In the buildup to the Eddie Bravo Invitational 6’s open weight tournament, Bloody Elbow’s grappling editor Roy Billington will be providing athlete profiles for each of the competitors. Here, we look at MMA veteran Jacen Flynn
The illustrious Eddie Bravo Invitational returns on April 24th, but this time it is different. Instead of EBI 6 airing solely on pay-per-view. The promotion has also signed a streaming deal with UFC Fight Pass in and is set to feature one of the greatest openweight submission-only tournaments ever. In the weeks leading up to the event, Bloody Elbow will be giving you the low down on the strengths and background of each competitor. Let’s kick off this edition with a look at old-school MMA fighter Jacen Flynn.
Jacen Flynn
Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Royler Gracie > Craig Kukuk > Jacen Flynn
Team: The Mat
Weight: 205lbs
Jacen Flynn is an old-school mixed martial arts pioneer. Flynn emerged on the burgeoning MMA scene in 1998 and made a name for himself as a tough-as-nails submission specialist. While Flynn showed promise through out his MMA career, even defeating Dean Lister in his prime, he never quite reached the upper-echelons of the sport. Despite a stint on The Ultimate Fighter 10, Flynn never made it to the UFC proper, but be under no illusions, he certainly was skillful enough to hang with UFC-caliber fighters during his prime. Flynn’s bread and butter was always his submission game and coming up under Craig Kukuk meant that his fundamentals were always perfect. Since properly getting back into the grappling scene in 2013/2014, Flynn has been pretty impressive, winning numerous regional accolades.
Flynn is basic, but not in a negative sense. His offensive skills are tightly honed fundamentals mainly. His chokes are impressive, specifically his rear-naked and guillotines. While Flynn’s main successes have came from his smothering top game, he does have a propensity to pull of spectacular moves, something that can be seen in the video of his “Zangief roll” at the top of this post.
First round opponent: Gordon Ryan
At 20 years of age, Gordon Ryan is the youngest competitor in the EBI 6 tournament, but he is truly something special. I would give Flynn a chance against most of the EBI first rounders, but Ryan is an animal and I expect him to win this one with a heel hook.
The Eddie Bravo Invitational 6 goes down at the Orpheum Theatre, in Los Angeles, CA on April 24 and will be available on pay-per-view on Dish and InDemand, as well as being live on UFC Fight Pass.