A rundown of the biggest headlines and news from the world of competitive grappling.
Daniel Manasoiu put in a great performance this past weekend at the latest edition of the Emerald City Invitational. The promotion brought together eight talented grapplers to compete in their very first absolute division, and the John Danaher student won all three of his matches by submission, two of which came inside the regulation time while one came in EBI overtime.
Manasoiu went to EBI overtime in his opening round match against Kyle Myers and managed to lock up a rear-naked choke against Maxim Cote in the semifinal. On the other side of the bracket, Austin Baker submitted his first two opponents with an armbar and an arm-triangle choke. When the final came, Manasoiu continued to show the diversity in his game by submitting Baker with an inside heelhook.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Roberto Jimenez crowned new Polaris Middleweight champion
On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Roberto Jimenez was busy putting on an equally impressive display in the Polaris Middleweight grand prix. There was a title on the line after Craig Jones vacated it and Jimenez got to work immediately by running up a big points-margin against Shane Fishman in the opening round. He followed this up with a triangle choke finish of Hunter Colvin in one of the most exciting matches of the night.
The final saw Jimenez take on Polaris fan-favourite Jed Hue and although he put up a valiant effort, Jimenez ended up securing an arm-triangle choke to win the Middleweight belt. Polaris 22 also featured a superfight between the promotion’s three-weight champion, Ashley Williams, and MMA veteran Carlos Condit. Williams locked up a tight heelhook on the former UFC interim champion in the end and came away with a huge victory.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Ruotolo brothers start construction on Costa Rica gym
The Ruotolo brothers have very quickly established themselves as two of the top competitors in their weightclasses in recent years. Just prior to 2019 they were considered to be incredibly promising up-and-coming talents and in just three years they’ve reached the top of the food chain. Collectively they have won an ADCC world championship, a ONE Championship title, a Grapplefest title, and a pair of WNO titles as well.
While the brothers have remained training under ATOS founder Andre Galvao until now, it makes sense that they might strike out on their own at some point in the future. It seems as though that time has come around quicker than expected as the brothers have announced construction of their own gym. The pair are building a BJJ gym from the ground up in Marbella, Costa Rica and have described the plans as their ‘dream gym’.
Lineup finalized for IBJJF Absolute Grand Prix 2022
The final IBJJF grand prix event of the year is fast approaching, and November 18th will see eight elite grapplers battling it out without being hindered by weightclasses. The lineup will feature a number of competitors who appeared at the 2022 ADCC world championships like Elder Cruz, Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu, and Henrique Ceconi. One of the biggest favourites of the IBJJF absolute grand prix is the reigning 99kg ADCC champion, Kaynan Duarte.
None of these men have an easy path as Francisco Lo, Rider Zuchi, Gutemberg Pereira, and Gabriel Oliveira will all be gunning for the top spot in the tournament as well. The event will also feature five different superfights interspersed throughout, including talented grapplers like Roosevelt Sousa, Andy Murasaki, and Sergio Rios. The only women’s match of the event will see AOJ prodigy Jessa Khan take on Kaori Hernandez.
The full lineup for the event can be found here.
Quick Hits
- Three-time NCAA champion Bo Nickal picked out Khamzat Chimaev as an opponent he wants to face once he makes his UFC debut.
- Tom Hardy continued his training journey around America by dropping in to Pedigo Submission Fighting with Heath Pedigo.
- Gilbert Burns was called out by Neil Magny after the latter’s recent win but Burns has explained that he has an opponent booked for a future event in Brazil.
- Reigning ADCC superfight champion Gordon Ryan and ADCC silver medalist AJ Agazarm got into a spat on social media earlier in the week.