Grappling Report: Nicky Rodriguez impresses at EBI 20
A rundown of the biggest headlines and news from the world of competitive grappling.
A new EBI absolute champion was crowned this past weekend, with EBI 20 marking the first time that Gordon Ryan was not competing for the title. Two of his teammates were vying for the title however, as both Giancarlo Bodoni and Luke Griffith were invited to compete. In the end it was Nicky Rodriguez who emerged victorious, after he submitted Ezequiel Zurita in the opening round and finished Griffith in EBI overtime in the quarterfinal.
Rodriguez then submitted Austin Baker in the semifinal to book his place in the final. Opposite him was Kyle Boehm, who had submitted all three of his opponents in less than fourteen minutes in total. The two men battled their way through the regulation time before going to EBI overtime, where Boehm is undoubtedly an expert. Rodriguez got the finish by rear-naked choke in the end though and walked away with the grand prize.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Janaina Lebre announces her arrival at IBJJF Grand Prix 2022
The IBJJF Grand Prix also took place this past weekend and it featured the very first female edition, with four Lightweight women battling it out. With multiple-time world champions in the bracket, many fans would have overlooked the young Janaina Lebre coming into it. She made sure that will never happen again though, because she managed to defeat both Luiza Monteiro and Anna Rodrigues on points.
There was also a men’s Medium-Heavyweight tournament as well, where the opening round saw Isaque Bahiense submit Andre Porfirio and Manuel Ribamar defeated Ronaldo Junior by just two points. The final had plenty of action in a tough match between Bahiense and Ribamar but in the end, Bahiense managed to score two advantages and win by the thinnest of margins.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Claire North dominates at Medusa 3
Medusa is going from strength to strength and the all-female promotion has just staged their third event. As always there were two tournaments under both Combat Jiu-Jitsu and EBI rules, featuring flyweights and bantamweights respectively this time around. Bre Stikk put on a great display in the CJJ division, submitting both of her first opponents in regulation time before defeating Kiaya Jackson in EBI overtime in the final.
It was Claire North who really stole the show though, as she took just a little over five minutes to submit all three of the women she faced in the EBI division. She started out by catching Leticia Yuka with a Z-lock in less than a minute before submitting Sophia Casella with an armbar in around a minute and a half. The final was her longest match of the night, but it still took her less than three minutes to lock up a Kimura against Peyton Letcher.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Gordon Ryan gets called out by everyone
It’s tough at the top, and Gordon Ryan is most definitely at the top of the BJJ world. After his incredible performance at ADCC 2022 where he dethroned Andre Galvao as the superfight champion and became the first person to win a gold medal in three different weightclasses, it’s no surprise that a lot of competitors want a piece of the action. He’s undoubtedly the biggest name in the sport so it only makes sense for athletes to challenge him.
The most recent person who wanted a match against Ryan was Tye Ruotolo, but Ryan was so confident that he would dominate him that he was prepared to fight both him and his brother Kade one after the other. Shortly after that Ronaldo Junior gave an interview after his third-place finish at the IBJJF Grand Prix and he also asked for a match against Gordon Ryan, but he wanted it to be in the gi instead.
Quick Hits
- Thor star Chris Hemsworth was spotted at the IBJJF Pan Pacific tournament supporting his twin sons competing under their coach, Thalison Soares.
- Danielle Kelly is set to compete against a Russian Sambo champion, Mariia Molchanova, on a ONE Championship card set for November 18th.
- Nate Diaz was removed by security at the Jake Paul v Anderson Silva boxing match after he and his team were involved in a backstage brawl.
- Kyle Boehm made some huge accusations, alleging that John Danaher’s students have fixed matches when they meet in competition and intended to do so again at EBI 20.