A rundown of the biggest headlines and news from the world of competitive grappling.
It’s something that’s never really happened in professional grappling before, but a “multi-million dollar” lawsuit has just been launched against a competitor for having caused an injury in competition. The WNO Championships took place towards the end of 2021 and Aaron ‘Tex’ Johnson met Orlando Sanchez in the first round of the Heavyweight division. Johnson managed to secure a triangle choke very early in the match but that’s where it all went wrong.
Sanchez then picked him up and slammed him back to the mat, getting disqualified in the process. According to the lawsuit, Johnson suffered ‘severe injuries’ as a result of the impact and ‘will never be able to compete as a professional grappler ever again’. As a result his lawyers are suing Sanchez himself, FloGrappling as the organization that staged the event, and Gabriel Martins as the referee in charge of the match.
On Tuesday, July 18, 2022, an Original Petition was filed on behalf of Tex Johnson against Orlando Sanchez, FloSports, Inc. D/B/A FloGrappling, and Gabriel Martins seeking damages for the severe and permanent injuries suffered as a result of this incident. The lawsuit alleges that Orlando Sanchez was grossly negligent and is liable for civil assault against Tex Johnson. The lawsuit further alleges that FloGrappling’s agents and/or employees intervened too late. The negligence claim against FloGrappling also includes allegations that FloGrappling did nothing to ensure that Orlando Sanchez was aware of the rules and warn of or enforce the rules. Lastly, the lawsuit includes a negligence claim against Gabriel Martins also failing to warn or enforce the tournament rules, and for intervening too late to prevent injury to Tex Johnson.
The lawsuit also cites Orlando Sanchez’s previous altercation with Sean Strickland, citing how he has “a reputation for fighting dirty.”
Gordon Ryan also reacted to the news.
Tommy Langaker beats Renato Canuto, earns $50,000 bonus
ONE Championship put together an exciting day of competition on Friday as they staged two events back-to-back on the same day, the first being ONE 160. The card was headlined by two MMA world title fights and saw the belt change hands in both the Featherweight and Lightweight divisions. Tang Kai managed to register a convincing decision win over Thanh Le just before Christian Lee knocked out OK Rae Yoon in the second round.
For BJJ fans however, all eyes were on a match much earlier in the card that saw Tommy Langaker and Renato Canuto make their ONE Championship debuts in a Lightweight grappling match. Langaker will be making his ADCC debut in less than a month and he put on a show against Canuto that showed fans he has a great chance of reaching the podium in a stacked 77kg division, winning a $50,000 performance bonus along the way.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida moves to 4-0 at ONE on Amazon Video
The dust barely had time to settle on ONE 160 before the promotion made it’s first appearance on Amazon Prime. This card also featured two title-fights, with the Bantamweight Muay Thai title on the line first. Nong-O Gaiyanghadao defeated Liam Harrison thanks to a brutal leg kick and shortly after that, Demetrious Johnson got his revenge against Adriano Moraes with a flying knee.
Earlier in the night, Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida had his fourth professional MMA fight and finished yet another opponent in the first round. He shot for a takedown around a minute into the fight and although it didn’t go to plan, he quickly reacted by transitioning to a heelhook to force the tap. Although fans might be pushing for him to challenge for a title, he’s more than happy to be patient and work his way through the ranks.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Polaris 21 set to be promotion’s first event outside of the UK
Polaris might be easily the biggest grappling promotion in Europe but to date, all of their events have taken place on UK shores. That’s all about to change with Polaris 21 as the event will take place on the beautiful Italian island of Sardinia, in Cagliari. It will take place on September 24th to cap off a long week of hard training for everyone at the BJJ Summer Week training camp.
There will also be a Polaris Contenders male and female tournament during the week where athletes will compete for a place on the Polaris 21 card. After the winners of Polaris Contenders take to the mats, ADCC veterans like Tom Halpin, Ross Nicholls, Josh Hinger will also be fighting. The headline match will then be an epic battle between two of the best grapplers on the planet in Ffion Davies and Michelle Nicolini.
Quick Hits
- Tom DeBlass has just announced that NYPD BJJ Club will now be an official affiliate of his, and he will offer free training to all of the state’s officers.
- A trailer has just been released for ‘O Faixa Preta’, a documentary about the life of BJJ legend Fernando ‘Terere’ Augusto that is due to be released soon.
- Five-time IBJJF and ADCC world champion Rodolfo Vieira has got his next UFC opponent booked for November as he attempts to get back into the win column.
- It may surprise some, but Facebook creator and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has revealed that he is in love with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.