Gold for Kitami, silver for Agda’s return to Jiu-Jitsu

From the ocean to the mat, Masaki Kitami continues to reel in the big ones as he brought home the gold medal in the 2024 Copa De Marianas Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Tournament last Saturday held in the University of Guam Fieldhouse.

As for Kier Agda—from the baseball diamond and back to the mats—he snatched up silver in the Gi Tournament.

In the Male White Belt Adult Rooster Division, the 23-year-old Kitami from Baret Submissions beat out Atos Jiu-Jitsu Guam’s Jasper Eola via the guillotine submission in the gold medal match. In Kitami’s first match, he held off his opponent via the triangle submission.

Agda, in the Male Blue Belt Adult Ultra Heavy Division, faced off against Heights Academy Guam’s James Guerrero, in the finals and lost via points. Agda originally entered in the 93kg Heavy Division, but no one else did, so instead of winning gold by default, decided to move up to the 100.2kg+ Ultra Heavy Division.

The 24-year-old Agda was the lightest in the four-man matchup at 97 kg, while his opponents were at 108 kg and up. He won his first match against Federated States of Micronesia’s Joseph Reginalt via a bread cutter choke three minutes into the round.

After years of hiatus from competing, Agda said his first match back on the mat “felt super great! Missed that feeling of competing in front of a crowd!” As for how he felt about getting silver, he said he was content. “Being the lightest in that division, I really put myself to the test and battled it out.”

Agda last competed as a white belt in the Asian Open Japan in 2018 where he won bronze. He went back to training jiu jitsu consistently again last November after three and a half years off.

He said getting back into shape is what made him want to compete again, and “at the age I am in right now, is the best time to be competing and making the most out of my athletic lifestyle! I’ve always been a competitor, always up for a challenge. I only had two months of prep for this comp but I trained meticulously hard day in and day out.”

His next goal is to compete as much as possible this year just as long as he’s injury free. He is looking forward to the Marianas Pro in Manila this April 20.

He then thanked his team and training partners at Trench Tech and Latte Built, and his sponsors Skydive Saipan and Micronesian Air Cargo Services for making his trip possible. He also thanked his friends and family for their love and support.

For Kitami’s part, he said he’s trained for a long time for the event with his good friend Jacob Yamagishi. They trained in his garage every night after work because they wanted to see what they could do in a different level of competition. He said winning the gold, “I feel great and all the hard work paid off.”

In the competition, Kitami said he was nervous at first, “but with the help of my coaches helping me with confidence, it helped me a lot throughout my matches.”

Kitami has been in the sport of jiu-jitsu since he was a junior in high school and as for what’s next, he said they’ll be back in the garage and learning new techniques.

He thanked his friends, family, and Baret Submissions coaches Bryan Deleon Guerrero and Roman Cruz for helping him train. “It was an honor to represent Baret Submissions and take home gold,” said Kitami.

Two others from the CNMI—Isaiah Sablan and Jacob Yamagishi—joined Kitami and Agda in the competition and also brought home medals in their respective divisions. Results of those matches will be posted in the next issues of Saipan Tribune.