A rundown of the biggest headlines and news from the world of competitive grappling.
The second edition of the infamous ADCC trials has now finished and another five elite grapplers have earned their place in the 2022 world championships. The North American East Coast trials were actually the largest to take place in the promotion’s history, with over 800 competitors meeting over the weekend. Out of the five men who will be attending the world championships, the most impressive was certainly 16 year old Cole Abate.
Over the weekend Abate defeated seven grapplers all with much more experience in adult competition than him. He wasn’t the only young star to make an impression either as 18 year old Kade Ruotolo also emerged victorious in the 77kg division. The other three tickets to the world championships were won by competitors who have actually left their teenage years; Giancarlo Bodoni, Mason Fowler, and John Hansen.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa submits Gilbert Burns at BJJ Stars 7
BJJ Stars has quickly established itself as the premier grappling promotion in Brazil and has garnered a reputation for staging fantastic events. Their seventh event was no exception, all the way up to the headline match between Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa and UFC title-contender Gilbert Burns. Although the men seemed pretty evenly-matched on the feet, Hulk snatched his first opportunity at Burns’ is back and quickly sank in a choke to finish.
Earlier on in the night, elite American competitors endured mixed results as Josh Hinger won a tough battle against Luis Marques on points while AJ Agazarm suffered defeat at the hands of Celsinho Vinicius by the same two-point margin. Checkmat founder Leo Vieira also competed at the event and he ended up racking up eight points to win a decision against Cleber Luciano in an impressive display of high-level Jiu-Jitsu.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Tainan Dalpra and Victor Hugo win big at IBJJF Grand Prix 2021
On the same weekend of the IBJJF Masters world championships, the world’s premier BJJ organization decided to put together two elite four-man grand prix brackets as well. The IBJJF grand prix featured a middleweight and heavyweight division with several world champions competing in both. Interestingly however, it was one of the most inexperienced and youngest competitors who emerged victorious at middleweight.
Tainan Dalpra was promoted to black belt a little over a year ago but he showed the phenomenal talent he’s become known for at Art of Jiu-Jitsu by defeating Renato Canuto and Jonnatas Gracie to take home the $20,000 grand prize. In the heavyweight division, Victor Hugo was equally as impressive in overcoming Gustavo Batista and Mahamed Aly to claim an equal prize of his own.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Craig Jones takes on Donald Cerrone at Combat Jiu-Jitsu Worlds
The Combat Jiu-Jitsu Featherweight world championships are right around the corner and the event is already starting to fill up. The bracket will feature some amazing grapplers like 10th Planet’s Keith Krikorian and Combat Jiu-Jitsu veteran Gabriel Daffron, competing alongside experienced MMA fighters like Bellator’s Cris Lencioni and undefeated fighter Cody Owens.
Despite the stacked lineup for the main attraction, the majority of the attention is being directed toward the recent announcement of an incredible superfight. Australian phenom Craig Jones will be taking on one of the most experienced UFC veterans in the promotion’s history, Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone. The match is one of the most intriguing as the pair will meet under a ruleset that attempts to bridge the gap between their respective sports.
Quick Hits
- Action star Vin Diesel made a speech at a promotion ceremony at Legacy Jiu-Jitsu to help celebrate one of his oldest friends receiving his BJJ black belt.
- Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida has been booked to compete in his second professional MMA fight against undefeated Korean Heavyweight Kang Ji-Won.
- Andre Galvao has now revealed the MMA promotion that he’s signed a multi-fight deal with in order to make his comeback, ONE FC.
- Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu wins gold medals in both his weightclass and the absolute division at the IBJJF Masters World Championships.
Technique Corner
Back control to Spiderweb Armbar
Backtake counter to the running man Saddle escape
Finishing details for the North-South Choke