YR Sports Lab
A six-minute female brown/black belt final in which the athlete who spent most of the match on top lost. In the female 55 kg final of the 2019 AJP (Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Pro) Grand Slam Tokyo, Rikako Yuasa of Japan (white gi) faced Mayssa Bastos of Brazil (black gi). Yuasa pressured from the top for most of the match but never completed a scoring pass; Bastos took 2 points with a sweep at around 4:00 on the match clock, added 2 more in a scramble with 30 seconds left, and won 4-2. This article captures the video frame by frame, matches it against the scoreboard and splits the match into five phases. Watch the video first, then follow the timeline below.
Video: "Rikako Yuasa x Mayssa Bastos Final Grand Slam Tokyo 2019", uploaded by YouTube user Antônio Zanella on 28 July 2019. The match starts at roughly 0:10. "Video time" in this article refers to this video and "match clock" to the countdown board visible in the frame. This is a single-camera recording with no commentary, so every reading relies on the footage alone.
1. Match Background and How the Footage Was Read
This was the female 55 kg brown/black belt final of the 2019 AJP Grand Slam Tokyo (Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tokyo), with a regulation time of 6 minutes; the video runs 6 minutes 45 seconds. Yuasa was a four-time consecutive IBJJF world champion from 2015 to 2018, from the Paraestra system; Bastos received her black belt in June 2018, represented GFTeam at the time, and normally competes at rooster (48.5 kg) and light feather (53.5 kg), so this was a move up to 55 kg. Later the same year the two met again in the final of the IBJJF World Championship, which Bastos won.
The method is the same as in this site's Dorsey vs Mathiesen final breakdown: the video was captured at roughly 6-second intervals for more than 70 frames, each logged for top and bottom position, grips and leg entanglement, then matched against the scoreboard to confirm when points appeared; the back-to-back scores in the final 30 seconds were re-captured at 1 to 2 second intervals. Because this video has no commentary and a single camera that is often blocked by the referee, every action that cannot be seen clearly is marked "could not be confirmed", and the text only states what the frames support.
2. Opening: Guard Pull, First Scramble and a Referee Reset (video 0:10–1:15)
There was almost no standing exchange. The 0:15 frame shows the clock still at 6:00 with Yuasa already on the ground and Bastos above her, meaning Yuasa pulled guard immediately and Bastos took the top position. From 0:22 to 0:30 the two are locked in a close grip fight on the ground, and the 0:37 frame shows the positions swapped: Yuasa on top, Bastos in seated guard with both hands gripping Yuasa's collar and sleeve. The footage cannot confirm whether this swap came from Bastos deliberately sitting up into guard or from a sweep by Yuasa; the scoreboard stayed 0-0, so the referee did not treat it as a scoring action.
At 0:44 (5:31 on the clock) the referee brought both athletes back to the centre standing, most likely because the scramble had left the competition area. The restart at 0:51 shows Bastos standing and Yuasa sitting down into guard, but frames from 0:57 to 1:09 show Yuasa on top again, with Bastos on her back building guard with her legs and collar grips. At 1:15 (5:00) Yuasa stands and Bastos turns to all fours in turtle, with Yuasa above her looking for a passing or back-taking angle. The verdict for this phase: top and bottom swapped three times in under a minute, and none of it met the criteria for points.
3. Yuasa's Top Pressure and Bastos' First Score (video 1:15–2:30)
From 1:21 to 2:03 comes Yuasa's longest stretch of top offence in the match. From 1:21 to 1:27 she stands in front of Bastos' open guard with Bastos' feet posted on her hips and thighs; from 1:33 to 1:39 (4:48 to 4:42) Yuasa kneels and drives her upper body into the guard while Bastos holds the distance with forearm frames and a knee shield; from 1:45 to 1:57 Yuasa keeps pressing from her knees and tries to control Bastos' legs, and at 2:03 (4:18) she stands again with Bastos' feet still hooked on her leg and hip. The pattern is consistent throughout: Yuasa alternates between kneeling pressure and standing to clear the legs, while Bastos uses foot hooks and collar grips to keep her from ever crossing the leg line.
