A rundown of the biggest headlines and news from the world of competitive grappling.
Professional grappling is not generally known as a sport with stringent drug-testing, and in fact, the majority of promotions don’t test athletes at all. The IBJJF is the only major organization that does test athletes, and even they only test a small number of those competing. Regardless, they still manage to catch athletes once in a while and Felipe Pena has now failed the second test of his career for PEDs.
Pena first failed a test in 2015 and he has now failed a second test that was conducted during the 2021 IBJJF world championships. Pena won gold in the absolute division and bronze in his weightclass at the event, but will now be stripped of both medals and banned for competition for one year after testing positive for Clomiphene and it’s metabolites, although Pena claims that this was taken at the instruction of his doctor.
Combat Jiu Jitsu champion v champion superfight set for EBI 20
The twentieth edition of the Eddie Bravo Invitational is still a few months away, but the promotion has just announced a phenomenal superfight for the event. Ethan Crelinsten won the Lightweight edition of the Combat Jiu Jitsu world championships just a matter of days ago and he’ll be returning to the ruleset at the event, where he will take on fellow CJJ world champion Keith Krikorian.
Krikorian won his belt in the Featherweight division back in 2021 and he has been outspoken about wanting to become the first double champion in the ruleset’s history. While neither man’s belt will be on the line when the pair cross paths at EBI 20, it will represent an opportunity for Krikorian to beat the best the division has to offer and it may be their second match this year as they will both compete at 66kg for ADCC 2022.
Pat Downey taken on as Fightsports wrestling coach for ADCC 2022
There are a number of teams that will be heavily represented at ADCC 2022 and every one of them will be looking to take home more medals than the other. Every athlete has personal goals and it’s always an individual sport, but the most important moments happen together in the training room. FightSports is among the teams that recognise this and they’ve made a huge move to invest in their athletes ahead of the event.
The Miami-based affiliation headed by Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu has just signed elite grappler Pat Downey to be their wrestling coach in the build-up to ADCC 2022. Downey actually attempted to qualify for the event himself but fell just short in trials, so now he’ll be helping guide Abreu to success along with affiliated athletes Mica Galvao, Fabricio Andrey, Diogo Reis, and Roosevelt Sousa.
Jessa Khan booked against Amanda Alequin for ONE debut
ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong has made huge moves to bring professional grappling to the forefront of his organization, including signing some of the biggest athletes in the sport. He’s showing no signs of slowing down either as he’s just matched up one of their most exciting prospects, Jessa Khan. She will be facing off against IBJJF no gi world champion Amanda ‘Tubby’ Alequin in her promotional debut.
The match will take place at ONE 159 on July 22nd and it seems as though the Sityodtong has listened to some issues that fans had with the promotion. When Andre Galvao and Danielle Kelly made their debut, their matches felt anti-climactic as both bouts ended in a draw under their ruleset. This time around, if the match between Khan and Alequin reaches the end of regulation time then judges will be used to determine a winner.
Quick Hits
- An arson investigation has been opened after a local BJJ school in Denver, Colorado was burnt down, and a GoFundMe has been set up to help the owner.
- Commonwealth games gold medalist Judoka and Polaris veteran Owen Livesey was just promoted to BJJ black belt by Carlson Gracie Jr.
- Elite BJJ black belt Gilbert Burns is clearly desperate to fight Jorge Masvidal as he has made an offer to meet the MMA veteran in the cage without takedowns being allowed.
- The UAEJJF and the FBJJP have announced the return of Para Jiu-Jitsu at the next edition of the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.