A rundown of the biggest headlines and news from the world of competitive grappling.
It’s been less than a month since Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida made his professional MMA debut for ONE FC and seeing as he suffered almost no damage in his first-round win, it seems like he’s taking advantage of that to make a quick turnaround. The most successful IBJJF world champion in the history of the sport has announced that he will have his second fight in early December, against an as-yet unnamed opponent.
Given the timeframe that ‘Buchecha’ has given, it seems likely that he’ll be competing at the ONE X event on December 5th. Not only is that the same event that will feature the hotly-anticipated mixed rules contest between Demetrious Johnson and Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon, but it will also feature another BJJ superstar as Garry Tonon gets his first world title shot against Featherweight champion Thanh Le.
Gordon Ryan submits Phillip Rowe four times in return to competition
The reigning ADCC double champion, Gordon Ryan, was due to make his return to the sport at a mid-week WNO event. He was set to face UFC welterweight Phillip Rowe in an exhibition match and things were clearly good between the two as Rowe presented him with a customized boombox when they first met. The match seemed equally respectful as Ryan kept a calm and measured pace throughout, submitting Rowe four times in the end.
There was also a number of other high-profile matches on the card, including three titles being up for grabs. Ffion Davies and Beatriz Mesquita won the women’s flyweight and bantamweight titles with unanimous decision wins over Nathalie Ribeiro and Luiza Monteiro respectively. Mikey Musumeci stole the show however with a lightning-quick unique submission against Richard Alarcon that earned him the Bantamweight title.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Dillon Danis breaks silence on arrest and reveals huge news
On a recent appearance on the MMA hour, Dillon Danis finally gave his side of the events that led to his arrest and the viral video that surfaced of the incident. Naturally, Danis paints himself out as an innocent party but the most interesting part of his retelling was the accusation that the bouncer who apprehended him pretended to be a police officer in their interaction. According to Danis, he’s now in some trouble of his own as a result.
The interview was a mix between entertaining, interesting, and downright cringeworthy. One part in particular caught the attention of BJJ fans however as Danis claimed that former UFC title-contender Jake Shields actually offered Danis PEDs prior to his run at the 2009 ADCC world championships. Allegedly, Shields even reassured him that the organization doesn’t test athletes, something he would’ve known from his 2005 bronze medal effort.
Usman Nurmagomedov and the ‘Russian Ronda’ win at Bellator 269
As the cousin of Khabib Nurmagomedov, there’s always been some high expectations on Usman but so far he’s been every bit as dominant as his more-famous relative. He entered the Bellator cage for the third time this past weekend and kept his perfect career intact with a first-round submission win against Patrik Pietela. This gives him a 14-0 record at 23 years old and a huge opportunity to make his name as an undefeated Bellator champion soon.
Earlier on in the card, the ‘Russian Ronda’ Irina Alekseeva made her promotional debut against Stephanie Page. She earned the nickname by being a multiple-time Judo national medalist and a Sambo national and European champion before bringing her elite grappling into the cage in 2019. She dominated Page throughout her unanimous decision victory and brought her career record to 4-1 after nearly two years away from competition.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Quick Hits
- Former UFC Strawweight world champion Joanna Jedrejczyk was just promoted to BJJ blue belt by her Jiu-Jitsu coach, Arrachion Olzstyn.
- ADCC veteran and Ricardo Almeida black belt Tom DeBlass has just published his autobiography, ‘How you beat it: Triumph and resilience in life’.
- Pedigo Submission Fighting got a huge boost as Dante Leon and both Tammi and Mikey Musumeci have all announced that they will be joining the team.
- Campbell Symes, a BJJ instructor in Phuket, Thailand, is attempting to break a world record by continuously rolling for 30 hours to raise money for a local gym.