2:09 (4:12) is the turning point. The frame shows Yuasa standing and Bastos sitting up with both arms wrapped around one of Yuasa's legs, close to a single-leg position; at 2:15 (4:06) Bastos is coming up to her feet with Yuasa bent forward and her weight pulled to one side; the 2:21 frame shows the scoreboard at 0-2, a sweep worth 2 points for Bastos, with Bastos on top and Yuasa on her back in guard. Reading the sequence, this was a sweep completed by coming up from seated guard with the leg wrapped, but the camera angle does not fully confirm Bastos' exact grips and finishing motion.
Why so much top time produced no points for Yuasa
The 3-point guard pass under AJP rules requires clearing both legs, establishing side control and holding it for 3 seconds. Between 1:21 and 2:03 Yuasa repeatedly came close to the leg line, but in every frame Bastos' foot hooks and knee shield pushed the distance back open at the last step, and Yuasa never settled into stable side control. Time on top scores nothing by itself; only a completed position change scores, which is the main reason the score and the visual impression of this match diverge.
4. Bastos' Top Pressure and Yuasa's Reversal (video 2:30–3:35)
After taking the lead, Bastos attacked from the top from 2:27 onward. Frames from 2:33 to 2:51 (3:48 to 3:30) show her driving her upper body into Yuasa's half guard while Yuasa lies on her side blocking with a knee shield and arm frames, Bastos' weight steadily pushing toward Yuasa's head. From 2:57 to 3:09 both are almost flat on the mat, Bastos' chest on Yuasa's upper body, Yuasa's legs still trapping one of Bastos' legs, no pass completed; at 3:15 (3:06) Yuasa turns to turtle and Bastos presses in from the side and rear looking for the back or to open the turtle.
From 3:21 to 3:27 (3:00 to 2:54) there is a fast scramble: Yuasa rolls forward out of turtle with her legs high while Bastos tries to follow her hips. The 3:33 frame (2:47) shows Yuasa back on top with Bastos on her back rebuilding guard, and the scoreboard still reads 0-2. This reversal was not credited as a sweep, most likely because Yuasa did not sweep from a guard position but simply came out on top of a scramble in which neither athlete had stable control, which does not fit the sweep definition; the footage cannot fully confirm the referee's reasoning.
5. The Second Top Attack and the Traded Points in the Final 30 Seconds (video 3:35–6:35)
From 3:39 to 4:27 Yuasa is on top for another long stretch. From 3:45 to 3:51 (2:36 to 2:30) Bastos lies back with both feet posted on Yuasa's arms and hips in a spider guard shape, gripping the sleeves; at 3:57 both are seated and gripping; from 4:03 to 4:15 (2:18 to 2:06) Yuasa stands while Bastos hooks her leg and at one point lifts one of Yuasa's legs off the mat to off-balance her, which Yuasa answers by posting a hand and staying upright. At 4:21 (2:00) Bastos turns to turtle and Yuasa presses from above; from 4:27 to 4:33 Yuasa kneels into Bastos' guard and Bastos keeps distance with both feet on Yuasa's hips.
At 4:39 (1:50) the referee again brings both athletes back to the centre for a standing restart. From 4:45 to 4:51 Bastos sits down into guard with Yuasa standing over her; from 4:57 to 5:15 (1:3x to 1:18) Yuasa repeatedly kneels to pressure and stands to clear the legs, while Bastos alternates between seated and supine guard. From 5:21 to 5:57 (1:12 to 0:36) Yuasa keeps kneeling inside Bastos' guard with both hands on the collar driving forward, Bastos on her back pushing the distance open with her legs, and the scoreboard stays at 0-2 throughout.
