A rundown of the biggest headlines and news from the world of competitive grappling.
It’s been over three years since the last edition of the Eddie Bravo Invitational took place, but even EBI 17 was really just an EBI event in name only. The event featured the Combat Jiu-Jitsu middleweight world championships instead. Last weekend Bravo himself came full circle when he announced the return of the event during the broadcast of this year’s Combat Jiu-Jitsu middleweight world championships.
He revealed that the return of EBI will happen at some time in the spring of 2022 and will feature a welterweight tournament, with three elite competitors already signed up for it. At the time of writing, B-Team’s Nicky Ryan, 10th Planet standout Nate Orchard, and ATOS prodigy Tye Ruotolo have all agreed to compete. As usual with the event, there will likely be a number of up-and-coming grapplers eager to make a name for themselves in victory.
Ryan Aitken takes home Combat Jiu-Jitsu middleweight world title
The CJJ worlds itself was also a fantastic event, delivering action from start to finish with plenty of submissions and even a handful of TKO finishes. One of the night’s 10th Planet competitors Ryan Aitken impressed from the very start when he locked up an inside heelhook against Nick Greene. He came up against tough opposition in the next round against Hunter Colvin and the match went in to overtime as a result.
After locking up a rear-naked choke and progressing to the next round he came up against another more experienced opponent in fellow 10th Planet representative Kyle Chambers. That led to another difficult match and overtime win to book his place in the final opposite Derek Rayfield. Aitken managed to squeeze out one final overtime victory against the young grappler to take home the Combat Jiu-Jitsu middleweight world championship belt.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Craig Jones retains middleweight title at Polaris 17
The headline match at Polaris 17 saw an interesting clash of styles as the promotion’s middleweight and light-heavyweight champion Craig Jones put one of his belts on the line against UFC veteran Davi Ramos. Of course, Ramos was not remotely an easy opponent as he was an elite grappler before he ever made his debut for the promotion, earning a gold medal at the 2015 ADCC world championships.
Jones took home the win and retained his title by decision, just shortly after Kendall Reusing made a huge statement in the co-main event. She submitted Finland-native Venla Luukkonen with an armbar to become the inaugural Polaris women’s openweight champion. The most exciting match of the night came from promotional fan-favorite Jed Hue and Kody Steele who put on an incredible pace during their time on the mats together.
Full results for the event can be found here.
First round of ADCC Asia and Oceania trials delayed until 2022
It’s unfortunate news for all of the elite competitors residing in Asia and Oceania but their first edition of ADCC trials will no longer take place this year. It was set to be the final trial of the year after the European, Middle-Eastern, and African trials in September and the North American East Coast trials due in November. Now, the Singapore event will be scheduled for the spring in 2022 after every other trials event has been completed.
There is exciting news elsewhere however, as the first edition of the East Coast trials has broken the record for competitor entries. The previous record for most entries at a trials event was set at around 400, but on the final day it managed to break 800. This has necessitated a last-minute change of venue to accommodate the number of mats that need to be run, and each division winner will have to defeat at least half a dozen competitors.
Quick Hits
- Royce Gracie gave his thoughts on the MMA careers of two the current generation of his family, Bellator contender Neiman Gracie and UFC Featherweight Kron Gracie.
- UFC two-weight world champion and hall-of-fame legend B.J. Penn has just announced his intention to run for governor of his home-state, Hawaii.
- Actor and comedian Russell Brand was promoted to purple belt in BJJ by Chris Cleere, a black belt under Roger Gracie.
- NCAA champion Jason Nolf has taken an interest in BJJ, teaching to and training with the elite grapplers at B-Team Jiu-Jitsu.
Technique Corner
Armdrag to Hip-bump, to Triangle Choke
Mount escape to Heelhook
Three options for the Pe de Pano sweep