Joao Miyao Pan NoGi 2014: Arm Triangle to Mounted Triangle Armbar

Shenanighans.
 

 

Graciemag Provides Pan NoGi 2014 Results

Check it out over in FULL at Graciemag:










Light Feather:
"First – João Ricardo Bordignon Miyao – PSLPB Cicero Costha
Second – Mark Daniel Ramos – Ricardo “Rey” Diogo BJJ
Third – Vitor Peres Paschoal – Caio Terra Association
Third – Jorge Elias Bucaram Santistevan – Alliance"

Feather:
"First – Osvaldo Augusto Honorio Moizinho – Caio Terra Association
Second – Samir José Chantre Dahás – Caio Terra Association
Third – Gianni Paul Grippo – Alliance Marcelo Garcia
Third – Joseph Wallace Taliercio – Renzo Gracie"

Light:
"First – Rodrigo Lamounier de Freitas – Gracie Barra
Second – Garry Lee Tonon – Renzo Gracie
Third – Renan Borges – New England United BJJ"
Third – AJ Agazarm – Gracie Barra"

Middle:
"First – Vitor Henrique Silva Oliveira – GF Team
Second – Enrico Daniel Cocco – Fight Sports
Third – Leonardo I. Iturralde Aguirre – Alliance Ecuador
Third – Francisco Antonio Iturralde Lara – Alliance"

Medium Heavy:

"First – Claudio de Mattos Cardoso – Gracie Barra
Second – Brian J Beaury II – Abusado Team
Third – Vinicius Agudo Silva – Team Link
Third – Romulo de Souza Azevedo – Welton Ribeiro"

Heavy:
"First – Mauro Celso Santiago – Gracie Barra
Second – Lucas Rocha de Freitas – Gracie Barra
Third – Jackson Sousa dos Santos – CheckMat
Third – Gabriel Toribio – Renzo Gracie"

Super Heavy:
"First – Tiago Ribeiro do Valle Giussani – Fabricio International Team – FIT
Second – Nelson Horacio Puentes Zuniga – Alliance NYC
Third – Nicholas A Liaskos – RABJJ"

Ultra Heavy:
"First – Gabriel Lyrio Lucas – CheckMat
Second – Abraham J. Marte Messina – Yamasaki Academy
Third – Bruno Bastos Cruz – Bruno Bastos Association"

Super Heavy:
"First – Gabriel Lyrio Lucas – CheckMat
Second – Abraham J. Marte Messina – Yamasaki Academy
Third – Bruno Bastos Cruz – Bruno Bastos Association"


Adult Male Open Class:
"Here is how each match in the open class for the black belt male adults panned out:
Abraham Marte defeated Gabriel Toribio by DQ knee reap.
Gianni Grippo defeated Garry Tonon by 6-4 points.
Mauro Santiago defeated Nicholas Liaskos by 20-0 points.
Romulo de Souza defeated Vinicius Agudo by armbar.
Enrique Coco defeated Thiago Ribeiro by 8-2 points.
Gianni Grippo defeated Mauro Santiago by 2-1 advantages.
AJ Agazarm defeated Jorge Elias by darce.
Jackson Sousa defeated Romulo de Souza by 4-0 points.
Abraham Marte defeated Enrique Coco by 4-0 points.
AJ Agazarm defeated Nik Nikolaisen by 4-0 points.
Jackson Sousa defeated Gianni Grippo 2-0 points.
AJ Agazarm defeated Abraham Marte by 4-2 points.
Jackson Sousa defeated AJ Agazarm by armbar.

First – Jackson Sousa dos Santos – CheckMat
Second – AJ Agazarm – Gracie Barra
Third – Abraham J. Marte Messina – Yamasaki Academy
Third – Gianni Paul Grippo – Alliance Marcelo Garcia"

Success Leave Clues: Conor McGregor Documentary "Notorious"

The documentary follows Conor McGregor before he was talking his way into facing Jose Aldo after this past weekend's drubbing of Dustin Poirier.