The densest scoring of the match came in the final 30 seconds. Frames re-captured at 1 to 2 second intervals show: at 6:02 (0:32) the board reads 0-2 with Bastos underneath Yuasa; at 6:03 (0:30) Yuasa is standing over Bastos, who has turned to turtle; at 6:05 (0:28) the board changes to 0-4, 2 points to Bastos; at 6:07 (0:27) it changes to 2-4, 2 points to Yuasa. In other words, within about two seconds the referee awarded 2 points to Bastos and then 2 to Yuasa. Reading the surrounding frames, this is consistent with Bastos coming up from turtle or seated guard to the top and Yuasa immediately re-sweeping back on top (a sweep and a re-sweep), but the referee's body partly blocks the camera during these seconds, so the exact action behind each 2-point score cannot be confirmed individually.
At 6:11 (0:22) Yuasa stands and Bastos rebuilds guard on her back; at 6:15 (0:18) Yuasa drives onto Bastos, who has turned to turtle again; from 6:21 to 6:31 (0:13 to 0:02) Yuasa kneels inside Bastos' guard and keeps driving forward, trying to finish a pass in the last seconds, while Bastos blocks from her side with leg frames. Time expires and Bastos wins 4-2.
The scoring sequence in the final 30 seconds
0:32 at 0-2 → 0:28 at 0-4 (Bastos +2) → 0:27 at 2-4 (Yuasa +2) → final 2-4. The two 2-point scores came about a second apart in the same scramble; this kind of "swept and immediately re-swept" cumulative scoring is legal under both AJP and IBJJF rules. Trailing by 2, Yuasa still needed a 3-point pass in the last 27 seconds to turn the match around, which explains why she kept driving forward instead of stepping back to clear the legs as she had earlier.
6. Full Match Timeline
| Video time | Match clock | Initiator | Action | Response and outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0:10–0:15 | 6:00 | White | Pulls guard at the start | Bastos takes top position inside Yuasa's guard |
| 0:22–0:37 | 5:5x–5:38 | Both | Close grip fight on the ground | Yuasa on top at 0:37, Bastos in seated guard, no score |
| 0:44 | 5:31 | Referee | Reset to the centre, standing | Yuasa sits into guard at 0:51, Bastos standing |
| 0:57–1:15 | 5:18–5:00 | White | Comes on top, alternates kneeling and standing pressure | Bastos plays supine guard, turns to turtle at 1:15, not passed |
| 1:21–2:03 | 4:54–4:18 | White | Standing leg clears alternating with kneeling upper body pressure | Bastos blocks the leg line with foot hooks, knee shield and collar grips, no score |
| 2:09–2:21 | 4:12–4:00 | Black | Sweep from seated guard, coming up with the leg wrapped | Yuasa taken down, Bastos scores 2 (0–2) |
| 2:27–3:15 | 3:54–3:06 | Black | Top pressure into half guard, chest control, driving toward the head | Yuasa blocks with knee shield frames on her side, turtles at 3:15, not passed |
| 3:21–3:33 | 3:00–2:47 | White | Rolls forward out of turtle, legs high, scrambles back on top | Bastos rebuilds guard on her back; not credited as a sweep, score unchanged |
| 3:39–4:15 | 2:42–2:06 | White | Top attack; Bastos off-balances with spider guard and foot hooks lifting a leg | Yuasa posts and stays standing, no score either way |
| 4:21–4:33 | 2:00–1:50 | White | Presses the turtle, kneels into guard | Bastos keeps distance with both feet on the hips |
| 4:39 | 1:50 | Referee | Second reset to the centre, standing | Bastos sits down into guard |
| 4:45–5:57 | 1:4x–0:36 | White | Kneeling collar pressure alternating with standing leg clears | Bastos alternates seated and supine guard, score stays 0–2 |
| 6:02–6:07 | 0:32–0:27 | Both | Scramble from turtle: sweep and immediate re-sweep | 0:28 Bastos +2 (0–4), 0:27 Yuasa +2 (2–4) |
| 6:11–6:31 | 0:22–0:02 | White | Keeps driving forward standing and kneeling, last attempt to pass | Bastos blocks with side-lying frames; time expires, Bastos wins 4–2 |
7. Technical Takeaways
First, all four points came from sweep-type position changes; no pass, mount or back take was completed by either athlete. Yuasa had clearly more time on top, but AJP rules only count completed position changes, and both of Bastos' scores came at the instant she sat up or rose out of turtle. That is the core of the gap between the score and the visual impression of this match.
