A rundown of the biggest headlines and news from the world of competitive grappling.
It’s been a long time coming but Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida is finally set to make his professional MMA debut for ONE FC in a little over a month’s time. As the most successful IBJJF world champion in the history of the sport, plenty of eyes will be on Buchecha when he takes his first steps into the cage but the undefeated Heavyweight Thomas Narmo will not be making things easy for him.
Narmo is the third fighter that ONE FC have matched against Buchecha, with matches against Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane and Ji Won Kang both falling apart shortly before they were due to take place. Curiously, both of Buchecha’s previous debut opponents have also been undefeated fighters which should show just how highly the promotion views his talent and potential.
Yvone Duarte becomes the first female coral belt in BJJ
It’s a landmark moment for women in BJJ as Yvone Duarte has just become the first woman to reach the rank of coral belt (6th degree black belt) in the sport. Duarte was also the first woman promoted to black belt all the way back in 1990 and has spent over 43 years practicing Jiu-Jitsu. When she started in 1978 it was largely due to influence from her older brother Pascoal, who is also currently a coral belt.
She has also been instrumental in the progression of Jiu-Jitsu for women and was one of the driving forces behind the inclusion of a women’s division in 1985. Duarte was also one of the key figures behind the formation and organization of the IBJJF, and one of the first to open up a Jiu-Jitsu school in Brasilia. She is without doubt one of the pioneers of the sport and has earned her place among some of the highest-ranked Jiu-Jitsu instructors on the planet.
Gabriel Sousa wins a tough battle at Fight 2 Win 181
The decision-criteria of F2W often forces competitors to pursue the finish, as the judges will side with whoever had the most submission attempts. At F2W 181 however, the main event between Gabriel Sousa and Lucas Pinheiro actually went in the opposite direction with neither man able to create any solid opportunities to attack until right at the very end of an incredibly tough back-and-forth matchup.
It was Sousa who managed to get underneath his opponent and attack a kneebar around the final minute of the matchup, but Pinheiro managed to stay tight to his opponent and defended excellently to escape. Elsewhere on the card, Tyler Brey was awarded ‘submission of the night’ honors when he locked up a beautiful armlock against Sean Joseph just a handful of matches earlier.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Tag-Team Jiu-Jitsu is back at the forefront at Submission Underground 26
Much like their last event, SUG 26 didn’t feature either of the promotion’s absolute titles on the line and instead this time it was headlined by a tag-team Jiu-Jitsu match. Mat Mafia took on Gracie Barra and despite being the underdogs initially, they managed to pull out the victory by making great use of the ruleset and by ensuring that they kept the action close to their corner.
In doing so, Benji Silva and Alan Sanchez were able to tag each other in relatively freely and take advantage of the 3-second crossover period where both men are active. This was what allowed Silva to keep Pedro Marinho busy while Sanchez took his back and sunk in the rear-naked choke to give them their only point of the match, while Marinho and his partner Servando Almaraz were never able to get off the mark at all.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Quick Hits
- Olympic wrestling champion Gable Stevenson has already started dropping hints that he might pursue a career in professional MMA.
- Craig Jones has given the first tour of his brand new gym, B-Team Jiu-Jitsu ahead of their grand opening to the public in Austin, Texas.
- A fighter was choked well past the point of unconsciousness at EFC 88 in South Africa as the referee was dangerously late to put a stop to the fight.
- PFL world champion and Olympic Judo champion Kayla Harrison is ‘100% sure’ that she’d beat Khabib Nurmagomedov in a Judo match if given the opportunity.
Technique Corner
Transitioning from the Armbar to the Triangle Choke
Three ways to transition to the Dead Orchard
Reverse Buggy Choke from North-South