A rundown of the biggest headlines and news from the world of competitive grappling.
It’s been something that Gordon Ryan has been publicly discussing for quite some time now, but the three-time ADCC world champion has been battling a stomach condition for years now. He wasn’t even able to get a diagnosis for years, although he recently found out that his condition was called Gastroparesis and is actually made worse by the amount of meals he has to eat in order to maintain his size with a hectic Jiu-Jitsu schedule.
Now, Ryan has made the difficult decision to step away from competitive Jiu-Jitsu altogether while he attempts to get his health under control. He explained that his competition preparation has suffered on numerous occasions and he doesn’t want to continue with it. He’s now pulled out of all of his upcoming matches and will resign himself to coaching duties only for the foreseeable future.
Elisabeth Clay is a dominant force at IBJJF No Gi Pan-Ams 2021
The No Gi Pan-Ams was the first major IBJJF event to feature heelhooks and reaping the knee since the introduction of the new rules, with only a handful of smaller events taking place earlier in the year. Elisabeth Clay had zero problem making use of the changes as she put on a stellar display over the weekend, finishing all six of her opponents to claim gold medals in both her weight-class and in the absolute division.
In the men’s divisions, Giancarlo Bodoni submitted two opponents to create a repeat of last year’s Heavyweight final against Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa, although this time he came out on top against the ATOS veteran. In the absolute division, the pair met again in the semi-finals but this time Bodoni lost by a 2 point margin. Elsewhere, one of the fan-favorites of the weekend, Oliver Taza, was disqualified when he smothered his opponent.
Full adult black belt results for the event can be found here.
EUG announces lineup for 170lbs Tournament
Evolve Ur Game hit the ground running with their first event, one where Andy Murasaki made his black belt debut and stormed to victory among a field of elite grapplers. The promotion has already gotten to work arranging their second outing for June 12th and this time it’ll be a battle between eight Middleweights for the $10,000 grand prize. Much like the first time around, there’s a healthy mix of experienced competitors and young prodigies.
Young AOJ black belt Tainan Dalpra and elite teenage brown belt Mica Galvao will be meeting in the first round to see who gets the chance to provide further upsets, while Jonnatas Gracie and Johnatha Alves face off in a battle between more seasoned competitors. Fellow veterans Michael Liera Jr. and Paulo Costa will be coming up against Rafael Dos Anjos and Mathias Luna respectively on the other side of the bracket.
Both Miyao brothers set to compete at Fight 2 Win 173
Fight 2 Win has taken a little break from the constant work of putting on high-level grappling events but is already set to come back in full force in June. First up on the 4th is F2W 172 which will be headlined by a clash between two no gi titans in two-time ADCC champion Yuri Simoes and this year’s IBJJF Pan-am champion Devhonte Johnson. Supporting them is Oliver Taza v Jaime Canuto and Fellipe Trovo v Arnaldo Maidana.
Just a week after that, a rare treat occurs for grappling fans at F2W 173 as both Paulo and Joao Miyao are set to compete at the same event. The focus for this event switches to the gi as Paulo will be taking on two-time IBJJF world champion Lucas Pinheiro while Joao will be facing off against Pedro Dias. Alongside them, Roosevelt Sousa and Marcos Tinoco will be coming up against Guilherme Augusto and Yago de Souza respectively.
Quick Hits
- Nicky Rodriguez’s younger brother Jacob is following in his footsteps as the young wrestler has just been promoted to blue belt in BJJ after just seven months of training.
- UFC veteran Sean O’Malley is adding another layer to his game as the explosive and unorthodox striker was just promoted to brown belt in BJJ.
- Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza is no longer under contract with the UFC after suffering a broken arm in the most recent loss of his four-fight losing streak at UFC 262.
- A local BJJ black belt in Denver managed to take down and restrain an aggressive bar patron, with a little help from his purple belt friend, until the police arrived.
Technique Corner
Passing Guard from the Saddle, to D’arce Choke
Countering the Dog-Fight to Heelhook finish
Armbar from Mount, and switching to the far-side Armbar