COMBAT academy student Dali Hopkins is the has become a world youth champion following an excellent win in Abu Dhabi.
Hopkins, who is also the assistant junior coach at the Hereford-based club, competed in the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu event at the World Youth Championships that was held over two days.
Competing in the under 63kg yellow belt category, Hopkins faced some tough opposition en-route to the final where she faced her nemesis, Nia Blackman, from the tough London team, BJJ School.
Blackman has defeated Hopkins in their previous three meetings in the finals of the European Championships, the British Nationals, and The NoGi British Open, so Hopkins knew she was in for a fight.
Hopkins made an aggressive start, quickly taking the fight to the floor and securing a two-point score for a sweep.
Her opponent answered with a sweep of her own to level the scores and threatened Hopkins with an arm-lock attempt.
Hopkins successfully defended the arm-lock and scored three points for passing guard and securing a hold down.
With the end of the contest fast approaching, Hopkins maintained the hold-down to become the champion.
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