Grappling Report: Demian Maia submits Alex Oliveira
A rundown of the biggest headlines and news from the world of competitive grappling.
The biggest grappling promotion in Brazil has returned and BJJ Stars 8 continued the organization’s trend of incredible matchmaking. They put together an eight-man Middleweight grand prix that delivered an incredible upset as the young prodigy Mica Galvao managed to win the title, defeating the legendary Leandro Lo on advantages and submitting Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa along the way.
The main attraction came shortly before the grand prix final was contested however, as the promotion managed to book Demian Maia in his first BJJ match in well over a decade. The MMA legend was competing against another UFC veteran in Alex ‘Cowboy’ Oliveira and he made surprisingly short work of his opponent in the end, submitting him with a Triangle Choke in a little over two minutes.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Remaining ADCC invites dwindling down as debutants announced
It’s only a matter of months before the 2022 ADCC world championships start and the number of spaces left are getting smaller and smaller by the day. There is only two more trials events to go and the promotion is handing out the small number of remaining invites at an increased pace. The event already looks to be one of the best grappling tournaments in history and they clearly still have a few tricks left up their sleeve.
Not only have the promotion announced some shock invites like Ryan Hall, Mikey Musumeci, and Nicholas Meregali, but they’re also giving a few up-and-coming stars opportunities as well. Haisam Rida has just been invited as a dark horse in the over 99kg division, along with Kendall Reusing in the women’s over 60kg division thanks to her status as both the Polaris and Grapplefest openweight champion.
Craig Jones and Tim Spriggs to coach on Who’s Next?
FloGrappling has decided to put together the first professional grappling reality show, where sixteen up-and-coming athletes will face off against each other in a submission-only tournament with no time-limit in place for the matches. The cast will include several known quantities like Andrew Tackett, Andy Varela, 10th Planet’s Kyle Chambers, and recent ADCC trials winner Jay Rodriguez.
The tournament itself will no doubt be full of exciting moments and elite grappling action, but FloGrappling have also managed to book two great coaches to support the athletes in their journey too. B-Team founding member Craig Jones and reigning WNO Heavyweight champion Tim Spriggs will be coaching two eight-man teams as they fight for a contract to compete on the WNO stage.
Georges St-Pierre is open to a grappling match with Khabib
Georges St-Pierre and Khabib Nurmagomedov have been linked with each other for quite some time now, as fans have been eager to see two of the greatest MMA fighters in the history of the sport cross paths. It’s always been unlikely of course, as GSP has been retired for several years outside of a one-off comeback fight against Michael Bisping and Nurmagomedov has shown no inclination of returning to MMA.
When the realisation set in, that’s when the conversation shifted. Now fans have started to reason that both men used their elite grappling skills to ensure victory in the octagon, so a potential grappling match between the two greats would be just as interesting as an MMA fight. While Nurmagomedov isn’t quite sold yet, GSP has now publicly confirmed for the first time that he’s open to the idea of a grappling match against him.
Quick Hits
- Mikey Musumeci has announced his move to Singapore in order to train full-time at Evolve MMA.
- Professional grappling is about to get a profile-boost as ONE Championship has inked a deal to broadcast on Amazon Prime.
- Andrew Wiltse and his younger brother Bird have now started their own Jiu-Jitsu business as an LLC, WiltseBrothers BJJ.
- Roberto Aguilar has become one of the oldest fresh black belts after being promoted by Romulo Barral at the age of 76.