Twenty-eight-year-old Annie Ramirez claimed her first gold at the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship at the Mubadala Arena on Wednesday.
The Filipino fighter wept tears of joy after the referee’s verdict declared her the winner over American Sophia Dalpra.
Ramirez was able to get past a 4-all deadlock in the female purple belt 55-kilogram final.
An emotional Ramirez, in an online statement through The National of Abu Dhabi, said this was her first gold in four years in the World Pro.
She had seen action in previous editions of the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship twice in the blue belt division and last year in the purple.
Ramirez noted that all three fights were very hard as she did not expect it to be easy at her current level of competition.
Up next is a competition in Mongolia as part of her ongoing preparations for the 30th Southeast Asian Games, which the Philippines is hosting from Nov. 31 to Dec. 10.
“The gold in the World Pro is a good platform to work on my next objectives,” said Ramirez.
Ramirez has never earned an international medal when she was still dabbling in judo.
But after switching to jiu-jitsu, her luck turned when she won golds in the Asian Beach Games in Thailand and Vietnam in 2014 and 2016, respectively.