Second, Bastos' guard structure, feet on the hips with collar and sleeve grips, was built to deny the leg line rather than to sweep. During the two long defensive stretches from 1:21 to 2:03 and from 4:45 to 5:57 she almost never launched a sweep; she waited for the moment Yuasa stood to clear the legs and then wrapped the leg and came up, which is exactly how the 2:09 score happened.
Third, both referee resets (0:44 and 4:39) came in the middle of Yuasa's top attacks, and after each restart Bastos sat into guard first, forcing Yuasa to rebuild her pressure from scratch. The single-camera footage cannot confirm the reason for the resets, but the positions on the mat suggest the scramble had left the competition area.
Fourth, the traded points in the final 30 seconds set the final score but did not change the result. Bastos scored first to open a 4-point gap, Yuasa took 2 back a second later, and still needed a 3-point pass to overturn it. In the last 20 seconds she chose to keep driving forward instead of standing to clear the legs as she had earlier, and Bastos' side-lying frames held until the buzzer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the final score and who won?
Mayssa Bastos won 4-2. She scored 2 points with a sweep at about 4:00 on the match clock and another 2 in the scramble with 28 seconds left, while Yuasa took 2 back in the same scramble; the score did not change in the final 30 seconds. Some online reports list the result the other way round, so this article follows the scoreboard shown in the video at the final buzzer.
Is AJP scoring the same as IBJJF scoring?
The point structure is the same: takedown, sweep and knee on belly are worth 2, a guard pass 3, mount and back control 4, with advantages and penalties on top. That is the system shown on the scoreboard in this match, and both 2-point scores correspond to sweep-type position changes. Check the official AJP rule book for details.
Yuasa spent most of the match on top, so why did she not score?
Because she came close to passing several times but never reached the side control with 3 seconds of stable control that the rules require. Bastos' half guard, knee shield and turtle transitions kept cutting off the last step of the pass, and Yuasa's only 2 points on the board came from the reversal scramble at the end, not from a pass.
Did the two athletes meet again after this?
Yes. They met again in the final of the 2019 IBJJF World Championship later that year, where Bastos won her first world title at black belt and Yuasa took second place. This Tokyo Grand Slam final can be read as a preview of that Worlds final.
References
1. Antônio Zanella. Rikako Yuasa x Mayssa Bastos Final Grand Slam Tokyo 2019 [video]. youtube.com (accessed Sept 2026; every frame reading and scoreboard time in this article comes from this video, published 28 July 2019)
2. AJP (Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Pro). AJP Jiu-Jitsu Rules and AJP Rule Book. ajptour.com (accessed Sept 2026, page marked as last updated 25 August 2026; supports the 2 points for takedown, sweep and knee on belly, 3 for a guard pass, 4 for mount and back control, and the 3-second control requirement; the 2019 edition applied to this match uses the same point structure)
3. Wikipedia contributors. Rikako Yuasa. en.wikipedia.org (accessed Sept 2026; supports Yuasa's four consecutive IBJJF world titles from 2015 to 2018, the points loss to Bastos in the 2019 Tokyo Grand Slam final, and second place at the 2019 Worlds)
4. Wikipedia contributors. Mayssa Bastos. en.wikipedia.org (accessed Sept 2026; supports Bastos' black belt promotion in June 2018, her GFTeam affiliation at the time, her usual rooster and light feather divisions, and her win over Yuasa in the 2019 Worlds final)
5. BJJ Heroes. UAEJJF Grand Slam Tokyo 2019 Results. bjjheroes.com (accessed Sept 2026; supports the division, female 55 kg brown/black belts, and the 4-2 score; its listed winner conflicts with the scoreboard in the video, and this article follows the scoreboard)