In Steve Job's Stanford commencement speech, he says that you can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only see the matrix, the system, the connections after the fact, in retrospect.
 

I remember seeing some early highlights of Conor McGregor fighting for Cage Warriors, I think it was.
I remember thinking he'd be like most of UK and European imports that would lack wrestling or Jiu-Jitsu or would be relatively one-dimensional and might win a few fights at their home country UFC event but eventually would wash out of the UFC.

And yet, here we are.
What makes an outlier?
What makes a meteoric rise?
What separates the potential versus the performance?
Irrational self-confidence? Perhaps. In fact, I'm sure that's a necessity.

A pessimistic realism will kill the ability to truly envision and expect world smashing success.

Those that are bound by what's "possible" can never do the impossible.
The 4 minute mile is a great example I've heard referenced.
Before it was done, everyone said it was impossible.
One guy does and within a year 20 people do it.
What changed?
The perception that it was possible.

Is it possible through God-given Talent? No, the research by Ericcson says no.
Training hard? Almost everyone at the highest levels trains hard.

It must then be the software.
It has to be the mindset.
It's not the body alone.
It's not the training itself.
It must then be the awareness?
The hope?
The delusional faith in your ability to supercede what everyone else believes is possible for themselves?

Videodrome Tuesday: BJJ Hacks TV Presents the One and Only Fernando Terrere

 

Two of My Recent Matches: US Grappling Chicago and US Grappling Virginia Beach

 

AND

A Day in Dublin with Conor McGregor: Hype Train Stop 345

Predict the Hangover: UFC 178 Picks & Prognostications

Tonight I'll be working until 2am at my other job but will hopefully have line of sight to a nearby craft beer spot that has TV's and I'll be able to see Bellator. After about 6 hours of sleep, bright and early tomorrow morning, I'll referee and compete in the advanced NoGi and purple belt featherweight at the US Grappling Pendergrass Classic.

Saturday night I'll have a rare opportunity to take the night off from my 2nd job and watch UFC 178.

In case you need some more fuel to your Conor McGregor hype train fire, here he is on embedded:



I saw this UFC card and knew I had to miss work. This is easily IMHO the most stacked UFC PPV in ages. It's not a UFC Fight Night or a card with a main event you sort of care about followed by a main card that is basically a years past UFC prelim card. No sir. This is the real deal.
We've got a belt on the line. A potential contender for the LW belt fight on the line. A logjam clearing fight for the 185 weight class. The return of the bantamweight champion who never lost the belt but surrendered it due to injury. The hype train of Conor McGregor is preparing to really kick into overdrive depending how it plays out. I plan on jumping to my feet at least 6-7 times during this card. Mark my words.

Demetrious Johnson, the UFC'es busiest champ defends his strap against pretty much the last guy who might be worth him facing. Demetrious by 2nd round stoppage. Johnson's latest stoppages have really shown marked improvement in his accuracy in striking. Benavidez got the lights out switch with completely trounced his previous close performance against Mighty Mouse.

Alvarez makes his long awaited UFC debut against Donald Cerrone in what will undoubtedly be Fight of the Night in a brain damaging stand n' bang scramble affair. I think Cerrone will lose this one because this is exactly the kind of fight he loses, ala the Nate Diaz fight.

Conor McGregor will win by hype train in a 2nd round stoppage.

I love Tim Kennedy, but Yoel Romero is a frighteningly huge specimen at this weight class and his wrestling will be too much for Kennedy. Romero also has insane power as evidenced by the big right hands he put on Brad Tavares, Derek Brunson, and Ronny Markes. Credit to Kennedy for taking this fight but Yoel is a guy I think virtually no one else in the division wants to fight.

I don't typically watch women fights so I don't know how that one will go.
Dominick Cruz will pick apart the plodding, flat-footed Mizugaki who will stalk and grow increasing frustrated over the 3 round affair.

Masvidal because I've always liked watching "Gamebred" fight.

Cote will fight Thompson and the question is whether Cote's experience will balance his ring rust. My suspicion is that his time has passed and Thompson will barely eke out a split decision.

