The World of BJJ: June 2021 Recap

 

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.  

 

Combat Jiu Jitsu Worlds: The Welterweights (6 June 2021)

Eddie Bravo’s Combat Jiu Jitsu Worlds were back in Cancun, Mexico for the Welterweights 16-man tournament. In case you didn’t know, EBI combat jiu-jitsu matches have no points, no advantages, and allow open-palm strikes.

The was packed full of high-level Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitors, as well as some established mixed martial arts fighters. In the end, Roberto Jimenez was declared the EBI Combat Jiu Jitsu Welterweight World Champion, racking up four submissions on his way to claiming the belt.

Jimenez defeated Adrian Madrid in the opening round via arm-triangle choke. In the quarter-finals, Jimenez beat Jim Alers with a triangle choke. In the semi-finals, Jimenez beat JZ Cavalcante via rear-naked choke. And in the finals, the young Jimenez took out the veteran Nathan Orchard via triangle choke to claim the belt.

Also on the card, two non-tournament matches took place:

•     PJ Barch def. Jorge Tax (rear-naked choke)
•     Fedor Nikolov def. Bruno Anonietta (kneebar)

 

EUG Promotions Event #2 (Gi) (12 June 2021)

After their well-received inaugural event in the spring, Evolve Ur Game Promotions put on their second event in mid-June, and it did not disappoint.

The main attraction was an 8-man 170lbs gi Grand-Prix, with the winner earning $10,000 and the EUG 170lb belt.

In the opening round:

• Jonatha Alves def. Michael Liera Jr (points – last to score)
• Jonnatas Gracie def. Mathias Luna (points)
• Micael Galvao def. Damien Nitkin (rear-naked choke)
• Tainan Dalpra def. Cesar Predes (triangle)

In the semi-finals:

• Jonatha Alves def. Jonnatas Gracie (points – last to score)
• Micael Galvao def. Tainan Dalpra (decision)

 

And in the finals, Jonatha Alves stole Micael Galvao’s recent momentum with a 2-0 victory, walking away with the championship belt and the 10k payday.

Also on the card, Joao Mendes secured his spot in the next EUG promotions 145lb Grand-Prix with a victory in the qualifying tournament.

Keep up to date with EUG promotions, as they’re beginning to organize more qualifying tournaments to find athletes for future cards.

 

F2W – Results

Fight 2 Win Pro was back at it with another busy month. Here are highlights from the handful of June F2W shows.

F2W 172 (4 June 2021) saw ADCC vet, and more recently, MMA fighter, Yuri Simoes outwork Devhonte Johnson to win a close main event via referee’s decision. In the co-main event, Danaher Death Squad rising star Oliver Taza used a collection of heel hook attacks to earn the referee’s decision win over GF Team’s Jaime Canuto.

Other black belt action from the card includes:

• Arnaldo Maidana def. Fellipe Trovo (decision; Fight of the Night)
• Benjamin Annunziato def. Sean Joseph (decision)

F2W 173 (11 June 2021) saw Paulo Miyao and Lucas Pinheiro go back and forth, trading back-take and leg-lock attempts the entire match. In the end, Miyao won the main event via split decision. In the co-main event, Kendall Reusing tapped Talita Nogueira with an arm-triangle choke to claim the women’s middleweight no-gi title.

Here are the rest of the black belt results from F2W 173:

• Joao Miyao def. Pedro Dias (decision)
• Richar Nogueira def. Vinny Saenz (triangle)
• Marcos Tinoco def. Rodrigo Lopes (ankle lock; Submission of the Night)
• Jinho Kim def. Sean Joseph (decision)
• Rustin Brown def. Kelly Rundle (banana split)
• Jeremy McCombs def. Greg Hamilton (decision; Fight of the Night)

F2W 174 (18 June 2021) saw Aaron ‘Tex’ Johnson defeat Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa by referee’s decision to win the main event. In the co-main event, Raquel Canuto defeated Amanda ‘Tubby’ Alequin via triangle choke.

Here are the rest of the black belt results from F2W 174:

•     Richar Nogueira def. Orlando Castillo
•     Breck Still def. Chris Haraszti
•     Alex Enriquez def. Fabiana Jorge
•     André Porfirio def. Sean McCleary
•     Eric Alequin def. Steele McCall

F2W 175 (26 June 2021) saw Gabriel Sousa take out Ethan Crelinsten in a main filled with non-stop action from both grapplers. In the co-main event, Oliver Taza lost a close split decision to Hiago Adao.

Here are the rest of the black belt results from F2W 175:

•     Helton Jose Jr def. Austin Avera (split decision)
•     Sean Joseph def. Jeff Baker (split decision; Fight of the Night)
•     Raphael Carneiro def. John Schell (choke; Submission of the Night)
•     Rafael Rosendo Dos Santos def. Nicholas Walters (choke)
•     Stephen Hernandez def. Jason Mask (decision)
•     Frederico Silva def. Justin Hale (choke)
•     Josh Williams def. Andrew Chirico (armbar)

Check out F2W and FloGrappling for complete results from all the F2W events.

