Amanda Diggins wins silver at No-Gi Worlds

SBG Portland Coach takes second in IBBJF No-Gi World Championships

Last weekend saw Straight Blast Gym Portland’s Coach Amanda Diggins compete in the IBJJF No-Gi World Championships in Long Beach, CA. Amanda, Oregon’s first female BJJ black belt, was coming off the back of recent successes in other IBBJF tournaments up and down the west coast – first gold in the IBJJF Santa Cruz Pro tournament in September, then gold at the IBJJF Seattle Open in October.

In a three person bracket, Coach Diggins faced off first against Angelica Galvao. Amanda lost this first match on points, 0-2, but despite the score, looked the more threatening throughout. On multiple occasions, Diggins came close to finishing the match with a number of submission attempts on Galvao.

Due to the three person bracket, Amanda then faced Megan Nevill, the third member of the bracket, to decide who would face Galvao in the final the next day. Amanda defeated Nevill on points 2-0 to head into the finals.

The final between Diggins and Galvao was even closer than their contest the day before. With no points scored by either competitor, the match, and the deciding of the world champion, came down to advantage points. Angelica Galvao was awarded two advantage points for a single transition that saw her briefly threaten to pass Amanda’s guard. Shortly after, Coach Amanda threatening with another arm bar which saw her pick up an advantage point of her own. A penalty against Galvao for pulling on the pants of Diggins meant that Amanda only needed another advantage point to win, and in the dying moments she found another arm bar opportunity that was halted by the buzzer before an advantage point could be gained.

Coach Amanda Diggins won silver at the No-Gi world championships, and on multiple occasions throughout her two matches with the eventual champion, looked the more likely to win. Indeed, she was the only one of the pair to threaten with any real submission attempts in either match. Everyone at SBG is extremely proud of the effort Coach Amanda put forth. We at SBG know that, from her performance at the biggest tournaments, to the training and selfless coaching efforts she shows every day, she is a true champion. Congratulations Coach Amanda, and good luck for 2016!