it’s my plan to compete as much as possible in the next few years, as i feel it will serve the purpose of not only helping me improve as an athlete/coach but also help me guide my higher level students through the ranks of world class competitions (www.ibjjf.org) through first hand experience – it’s always been instilled in me that one should lead by example, and i will do my very best, win or lose, to live up to that. – Christian Montes

I competed twice @ The Europeans. Unfortunately, I lost my Master’s Purple Leve division match on a scoreless advantage, which was disappointing mostly because there was very little action in that match. However, i did get to have a very good fast-paced match in the Master’s Purple Absolute division. where i was winning 5-0 initially against an opponent 12 kilos heavier than me, but as the match progressed, we tied up at 7-7, my opponent having garnered 2 advantages on top of that, with 30 seconds to go, if the match finished at a tie, my opponent would have won by advantage so i pressed the action to pass and in doing so was a bit careless and got caught in a loop choke while trying to pass half-guard. So while i was submitted in this match, it was far more satisfying than my Leve division match because at least there was good back-and-forth action and an exchange of game in this match. While at the tournament, I was also fortunate enough to re-connect with one of the first world-class Black Belt competitors/coaches that i ever trained with, Wellington “Megaton” Dias, great catching up with him and i look forward to training with him again sometime in the near future.

I had a great experience here in Portugal (Lisboa being an absolutely beautiful city that i will have no problem revisiting), there is much to be learned from my matches and I am very motivated to continue forward with my training and preparation for the other IBJJF tournaments later this year (Houston, Pan Ams, NY Open, Worlds, etc).

Enjoy these pics!