A rundown of the biggest headlines and news from the world of competitive grappling.
BJJ Stars 10 is scheduled for April 22nd, 2023 and the promotion has tried to do something very special for their tenth event. They’ve put together an absolute grand prix featuring some of the best BJJ competitors on the planet right now, from a variety of different weightclasses. Mica Galvao is the lightest athlete in the bracket and he actually turned down a middleweight superfight in favour of the absolute grand prix.
Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu was also invited to compete despite currently serving a 3-year suspension from IBJJF competition due to a failed PEDs test. There are plenty of elite Brazilian grapplers in the bracket too, with Kaynan Duarte, Fellipe Andrew, Patrick Gaudio, Victor Hugo, and Erich Munis all standing a good chance of winning. Meanwhile, Devhonte Johnson and Adam Wardzinski will be the only non-Brazilians competing.
Tammi Musumeci and Bianca Basilio in close match at ONE Fight Night 8
Tammi Musumeci made her ONE Championship debut in the very first match of ONE Fight Night 8, where she took on Bianca Basilio in a strawweight submission grappling match. Basilio had already earned a win on a ONE Championship event before but was eager to add to her record, while Musumeci was looking to follow in her brother’s footsteps; Mikey being the promotion’s reigning flyweight champion.
It was a relatively quiet match with neither woman able to get their game going and no significant submission attempts on either side. The standing grappling consisted of aggressive handfighting and Musumeci attempting to pull guard, with Basilio trying to work her passing game whenever she did. It was a close match that could have gone either way, but Musumeci was given the nod from the judges in the end.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Alex Enriquez puts on fantastic display at Medusa 4
Medusa 4 saw sixteen top female grapplers battling it out for the promotion’s Combat Jiu-Jitsu flyweight title, along with two exciting superfights in between tournament matches. UFC veteran Hannah Goldy competed in one of the individual matches, and she landed some heavy strikes on the ground during the match but couldn’t finish and was submitted by Madelynne Wade in EBI overtime.
In the tournament, Kiaya Jackson continued her good form by making it to the final of a Medusa tournament for the third consecutive time. Unfortunately she was stopped in her tracks once again, as she ran into Alex Enriquez in the final. Enriquez won all four of her matches on the night, submitting three of her four opponents in regulation time and submitting the fourth in EBI overtime.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Exciting Australian Jiu-Jitsu on display at Battleground Grappling 3
Battleground Grappling is one of the top grappling promotions in Australia and they put on a great show for their third event. There were several exciting moments spread throughout the card, including Matthew Clarke landing a lightning quick finish of newly-signed UFC fighter Stephen Erceg. ‘Submission of the Night’ went to Alex Paddon for a standing guillotine that saw him latch on to his opponent to force the tap.
Then in the co-main event, popular competitor Levi Jones-Leary was relentless in attacking Pablo Torrealba and he got the opportunity to show off some fantastic guard-passing on the way to a decision win. Nora Schultz faced Alanis Santiago in the final match of the night and both women put on a great show. In the end, Schultz managed to secure a rear-naked choke and got the win by submission.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Quick Hits
- Jed Hue and Mateusz Szczecinski have been booked to compete in the co-main event of Polaris 24 with the promotion’s welterweight title on the line.
- Maggie Grindatti announced that she will now be training at ATOS Miami and will represent ATOS in competition after leaving Fight Sports.
- A referee was extremely negligent in the main event of Fury FC 76 when he let a fighter get choked out and armbarred while still unconscious.
- Former Judo US National Team member and veteran grappler Shintaro Higashi was promoted to black belt in BJJ.