What’s going on in the world of BJJ?
We’ve got you covered for all your BJJ-related news and happenings in this version of our monthly recap (October 2021).
Medusa 1 – EBI Strawweight Tournament (2 October, 2021)
Medusa Jiu-Jitsu kicked off October with its inaugural event, which included two women’s tournaments:
- 115lbs (EBI rules)
- 135lbs (Combat Jiu-Jitsu (CJJ) rules)
In the 115lbs EBI bracket, professional MMA fighter and grappler Fatima Kline dominated her way to the title, submitting three of her opponents in regulation. In the finals, Kline took out 16-year old rising start Trinity Pun with a slick kneebar to take home the belt.
In the 135lbs CJJ bracket, the EBI CJJ flyweight champion, Brianna St-Marie, continued her hot-streak, taking home the belt thanks to three submission victories. In the finals, Ste-Marie – a brown belt – beat Atos black belt Nikki Sullivan via armbar in overtime.
Also on the card were two special matches:
- Mattie Brown def. Rita Lynne de Alba (armbar in OT; EBI rules)
- Ffion Davies def. Jennifer Rivera (armbar; CJJ rules)
We hope to see more women’s tournaments like this in the future, and we’re excited to see what Medusa has in store for their next event!
Check out/follow the Medusa Jiu-Jitsu Instagram page for more information about their upcoming shows.
BJJ Fanatics Grand Prix (3 October 2021)
BJJ Fanatics took a short break from producing instructional DVDs to put another one of their fantastic grand prix events. This bracket gave 12 grapplers a chance to battle it out for a $10,000 prize.
In the end, 10th Planet’s PJ Barch submitted Johnny Tama with an inside heel hook in the finals to claim the title. In the opening round, Barch defeated Caleb McCallister via submission, then he defeated Pierre-Olivier Leclerc by decision in the semi-finals.
Check out the BJJ Fanatics site for more news on the grand prix (try not to buy too many instructionals while you’re there!).
Polaris 17: Jones vs Ramos (9 October 2021)
After the last three Polaris events involved team challenges rather than individual matches, the UK-based event was back to their old format for Polaris 17.
In the main event, Craig Jones defended his Polaris middleweight no-gi title against UFC veteran Davi Ramos. All in all, the main event was not as exciting as it could have been based on the stylistic match-up of the two grapplers. For the most part, Ramos appeared tentative, and Jones did not appear to be truly challenged, resulting in a unanimous decision victory for Jones.
In the co-main event, Kendall Reusing defeated Venla Luukkonen via armbar in her Polaris debut, at the same time securing the performance of the night award.
Here are the full results from the preliminary card:
- Abbie O’Toole def. Maia Holmes (RNC)
- Max Corteggiano def. Nathan Kay (decision)
- Yousuf Nabi def. Dan Pacan (decision)
- Shane Curtis def. Ben Hills (decision)
- Dominic Dillion def. Scott Pooley (kimura)
- Jack Sear def. Ollie Bates (decision)
Here are the full results from the main card:
- Craig Jones def. Davi Ramos (decision)
- Kendall Reusing def. Venla Luukkonen (armbar)
- Jed Hue def. Kody Steele (decision)
- Mateusz Szczencinski def. Ellis Younger (heel hook)
- Tarik Hopstock def. Fred Greenall
- Kamil Wilk def. Robert Degle (decision)
Polaris 18 will feature Edwin Najmi vs Jed Hue as the main event, after Hue called out Najmi following his Polaris 17 win over Kody Steele. Who do you think will come out on top?
Check out the Polaris Instagram page for more news on their upcoming events.
IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship (7-10 October 2021)
The 2021 edition of the IBJJF No-Gi World Championships took place in Texas this year and featured a host of new black belt champions.
Atos’ Rafaela Guedes won black belt double gold, dominating her opponents in a total of five matches.
Gracie Barra’s Pedro Marinho got the grappling world’s attention as he took black belt double gold, working his way through eight tough opponents to claim the victory. What’s more impressive is that Marinho is less than a year into his black belt competitive career!
Here is the full list of gold medal winners from the male and female divisions:
Black Belt Champions (Male)
- 55kg: Estevan Martinez
- 61kg: Bebeto Oliveira
- 67kg: Diego “Pato” Oliveira
- 73kg: Gianni Grippo
- 79kg: Hugo Marques
- 85kg: Jeferson Guaresi
- 91kg: Pedro Marinho
- 97kg: Devhonte Johnson
- +97kg: Roberto Abreu
- Open: Pedro Marinho
Black Belt Champions (Female)
- 51kg: Mayssa Bastos
- 56kg: Talita Alencar
- 61kg: Ffion Davies
- 66kg: Raquel Canuto
- 71kg: Elisabeth Clay
- 76kg: Rafaela Guedes
- +76kg: Mayara Custódio
- Open: Rafaela Guedes
Check out the IBJJF site for more info on upcoming events.
Subversiv 6 (16 October 2021)
Subversiv returned with another no-gi team vs team style event. At the last event, Subversiv 5, Team Atos made quick work of their opponents to claim the team title.
This time around, at Subversiv 6, it was a young Team Checkmat – comprised of 3 elite brown belts – who walked away as team champions.
Jansen “Nenego” Gomes (male lightweight), Elder Cruz (male heavyweight), and Thamires Monteiro (female open weight) put on fantastic performances, taking out Team Legion in the finals, which was comprised of Miha Perhavec (male lightweight), Sloane Clymer (male heavyweight), and Paige Ivette (female open weight).
Also on the card were several black belt superfights. Highlights include:
- Matheus Luna def. Rafael dos Anjos (split decision; gi)
- Amanda “Tubby” Alequin def. Pati Fontes (decision; no-gi)
- Pedro Dias def. Lucas Pinheiro (split decision; gi)
- Baret Yoshida def. Takahito Yoshioka (decision; gi)
Check out the Subversiv Instagram page for information about their next team vs team event.