"Demetrious Johnson vs. Chris Cariaso
for flyweight title

Eddie Alvarez vs. Donald Cerrone

Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier

Tim Kennedy vs. Yoel Romero

Amanda Nunes vs. Cat Zingano

preliminary CARD

FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET

Dominick Cruz vs. Takeya Mizugaki

James Krause vs. Jorge Masvidal

Patrick Cote vs. Stephen Thompson

Brian Ebersole vs. John Howard

preliminary CARD

UFC Fight Pass, 7 p.m. ET

Kevin Lee vs. Jon Tuck

Manny Gamburyan vs. Cody Gibson " 
                                                                                           
 

US Grappling Pendergrass Classic This Weekend, Morrisville NC & Upcoming Tournaments

Competing/refereeing with the awesome folks at US Grappling this weekend.
I won't have to travel far, as the venue is close to where I live. I've competed in 6 Jiu-Jitsu tournaments and 1 Judo tournament so far in 2014. I was hoping to referee for Copa Nova October 4th in Virginia, but they don't need any more refs. If you're a purple belt/featherweight, come out to any of these events if you're relatively close. US Grappling puts on a great tournament. Clean, well-run, ON TIME, and professional.

As for some upcoming tournaments, I'll be hopefully reffing/competing at US Grappling's Diamond State Games/Delaware event next month on October 18th.
















Also, I've agreed to do a submission only NoGi superfight at 145 lb's against a Renzo Gracie competitor in New Jersey on October 25th for the World Championship Grappling Organization.

Metamoris 5: Japan vs Brazil, Time Doesn't Heal All Wounds, Renzo Gracie vs Kazushi "The Gracie Hunter" Sakuraba

Well.
Kazushi "The Gracie Hunter" Sakuraba faces Renzo Gracie.
Renzo gets it wrong in the trailer though, Kazushi beat 4 Gracies: Royce, Royler, Renzo, and Ryan.

Despite how old they are and despite how poorly their last MMA bouts went.....it's hard to fight the nostalgia power in this one.
14 years later, we're gonna roll it back for a submission grappling match.

The real question is what has each man been doing since then.
I have to say that Sakuraba with 3 losses to the Axe Murderer took more mileage with him from his MMA career, Renzo's terrible match in Dubai against Matt Hughes notwithstanding.

I'm excited to see the mercurial Kazushi and see a slice of what he's been up to in whatever trailer videos are eventually released.

As for the other matches, why is Kevin Casey on here AGAIN other than he's boys with the people putting it on. Garry Tonon gets another slot (not against Kron though) which is awesome and Zak Maxwell is just the man to give Garry a competitive match (*ahem Kit Dale*).

JT Torres is also an avid competitor and Lovato will bring to bear a wealth of experience as well.
 

This Week's MMA/Combat Sports News in 60 seconds

Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones got b*tched out by the NSAC. Jones now will miss out on a Nike Sponsorship and was pretty boo hoo hoo about it.












Cyborg will cut off her arm and make bantamweight and crush someone in December at Invicta.











Wand is banned for life by NSAC and got slapped with a $70k fine.














Anthony Johnson and Thiago Silva both got the domestic violence-related pink slip papers sent their way. Johnson is under investigation by the UFC, whatever that means, but it doesn't look promising for him.

Zak Maxwell vs Alexandre Pulga Superfight at World Jiu-Jitsu Expo

I'll say this for the IBJJF. This expo, with both the list of superfights and the IBJJ Pro roster.....it is awesome.