 

WNO: Craig Jones vs Tye Ruotolo (18 June 2021)

FloGrappling Who’s Number One (WNO) was back for another stellar show. In total, there were 9 matches between some of the highest level grapplers on the scene right now. 

In the main event, Craig Jones took out the young phenom Tye Ruotolo via referee’s decision. Jones demonstrated his tight pressure passing the entire match, while Tye scrambled and looked for submissions from every position possible.

Tye showed that he can hold his own against an older and heavier opponent in Craig Jones – what’s next for the young star (and what’s next for his brother, Kade, too)?

Also, has Craig Jones temporarily taken Gordon Ryan’s place as top grappler on the scene? What will happen when (/if) Gordon returns to the competition?

In the co-main event, Mikey Musumeci defeated the always game Edwin ‘Junny’ Ocasio in a battle of back-and-forth leg lock attempts. Ultimately, Musumeci got his hand raised, winning a referee’s decision.

Will we see an ADCC 2022 appearance from Musumeci? Also, what’s next for Junny after this loss to Musumeci? Could we also see Junny and his unique hip-locks at the next ADCC?

Here are the rest of the results from the main card:

• Mica Galvao def. Oliver Taza (decision)
• Andrew Wiltse def. Gabriel Almeida (rear-naked choke)
• Kade Ruotolo def. Cole Franson (buggy choke)
• Erin Harpe def. Rafaela Guedes (decision)

Here are the results from the prelims, which were streamed live and free on FloGrappling’s Facebook page:

• Danielle Kelly def. Jessie Crane (kneebar)
• Kody Steele def. Phillip Rowe (decision)
• Hasiam Rida def. Miha Perhavec (armbar)

 

BJJ Stars 6: The New Star (TNS) – A Grande Final (26 June 2021)

BJJ Stars 6 capped off the organization’s inaugural BJJ reality TV show, The New Star, with a card full of local and international talent. 

The co-main event (no-gi) ended in a bizarre fashion, to say the least. Lucas Barbosa appeared to be choked unconscious by Matheus Diniz in the final seconds of their match, however, Barbosa was ultimately declared the winner. From what it looks like, time in the match had expired before Barbosa went to sleep, meaning the match was over while Barbosa was still conscious, giving him the win on points.

In the main event (gi), Felipe Pena showed that he may very well be the best gi grappler in men’s jiu-jitsu right now. It took Pena fewer than 7 minutes to secure back control and a collar choke to defeat Patrick Gaudio.

Here are the full results from the rest of the card:

• Matheus Spirandelli def. Henrique Ceconi (points)
• Dyna Sena def. Ershiley Kessy (choke)
• Izadora Cristina def. Ingridd Alves (points)
• Lucas Gualberto def. Natan Cheung (decision)
• Dimitrius Souza def. Rudson Mateus (advantage)
• Bianca Basilio def. Gabriela Fechter (points)
• Tainan Dalpra def. Athos Miranda (choke)
• Erberth Santos def. Gutemberg Pereira (decision)
• Michael Langhi def. Claudio Caloquinha (advantage)
• Yuri Simoes def. Mahamed Aly (decision)

 

Submission Underground – Absolute Tournament – (27 June 2021)

Chael Sonnen’s Submission Underground hosted an absolute tournament to determine the next challenger for Mason Fowler’s men’s Absolute Championship belt. 10th Planet’s Kyle Boehm emerged the winner of the tournament, earning himself a $10,000 payout and a shot at the championship on 18th July 2021.

Boehm won with heel hooks in his first two matches against Renato Tagliari and Tanner Weisgram. In the finals, Boehm beat Pedro Marinho via choke in EBI overtime. Marinho earned $5,000 for being runner-up, and Roberto Jimenez earned $2,500 for his third-place rear-naked choke victory over Tanner Weisgram.

Elsewhere on the card, Raquel Canuto challenged the reigning champion, Amanda Loewen, for her women’s Absolute Championship title. Loewen demonstrated her continued dominance with yet another win, this one coming via the quickest escape in EBI over time.

We know that Kyle Boehm is next in line to challenge for Mason Fowler’s Men’s Absolute

Championship title, but who’s next for Amanda Loewen? Can anyone dethrone the Queen of Submission Underground?

(Also, fun fact: 7 of the 9 matches on this card ended with submissions in regulation time! Who doesn’t love seeing submissions?)

 

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There you have it. Now, you’re all caught up on key events in the BJJ world from June. 

Check in next month for a recap of everything that happened in July. 

Until then… stay rolling, and protect your neck! (And your legs, arms, and wrists… you get it).