A rundown of the biggest headlines and news from the world of competitive grappling.
As a comparatively niche sport, there’s very little in the way of scientific study conducted on Jiu-Jitsu. As time goes on and interest in BJJ grows, we’re starting to see a gradual increase in the number of people interested in the more technical aspects of the sport. Just recently, a group of scientists conducted an experiment to see how long it would take a selection of chokes to put an opponent to sleep.
They decided to look exclusively at chokes that did not require the use of the gi, so their findings are also applicable to MMA, although no gloves were used. They found that each of the chokes examined took a different length of time to put an opponent to sleep, ranging from as little as 6.2 seconds to as much as 10.5. In the end, the difference between chokes was not enough to be significant and the average time overall was registered at 9 seconds.
Both titles defended successfully at Submission Underground 21
SUG 21 marked the first time that both the male and female absolute titles would be defended on the same night with Mason Fowler and Amanda Loewen each managing to extend their reigns. Fowler managed to submit 10th Planet’s Richie ‘Boogieman’ Martinez within an armbar inside the regulation period while MMA veteran Roxanne Modafferi took Loewen to EBI overtime before eventually losing.
Tag-Team Jiu-Jitsu also made a return as Ricky Simon and John Simon represented American Top Team against Willie Audifre and Mike Currier of Team GFC. ATT won in the end as they racked up three submissions to GFC’s zero, just after Andy Varela managed to defeat Satoshi Ishii with the fastest escape-time under EBI rules. This win earned Varela the right to take the next run at Mason Fowler for the title at SUG 22.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Fight 2 Win’s latest all-female event is as exciting as the first two
What started out as an interesting idea at the beginning of the year has morphed into a regular occurrence for Fight 2 Win as the promotion has just finished hosting their third all-female event. As always for F2W, they stacked the card with dozens of matchups from kids all the way to elite black belts, although this edition only had six black belt matches on the main card to round out the night.
The main event saw Nathiely De Jesus continue the fine form that saw her become the first woman to ever defeat Gabi Garcia twice, as she submitted Kendall Reusing with a slick choke. Shortly before that, Luiza Monteiro locked up a lightning-quick Kneebar against Vedha Toscano that saw her earn ‘submission of the night’ honors, and Tracey Goodell submitted Tessa Simpson with an unconventional Triangle Americana.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Several elite matches announced for next Who’s Number One event
FloGrappling have decided to really kick their promotional work into high gear in 2021 as they’ve already started announcing the lineup for their third event of the year at the end of April. Craig Jones will be returning to headline for the second time this year after making quick work of Ronaldo Junior in February, and he will be facing off against the young Tye Ruotolo.
The rest of the card looks to carry on the theme of inviting elite young prodigies to compete as the Mendes brothers’ first kids program black belt, Jessa Khan, will be taking on 10th Planet’s youngest black belt. Grace Gundrum. She will be joined by teammate PJ Barch who comes up against Gordon Ryan’s younger brother Nicky, while two MMA stars will be clashing in the co-main event as Gilbert Burns takes on Rafael Lovato Jr.
Quick Hits
- UFC Lightweight contender Dustin Poirier was recently spotted grappling with four-time World’s Strongest Man winner, Brian Shaw.
- EBI 12 Champion and highly-skilled grappler Erin Blanchfield has just signed to make her UFC debut as a late replacement on a little over a week’s notice at UFC Vegas 23.
- Jeremy Skinner and Daniel Schuardt became the latest Australian black belts after both men were promoted by Lachlan Giles.
- Reigning Submission Underground absolute champion Mason Fowler issued a respectful callout of Georges St-Pierre for his next title defense.
Technique Corner
Submission Options from Pillow Scarf-Hold
Spiderweb Armbar Position to Rear-Naked Choke
Four Leg-Drag Variations to use against the Leg-Lasso