This weekend was undoubtedly a big one as far as elite level gi BJJ was concerned. Previously, the weekend saw Gabi Garcia retire from competing in the gi. Yesterday saw a bigger shock though, with Felipe Pena also retiring from the gi.
Overall, it was a mixed weekend for Pena who certainly experienced a strange end to his gi career. Although he’d won Worlds many times before, he went out of his Heavyweight category to the lesser known Munoz. This defeat was on points and was a tactical masterclass by Munoz who sent the heavy favorite out of the competition.
However, before this – Pena had already qualified for the IBJJF Worlds Absolute final, meaning he was guaranteed at least a silver medal. He was set to face Nicholas Meragali on Sunday night, but sadly this never materialized.
In a previous event, Meregali had been DQ’d and thrown out of Worlds for flipping off Victor Hugo’s corner. This meant that the much anticipated bout between him and Pena never materialized. This would have been a fascinating contest, with Meregali previously submitting Pena back in 2018 with an Ezekiel choke.
Sadly, this didn’t happen. Instead, Pena was awarded his gold medal and had his arm raised on a technicality. Although this is still a huge achievement, it may have felt tainted for Pena as this would be his last act in the gi.
After, he dropped to his knees and threw off his belt. It was an emotional time for the Brazilian, who has had a stellar career in both the gi and nogi. For those wondering, it looks like he’ll still be competing in the upcoming ADCC 2022 though which means he may have just quit the gi for now. What’s more, he’s still only 30 years old so there’s always the possibility of a come back.
A few hours later, Pena took to Instagram and wrote, “Being an IBJJF Absolute Champion I am closing a cycle of many years of my life fighting in the gi with a golden key. The gi Jiu-Jitsu trained me, followed me from that little white belt kid, with only one dream, until today, and I’m very grateful for all that it gave me.” He later added, “I still have a lot of wood to burn and my focus now will be on grappling for ADCC 2022, Super Fights and migrating to MMA.”
