Summary
The Yolo Sponsor Pro 450 has all the features of a premium gi. The styling is unique, and for anyone who finds the gi attractive, this is a great addition to the ever changing and evolving gi market!
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Introduction
Yolo BJJ is a new Ohio based BJJ company owned by Eric York. The brand has made a splash by offering many regional athletes sponsorship. Yolo plays off of design points centered on the imagery of seizing the moment as it pertains to BJJ, which is an apt concept.
Often fighters are hesitant for whatever reason, even when they are rolling in the gym.
The theme of YOLO (You only live once) is that rather than hesitate, BJJ practitioners should be keen to open up and play.
Fit
This gi fits well, however not perfectly. For an A3, the gi top fits great, but I found the pants to be a bit shorter than I like. As can be seen in the pictures, though, I don’t think the shortness of the pants would cause me issues in competition (insofar as IBJJF legality), so really it’s just a preference thing in this case.
A: 7
B: 28
C: 31
D: 21.5
E: 23.5
F: 11
G: 10
H: 35
Design
The gi’s main external design points are the Yolo BJJ logo and their spiral logo with “Open up and play” written inside of it. The taping on the gi has the same motifs. The main colors on this white gi are red silver and black with white with black taping, stitching, loops and rope all very simple and clean.
One major positive point (or negative if you don’t like the themes of the gi) is that the patchwork is entirely embroidered. I found the embroidery to be clean and of high quality. Also the taping is very nice, not scratchy like with some gis.
This gi is a step below some of the “blingy” gis out there, it has plenty of embroidery but is definitely clean and tasteful. Yolo definitely has the right idea with the decoration of this gi.
Jacket
The gi jacket fits me great. I am 6’1, 195, and normally the best fit for me is A2L. The jacket of this A3 gi fits me very well.
Made of 450 GSM pearl weave, the jacket is nice, light and comfortable.
The collar is foam covered with twill cotton, and is nice and thick. The gi has fairly standard reinforcements and I find the taping to be plush and soft.
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Like some other gis, this gi has embroidery between the shoulders, which I normally complain about as it can cause certain kinds of guard play to be uncomfortable, but Yolo did something smart with this, they put extra pearl weave inside the back of the gi to cover the embroidery.
One neat design point is that the gi has taping right past the collar all the way around the gi. Similar to the extended rip stop on the Inverted Panda gi and the Lanky FG Pro 550 this taping makes securing a collar grip a bit more difficult which can be a tactical advantage.
The jacket definitely gets my seal of approval!
Trousers
I was not a huge fan of the fit of the pants. They are a bit short on me, which I don’t really like. However they are, like the jacket of very high quality.
The pants have similar design points as the top, with seam tape and embroidery making them match the top well.
The pants have a gold weave gusset (like the Lanky FG Pro 550), which unlike many gis with gi material gussets is not the same material as the top. I personally really like gi material gussets as they help me secure submissions from guard.
As far as drawstrings go, the Yolo gi has a really nice one. They chose to tie off the draw string and melt the end which is ideal.
Like many gi pants the Yolo Sponsor Pro 450 has a double layer of fabric that goes from the top of the knee down to a few inches above the bottom of the pants, some people prefer having that double layer go all the way down.
Rolling Performance
This gi performs similarly to other well fitting gis. Because the pants are short, when people grip them they cut into my calves a bit, but that’s really the only criticism I have. I like the seam tape right past the collar as it makes stripping people’s grips a bit easier.
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Conclusion
With the proliferation of so many gi companies, themes and design points will vary. I personally like very simple gis with bold designs. The Yolo BJJ gi has a lot of impressive features and if you’re looking for a new gi and the themes of the Yolo gi speak to you, it’s definitely a great option! Click here to check them out.
Disclosure: This Gi was submitted to me free of charge (by way of gireviews.net) for review. I have never done any work with or for Yolo BJJ.
