In the build up 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.
The illustrious Eddie Bravo Invitational returns on April 24th, but this time it is different. Instead of EBI 6 airing on pay-per-view, the promotion has signed a streaming deal with UFC Fight Pass and is set to feature one of the greatest open weight 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. We will kick off our second addition off with a look into Richie “Boogeyman” Martinez.
Richie Martinez
Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie > Carlos Gracie Jr > J. J. Machado > Eddie Bravo > Richie Martinez
Team: 10th Planet San Diego
Weight: 170lbs
The term “prodigy” is banded about too much in combat sports, but in the case of the Martinez brothers it is justified. Richie Martinez, a gifted breakdancer, rose through the ranks of Eddie Bravo’s 10th Planet grappling system in only 4 years of training. Martinez is a physical specimen, his dexterity and flexibility standout in a sport filled with incredible athletes. To date Boogeyman’s best outing has been The Eddie Bravo Invitational 1, where he reached the finals before being submitted by Garry Tonon.
Boogeyman exemplifies the 10th Planet philosophy and is always in pursuit of the finish, a habit which he carried over to his burgeoning MMA career. Like most grapplers at this level, Martinez is well-rounded, but really excelswhen it come to his d’arce/Japanese necktie game. As with all 10th Planet black belts, Martinez’s guard is pretty spectacular and he regularly looks to secure omaplatas or sweeps.
First Round Opponent: Abraham Marte
In our last edition we talked about Marte and I spoke about his physical gifts. Marte is a much larger competitor than Martinez and has accomplished more in his career thus far. On paper this is a very tough match-up for Martinez and if he wins the bracket does him no favours with more big guys in his way. Martinez has to be seen as an underdog in this one, but he was trained by the king of the underdogs so don’t count him out. Martinez is a great competitor, but he is going to be at a huge size disadvantage in this match.
The Eddie Bravo Invitational 6 goes down at the Orpheum Theatre, in Los Angeles, CA on April 24 and will be streamed live and exclusively on UFC Fight Pass.