A rundown of the biggest headlines and news from the world of competitive grappling.
Andre Galvao’s team put on an incredible show at Subversiv 5 when Kaynan Duarte, Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa, and Rafaela Guedes went unbeaten on route to winning ATOS’ second consecutive Subversiv title. Collectively they overcame stiff opposition on the way to the top beating elite representatives of American Top Team, Fightsports, and Checkmat, like Maggie Grindatti, Nathalie Ribeiro, and Gabriel Almeida.
The event also featured a number of superfights, headlined by Elisabeth Clay winning the inaugural Subversiv Women’s Championship with a beautiful kneebar finish of Andressa Cintra. Prior to that, NCAA All-American Pat Downey competed in only his second professional Jiu-Jitsu match after clashing with Gordon Ryan at the BJJ Fanatics Grand Prix and showed his elite wrestling in a dominating unanimous decision win.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Gilbert Burns outworks Rafael Lovato Jr at Who’s Number One
After a last-minute adjustment to the running order, the main event for the latest Who’s Number One event ended up being a match between two men who’ve used their elite BJJ skills to excel in MMA. Former Bellator Middleweight world champion Rafael Lovato Jr wasn’t able to get much of his game going against UFC title contender Gilbert Burns, with the latter taking home a unanimous decision.
This match took the place of one between Craig Jones and Tye Ruotolo, as Jones was forced to withdraw after an adverse reaction to vaccine treatment. He was replaced by William Tackett and the match pushed to earlier, although Ruotolo was unphased by the change and won a unanimous decision. His brother Kade shared in the success and submitted DDS competitor Ethan Crelinsten with one of their patented D’arce Chokes.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Mason Fowler continues his perfect run at Submission Underground 22
For the sixth time in as many events, Mason Fowler put his SUG Absolute Championship on the line and once again he left the cage with the belt. Since winning the title from Craig Jones amid some controversy and successfully defending it against him in a rematch, he’s taken on several big names for Chael Sonnen’s grappling promotion and not a single one has managed to trouble the Caio Terra brown belt.
Unlike his previous two defenses, Fowler wasn’t able to finish Andy Varela and instead had to secure the win in EBI overtime. Just prior to this, Ricky Simon and John Simon of ATT lost the Tag-Team trophy that they won in the previous event to Chris Lencioni and Owen Papworth. The best submission of the night was undoubtedly thanks to Kyle Chambers who locked up a picture-perfect inside heelhook against Ben Egli in a little over a minute.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Craig Jones wants a match with Rener Gracie on The Ultimate Fighter 29
It was a little surprising when Craig Jones was announced as the grappling coach for Team Volkanovski on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter, but his opposing number was a lot more predictable. Naturally as the man who gave him his black belt and his longtime BJJ coach, there was no one else but Rener Gracie in the running to be the grappling coach for Team Ortega when the two meet.
While this is certainly a big opportunity for Jones to get himself recognised by the more casual fans of both MMA and BJJ, it seems he’s decided to make the absolute most of it. He revealed that he intends to ask his opposing number Rener to have a grappling match with him live on the show and considering that ‘coach’s challenges’ are a regular occurrence on the show, this isn’t all that far from becoming a reality.
Quick Hits
- Japanese MMA legend Shinya Aoki put his elite grappling back to work at ONE on TNT 4 when he ended the trilogy with Eduard Folayang with an armbar in the first round.
- Polaris Squads 3 has had a few more announcements as PJ Barch and William Tackett join Team USA, and Bradley Hill and Tom Halpin join Team UK & Ireland.
- Both Rory MacDonald and reigning champion Ray Cooper III got off to a fantastic start the 2021 Welterweight season at PFL 2, with both men earning first-round submission wins.
- A recent poll of over 100 BJJ black belts aimed to find out who the most influential grappler was, and the results showed that Marcelo Garcia came out on top.
Technique Corner
Foot in bicep, to Omoplata, to K-Guard, to Kneebar
Basic back escape to top side control
Leg drag counter to 50/50