JIU-JITSU – Bahrain's jiu-jitsu superstar Pedro Bisi de Jesus was yesterday crowned a world champion in his combat sport.
De Jesus struck gold in the men’s U18 under-85kg category at the 2025 Ju-Jitsu World Championships, currently being held in Bangkok, Thailand, organised by the Ju-Jitsu International Federation.
De Jesus secured his title after defeating Gasan Shapiev, competing as an individual neutral athlete, 9-0 in their final.
His gold adds to the multitude of medals he has claimed for Bahrain so far in his young career.
De Jesus had recently won bronze at the third Asian Youth Games hosted by the kingdom last month, while earlier this year, he became the first-ever fighter from Bahrain to win gold at the European IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2025 in Lisbon, Portugal.
De Jesus needed to win five tough matches to clinch his world title yesterday. His category featured 27 entrants from around the world, and he was the lone Bahraini taking part.
He opened his bid with a submission victory by armlock against Perez Chavez Alfonso from Mexico in the first round.
De Jesus then won with another submission armlock against Muslim Arsamakov from Kazakhstan in the next stage before defeating Pavel Mezhonnov, another individual neutral athlete, by golden score in a tight quarter-final contest.
De Jesus then faced off with Keon Ho Park from South Korea in a re-match from their head-to-head in the Asian Youth Games, which Park took by submission en route to securing the competition’s gold medal.
But de Jesus got his revenge on the world stage yesterday, beating Park 8-0 to book his berth in the gold medal match.
There, he outclassed Shapiev to complete his remarkable run to the world title.
Sharing the bronze medals in their class were Arsamakov and Mezhonnov.
The 2025 Ju-Jitsu World Championships features over 1,400 athletes from more than 50 countries.
It is scheduled to continue until Friday later this week, with competition being held in U16, U18, and U21 age classes for both men and women.
Bahrain have another athlete taking part in the worlds in Abdulla Ali. He will be going for gold in two events, including the men’s U21 under-56kg category and the men’s U21 no-gi under-56kg division.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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