The ‘Daisy Fresh’ team put on a show in the UK
One of Europe’s top professional grappling promotions returned on Saturday February 26th for a night of high-level jiu-jitsu in a unique format. The GrappleFest ‘Daisy Fresh vs. Europe’ event featured many of the top Pedigo Submission Fighting athletes against some of the best grapplers on the European circuit. Daisy Fresh competitors included Mikey Musumeci, Dante Leon, John Hansen, Kendall Reusing, and Jacob Couch. Representing team Europe were Mateusz Szczecinski, Ffion Davies, Kev Corkhill, and Jamie Hughes, among others. The matches aired via pay-per-view on Fite.tv for the first time in the promotion’s history.
Dante Leon captures -80 kg belt with armbar submission
GrappleFest’s main event was an under 80 kg title bout between No-Gi World Champion Dante Leon and European leg lock specialist Mateusz Szczecinski. Mateusz started the match by pulling guard and Dante immediately upped the pace, moving laterally to set up a guard pass. Mateusz looked to invert to attack Dante’s legs, a strategy Dante was well prepared for. Two minutes into the match, Dante dove for a knee cut pass with a deep under hook. Matheusz tried to defend by turning away but left his arm exposed. Dante jumped on the armbar and got the submission just over two minutes into the main event title bout, becoming the official under 80 kg champion after holding the interim belt.
Ffion and Reusing clash for open weight title
The co-main event of the night saw Kendall Reusing take on Ffion Davies for the female open weight belt. Kendall’s recent accomplishments include gold medals at the ADCC East Coast Trials and the 2021 IBJJF Pan No-Gi. Ffion Davies has quite the no-gi resume as well, winning gold at the 2021 IBJJF No-Gi Worlds and earning silver at the 2019 ADCC World Championships.
Ffion pulled guard to start the match and used her de la riva and reverse de la riva positions to control and off-balance Kendall. The first submission attempt of the match came from Kendall as she latched onto a toe hold from the top position. Ffion defended and nearly scored a sweep, but Kendall was able to evade it by going out of bounds. Ffion again chose a bottom strategy as Kendall used her pressure from the knee cut position to stifle Ffion’s attacks.
Ffion attempted to take the back and enter into some leg locking positions but settled for a sweep about halfway through the match. She entered into a knee cut of her own, getting through Kendall’s guard and attacking an armbar. Though it looked like the armbar was there, Kendall defended beautifully and ended up back on top. The remainder of the match saw Kendall continue to put pressure on Ffion and attack a series of d’arce chokes. Although they looked to be tight, Ffion fought out of them until the final bell. The submission attempts were enough to earn Kendall Reusing the decision victory, continuing her no-gi dominance heading into ADCC.
ADCC Trials winner John Hansen cruises to rear naked choke victory
A third title fight had the male open weight belt up for grabs as ADCC East Coast Trials winner John Hansen took on judo and jiu-jitsu black belt Jamie Hughes. Hansen pulled guard and swept almost immediately, getting right into his guard passing sequences. He used a beautiful combination of leg weaving and leg pummeling to pass the guard and transition to the mount. Hughes turned his back in the mount and Hansen tried to take the back, but Hughes was able to get his shoulders to the mat and recover guard.
It wasn’t long before Hansen again used his beautiful leg pummeling technique to slide past the guard, mount, and attack the back. A similar sequence transpired where Hughes was able to escape back control, but this time he ended up in bottom side control. Hansen then applied immense pressure which this time forced Hughes to turn in. Hansen secured a seat belt and progressed to a body triangle, a position he used to lock in a rear naked choke to claim the GrappleFest open weight title belt.
Other notable victories included Mikey Musumeci’s one minute straight ankle lock finish, Rosa Walsh’s armbar, and Jakob Brook’s d’arce choke.
Full results can be found below:
Dante Leon def. Mateusz Szczecinski via submission (armbar)
Kendall Reusing def. Ffion Davies via decision
Mikey Musumeci def. Kev Corkhill via submission (ankle lock)
John Hansen def. Jamie Hughes via submission (rear naked choke)
Jacob Couch def. Santeri Lilius via decision
Matty Holmes def. Brad Schneider via decision
Jack Tyley def. Jorge Valladares via decision
Owen Livesey def. Paul Lukowski via decision
Tommy Yip def. Chris Hayes via submission (rear naked choke)
Nadine Tavares def. Simone Caffrey via decision
James Duckett def. Des Parker via decision
Harry McKnight def. Reece Doran via submission (inside heel hook)
Jay Butler def. Ciaran Brohan via submission (inside heel hook)
Rosa Walsh def. Marina Mavrou via submission (armbar)
Jeremy Pare def. Shane Curtis via submission (outside heel hook)
Kris Leeson def. George McManus via decision
Joshua Robertson def. Jack Brown via decision
Micheal Pixley def. Shay Smith via submission (d’arce choke)
Philippe Geyer def. Aidan Woodley via submission (inside heel hook)
Jack Grant def. Dave Weston via submission (inside heel hook)
Andrew Hardwick def. Amadeusz Arczewski via submission (inside heel hook)
Josh Cherrington def. Jack Levackvis submission (rear naked choke)
Lewis Ridley def. Ryan Graham via submission (neck crank)
Stefan Biddles def. Evan Reid via decision
Hayley Valentine def. Hannah Garrett via decision
Jakob Brooks def. Owen Phillips-Jones via submission (d’arce choke)
Johnny Dash def. Josh Taylor via submission (arm-in guillotine)
Aman Alim def. Vinny James via submission (arm lock)
Tad Cravens def. Sam Barker via decision
Ashley Wagg def. Mark Wynne via submission (toe hold)
Jaimie Middleton def. Ellie Wright via decision
Jared Shafer def. Jack Hassard via submission (triangle choke)