FloGrappling WNO: Beatriz Mesquita vs Luiza Monteiro (20 October 2021)
FloGrappling and Who’s Number One (WNO) returned for a rare Wednesday night of professional grappling action. In the main event, Gordon Ryan made his return to competition in an exhibition match against UFC fighter Philip Rowe. In total, Ryan submitted Rowe four times (heel hook, guillotine, 2 x triangle).
For the bantamweight championship title, Beatriz Mesquita employed a tactical strategy to defeat Luiza Monteira via decision.
For the flyweight championship title, Ffion Davies took out Nathalie Ribeiro via decision in a wrestling-heavy match.
Also on the main card, Levi Jones-Leary impressed with his no-gi berimbolo attacks, taking a decision victory over Oliver Taza, and Mikey Musumeci tapped Richard Alarcon with a sub 60-second heel hook to claim the bantamweight championship title.
Here are the full results from the card:
- Gordon Ryan def. Philip Rowe (*exhibition match)
- Beatriz Mesquita def. Luiza Monteira (decision; bantamweight championship)
- Ffion Davies def. Nathalie Ribeiro (decision; flyweight championship)
- Levi Jones-Leary def. Oliver Taza (decision)
- Mikey Musumeci def. Richard Alarcon (heel hook; bantamweight championship)
- Jacob Couch def. Hunter Colvin (triangle/armbar)
- Brianna Ste-Marie def. Bri Robertson (triangle)
- Damien Anderson def. Estevan Martinez (decision)
Who will be the next challengers for these championship belts? Also, will we see Gordon Ryan return to competition soon, or will his next outing be another exhibition match? We’ll likely find out at the next WNO event, so stay tuned!
Check out FloGrappling for news on future WNO events.
EUG Promotions #3 (23 October 2021)
EUG Promotions put on their third event, and we think it’s safe to say that they have established themselves as one of the premier professional grappling organizations.
In EUG #1, Andy Murasaki turned heads by winning the title in his black belt debut.
In EUG #2, Jonatha Alves worked his way through a tough bracket to claim the title.
In EUG #3, it was Diego “Pato” Oliveira who emerged victorious, walking away with the 155lbs title and the $10,000 prize. Oliveira defeated Gianni Grippo in the finals via decision.
Here are the full results from the event:
Quarterfinals
- Gianni Grippo def. Damien Anderson
- Liam Hill def. Kieran Kichuk
- Diego “Pato” Oliveira def. Alika Villiatora
- Gabriel Sousa def. Danilo Moreira
Semi-Finals
- Gianni Grippo def. Liam Hill
- Diego “Pato” Oliveira def. Gabriel Sousa
Final
- Diego “Pato” Oliveira def. Gianni Grippo
EUG is already thinking towards the future, as they’ve announced a 185lbs no-gi grand prix for $10,000 in January 2022. Which athletes do you think should be featured in this next event?
Check out the EUG Promotions Instagram page for more information about upcoming events.
3CG Middleweight Tournament (24 October 2021)
Streamed on FITE.TV, the 3CG Middleweight tournament did not disappoint. This bracket consisted of a host of grapplers from a variety of backgrounds, including MMA veterans, NCAA D1 wrestlers, submission-only grapplers, and IBJJF champions. That’s a lot of variety!
Renato Canuto caught the grappling world’s attention with his stellar performance on the way to earning the $10,000 grand prize – including a beautiful flying armbar submission of MMA veteran Jake Shields.
Here are the full results from the middleweight tournament:
Round 1
- Jeferson Guaresi def. Kemoy Henderson (tech-fall)
- Renato Canuto def. Thiago Aso (estima lock)
- Andy Varela def. Gabriel de la Santos (tech-fall)
- Aaron Wilson def. Estevan Martinez (golden score)
- Hunter Newton def. Erik Anderson (tech-fall)
- Pat Downey def. Geno Morelli (golden score)
- Oliver Taza def. Adrian Nez (golden score)
- Jake Shields def. Eric Alequin (tech-fall)
Quarterfinals
- Jeferson Guaresi def. Andy Varela (decision)
- Renato Canuto def. Aaron Wilson (golden score)
- Oliver Taza def. Hunter Newton (straight ankle lock)
- Jake Shields def. Pat Downey (decision)
Semi-Finals
- Jeferson Guaresi def. Oliver Taza (golden score)
- Renato Canuto def. Jake Shields (flying armbar)
Final
- Renato Canuto def. Jeferson Guaresi (decision)
Also on the card were a long list of superfights. Here are those results:
- Andrew Slater def. Christian Guzman (golden score)
- Willie Audifire def. Scott Hoddick (inside heel hook)
- Oscar de los Santos def. Albe Tremblay (d’arce choke)
- Jose Munoz def. Tiki Aquino (tech-fall)
- Dan Dykeman def. Sean Kicka (reverse triangle)
- Antonio Ruiz def. Ryan Cramer (straight ankle lock)
- Josh Rodriguez def. Anthony Birchak (golden score)
- Lucas Norat def. Nathan Hagberg (golden score)
- Keven Carrasco def. Jordan Vaisman (golden score)
- Richard Alvarez def. Gerson Atoigue (tech-fall)
- Paula Nava def. Jay Shellhammer (golden score)
Check out the Third Coast Grappling (3CG) Instagram page for more information about upcoming events.
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There you have it. Now, you’re all caught up on key events in the BJJ world from October.
Check in next month for a recap of everything that happened in November.
Until then… stay rolling, and protect your neck! (And your legs, and arms, and wrists… you get it).
