A rundown of the biggest headlines and news from the world of competitive grappling.
Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida is already the most successful IBJJF world champion in grappling history and he’s now well on his way to becoming one of the most successful heavyweights on the ONE Championship roster too. He moved to 3-0 this past weekend with an impressive TKO finish over Simon Carson, maintaining his perfect record of first-round finishes in his professional MMA career.
ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong will no doubt be looking hard for an opponent who can offer Buchecha a tougher challenge as he makes his way towards a title-shot. While there were no grappling matches at ONE 158, another exciting grappler emerged victorious in MMA as Alex Silva managed to earn redemption against Adrian Mattheis by submitting him with a heelhook in the first round of their rematch.
Full results of the event can be found here.
UFC veterans impress at Fury Pro Grappling 4
It’s still the early days of Fury Pro Grappling but the promotion has really hit the ground running with plenty of high-level grapplers and experienced MMA fighters competing on their mats. For their fourth event, they booked a headline match between returning winner Sean Brady and exciting Tenth Planet black belt Ben Saunders, a fight that Brady won by Kimura after just a few minutes of action.
UFC legend Clay Guida also made an appearance in the co-main event, where he submitted the promoter in Brad Boulton with an Arm-Triangle Choke. Elsewhere on the card, there were a number of young prodigies competing and Vagner Rocha’s children split a pair of decisions in their matches. Jasmine Rocha managed to defeat Trinity Pun, while Achilles Rocha wasn’t able to get anything going against Jacob Rodriguez.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Ryan Hall out of ADCC 2022 with complete ACL tear
There have been a number of surprise invites given out for the 2022 ADCC world championships but perhaps the most unusual was the one given to leglocker-turned-UFC fighter Ryan Hall. He earned a bronze medal all the way back at ADCC 2009 and went out in the quarter-finals on his second attempt in 2011, one of the last times he was seen in professional grappling before he embarked on his MMA career in 2012.
In the last decade, Hall has seen his fair share of highs and lows including several injuries that have slowed down his UFC trajectory. Now bad luck has struck again as he has suffered a complete ACL tear and will require his sixth surgery in a little over a year in order to recover. As a result, Hall will need to be replaced at ADCC 2022 and he has confirmed that he will not be fighting in the UFC for at least the rest of the year.
IBJJF World Championships 2022 well underway
All eyes in professional grappling are currently on the horizon as ADCC 2022 edges closer, but gi is the focus for many athletes right now as the IBJJF world championships are taking place this week. As always, the purple and brown belt divisions provide a window into the near-future as many exciting young talents like Cole Abate, Leon Mendonca, Thalys Pontes, and Elder Cruz all took home gold medals in their respective divisions.
The black belt divisions are the main attraction at any IBJJF event and these are still underway, but several big names have already made an impression. Tye Ruotolo is making his debut at black belt and has already defeated his division’s favourite in Johnatha Alves in the very first match. Nicholas Meregali has also impressed the fans with several submission victories as he stays on track for two gold medals from the event.
Ongoing results for the event can be found here.
Quick Hits
- Rickson Gracie has increased the claims of his famously disputed fighting record and stated that it’s at least 450-0, if not 1000-0, despite evidence to the contrary.
- ADCC silver medalist Nicky Rodriguez was just promoted to brown belt in BJJ at the B-Team’s Headquarters in Austin, Texas.
- Luke Rockhold shared footage of him grappling with fellow former UFC world champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, in training at American Kickboxing Academy.
- Baret Yoshida continues to innovate over twenty years after his professional BJJ debut as he submitted an opponent with his belt at a recent IBJJF tournament.