What’s coming up in the world of BJJ? 

We’ve got you covered for all your BJJ-related news and upcoming events for April 2021. Check out what the BJJ world has in store for you!

 

IBJJF – April Competitions

The IBJJF is getting back into their groove in 2021, with 3 more competitions planned for April. 

The IBJJF Charleston Open (gi) will take place on 10 April 2021, and the IBJJF Houston Open (gi and no-gi) will take place one week later, on 18 April 2021. 

Outside of the United States, the IBJJF is also holding the South American No-Gi Championships on 25 April 2021. 

With the IBJJF recently modifying their ruleset to allow heel hooks in the no-gi adult brown and black belt divisions, there are even more reasons to keep an eye on IBJJF tournaments moving forward. 

 

EUG Promotions Event #1 (3 April 2021)

EUG Promotions (Evolve Ur Game) is coming to the BJJ world with a bang! The organization is planning a 160lb 8-man gi black belt tournament to be held on April 3 in Las Vegas. The event will be streamed exclusively on FloGrappling. 

The host of elite athletes in the stacked 8-man bracket will be competing for a winner-takes-all prize of $10,000. The card will also feature a handful of super fights, and a Women’s EUG title fight between Thamires Aquino and rising star Jessa Khan. 

The 8-man bracket includes the following names:

• Jonathan Alves
• Marcio Andre
• Isaac Doederlein 
• Matheus Gabriel
• Gianni Grippo
• Shane Jamil Hill-Taylor
• Thiago Macedo
• Andy Murasaki

This event promises some great matchups. Plus, the organization’s promotor is already talking about a 170lb gi tournament to take place this summer! 

 

Third Coast Grappling 6: The Absolute (3 April 2021)

Third Coast Grappling is back with another promising event scheduled for 3 April 2021 in Texas. The one-night, eight-man tournament will see the winner walk away with $15,000, with $5,000 going to the runner-up. 

This card is stacked with some of the best grapplers in the world right now. Here are the first-round matchups. 

• Victor Hugo vs William Tackett
• Pedro Marinho vs Nick Rodriguez
• Kaynan Duarte vs Aaron Tex Johnson
• Manuel Ribamar vs Mason Fowler

The event will be streamed exclusively on Fite TV (pay-per-view). Which of these big names will come out on top?

 

Emerald City Invitational Event #1 (10 April 2021)

The Emerald City Invitational Promotion will host a 170lb no-gi tournament on April 10 in Philadelphia. The list of confirmed competitors so far is something to get excited about! 

This collection of elite grapplers will compete for a $5,000 winner-takes-all prize. $500 will be awarded for the fastest submission of the night. Competitors can also earn an extra $250 per submission in regulation time. 

The tournament will follow the submission-only EBI rules format. It will also include a handful of super fights, such as John Calestine vs Suraj Budhram, and Frank Rosenthal vs Luis Quinones. 

Here’s the list of athletes in the 170lb tournament:

• PJ Barch
• JZ Cavalcante
• John Combs
• Bobby Emmons
• Khalil Fadlallah
• Aaron Harris
• Werther Marciales
• Nick Ronan
• Alan Sanchez
• Andrew Solano
• Danny Stolfi
• Andrew Tackett
• Oliver Taza
• Kim Terra
• Andy Varela
• Aaron Wilson

This is shaping up to be one of the most exciting events of the year!

 

F2W – April Events

The Fight 2 Win promotion continues its busy schedule with another 3 events in April. Get ready for some more big names to headline these upcoming events and for cards that are sure to be stacked with international and local talent. 

• F2W 169 – 10 April 2021
• F2W 170 – 16 April 2021
• F2W 171 – 24 April 2021

 

WNO (30 April 2021)

There hasn’t been much information released about the card at the time of this article’s publication except for FloGrappling’s single post promoting the Craig Jones and Tye Ruotolo matchup. 

Tye’s brother, Kade, was set to face Ethan Crelinsten on the WNO: Gordon Ryan vs Vagner Rocha card on 26 March 2021, but had to pull out at the last minute. It’s rumored that this matchup will also be on the April card. 

We’ll be following closely as FloGrappling releases more information about their next WNO card. Considering how the last few cards have been, this should be another stacked event. 

 

Craig Jones vs Gabi Garcia (TBD) – The Matchup that Major Organizations ‘Won’t Touch’

Craig Jones said this is a matchup that major grappling organizations ‘won’t touch, but that’s not stopping him and Gabi from organizing the match on their own. 

Fans were expecting the match to go down on Sunday 28 April 2021, when the pair live-streamed a makeshift press conference from a local gym. However, fans will have to wait a bit longer to see the matchup come to fruition. Craig and Gabi limited themselves to talk and a quick arm-wrestle before postponing their matchup to a later date. 

Do you think this matchup will really happen? There are now talks that the Japanese mixed martial arts promotion Rizin may be the organization to take on this match.

Craig Jones claimed that he would retire if he lost and predicts a quick submission finish. However, Gabi Garcia doesn’t see things turning out in Craig’s favor.  

We’ll be watching closely for more announcements about this bizarre yet intriguing matchup.

 

 

If you weren’t already excited for BJJ in the month of April, you should be now! 

Stay in touch and check out our monthly recaps to make sure you’re kept in the loop.