle choke. The Davao City-native was then able to advance to the final four after his opponent, BJJ Revolution’s Shaun Snyder, was disqualified for slamming him, who had Snyder in a triangle position. Co then overcame adversity in the last two rounds in defeating Ribeiro BJJ’s David Fogarty and Alliance’s Sami Popal by points to win the Male rooster division white belt category world championship.

meggie-ochoa Meggie Ochoa, Mark Co win world championships at the Mundials 2015  - philippine sports newsThe Filipinos then added another world champion in its stable in the second day of the competition as Atos Jiu-jitsu’s Margarita “Meggie” Ochoa won the Female Rooster (Galo – <107lbs/48.5kg) division in the blue belt category. It was a longer road for the Atos Jiu-Jitsu member as the division was stacked with 17 competitors. Ochoa outclassed her opponent, Gracie Barra’s Ayong Kim, in the opening round. In the round of eight, the Filipina then had a tough task in facing Jennifer Bann. Bann came from the famous Nova Uniao camp where world champions like Jose Aldo trains. Ochoa was able to outpoint her to move on to the final four.

It was visible that all of the remaining entrants were bigger in height compared to Ochoa. She overcame that obstacle to win her second Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world championship. In the semifinals, Meggie outpointed Amazonas Rice Brothers’ Daniell Rosch 5-2. Then in the finals, against Japan’s Iori Echigo, Ochoa again outpointed her opponent 5-2. Ochoa had Echigo trapped with a triangle choke coming from the top. “I saw the opening and really wanted to finish with a submission,” the two-time world champion told us. “I felt that the choke was really in but I missed one detail with my foot. It wasn’t flexing enough to finish the choke, but I could see from her face that she was getting choked.”

With the world championships, the IBJJF now ranks Mark Oliver Ho Co 14th in the world in the male rooster-white belt category with 126 accumulated points. Margarita Ochoa, on the other hand, is now ranked 11th in her division with 180 points.

Stay tuned for our feature on Meggie Ochoa’s long road to the 2015 Mundials.

*All photos are taken from the IBJJF Facebook page

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