And the roster keeps building:

"The latest addition to the schedule is a superfight between American Zak Maxwell and Brazilian Alexandre Pulga.
...
The match is set to be a 15-minute match under IBJJF rules.
The World Jiu-Jitsu Expo takes place October 18-19, at the Long Beach Convention Center
...
Three IBJJF events will take place during the Expo: IBJJF Pro League, the American Nationals Kids and the Long Beach Open.
Nine superfights are also already confirmed:
Gianni Grippo vs. Augusto Tanquinho
Nino Schembri vs. Vitor Shaolin
Robson Moura vs. Marcos Parrumpinha
Tim Spriggs vs. Leo Nogueira
João Assis vs. Rolles Gracie (no-gi)
Caio Terra vs. Jeff Curran
Samir Chantre vs. Baret Yoshida
AJ Agazarm vs. Bruno Frazatto
Kit Dale vs. Ricardo Rezende"

Because You Didn't Ask: The Irony of Outrage Over Slamming in the Children's Division

When reality doesn't meet expectation:

This is a sport where your child may get tossed on their head or neck en route to the ground.

This is a sport where many schools do not teach breakfalls properly or routinely enough.

This is a sport where another child will attempt to choke your child unconscious or break or hyperextend their elbow or shoulder joint.

I see adults still reach out with their hand when being thrown (good way to break your arm or dislocate the elbow), or land with the point of their elbow (shoulder damage or dislocation or rotator cuff damage).

I've seen guillotines in children's division that appeared far more dangerous than any other portion of the match.

What I saw in the match was a kid try to jump guard and as he did it the other kid almost immediately turned it into a takedown.

What was inexcusable is the referee being unaware that the child was unconscious.

Particularly in children's divisions, the first rule is and will always be keep it as safe AS POSSIBLE.
The goal is to train tomorrow.
The goal is to not become injured.
The goal is to not have a concussion.

All of these are things we hope for, but this isn't checkers or backgammon or table tennis.

You have put your child into a combat sport.

These things will happen.
If this sound unsympathetic, you are not reading my words.
You put your kid into football, statistics show, it is the highest rate of catastrophic injury in high school/amateur sporting competition.
You put your kid into cheerleading, statistics show, it has one of the highest rates of catastrophic injury in high school/amateur sporting competition.

Do your due diligence as a parent.
Understand the reality of the sport in which you are placing your child.
Understand that even under the best of circumstances, serious, potentially maiming injury, and perhaps on a long enough time line,  catastrophic injury will occur.

This Week in BJJ 64: Gianni Grippo

Monday Morning Videodrome/Productivity Killer: UFC 178 Countdown, Dominick Cruz Comeback, et al

The brash self promotion-minded Irishman in the vein of Ali takes on his first real stern test to move toward a title shot. Poirier as missed a few steps along the way but is the first (IMHO) real genuine danger to McGregor's hype train.
 

And
Alvarez wastes no time in taking a fight that could put him up for a title shot. Cerrone...well, Cerrone tends to lose these kinds of fights. He beats Alvarez, no one cares because they'll say Alvarez was fighting in the minors. He loses, it's a big "W" for Alvarez and a reminder that Cerrone misses the mark in making his way to fighting for the title every time. Either way, it will be a fun stand and bang affair to be sure.

 

And
The least heralded of the UFC's title holders, Johnson faces another challenger in the dwindling supply of the pipeline of guys worth him facing in his division. Other than a rematch with McCall who recently had his hand operated on, I don't honestly know who else there is for him to legitimately fight. But, that being said, it will be a fun fight to watch as long as it lasts. I see Johnson catching Cariaso in maybe the 1st or 2nd round.



And
Near and dear to my heart, I remember watching Cruz in the WEC and thinking, "that guy will have the UFC strap one day". An ACL tear or two later, followed by a groin tear, and he's largely been forgotten despite never having actually lost the belt.
Having gone through ACL surgery, I can't imagine the heartbreak of a second tear right as he was about to return from the first one.

 

Because You Didn't Ask: Toro BJJ's Blue Belt Journey Comic & BJJ Sponrsorship(s) Redux

On that note, something I've heard and discussed amongst others, the concept of sponsorship in BJJ.
I stumbled across this from over at BJJNews.com (the first place you should go when you get to your office/cubicle/open your eyes in the morning followed shortly thereafter by my blog *ahem*).
You hear high level guys talk about it. You hear low level guys talk about it. You hear commentators talk about it. At any rate, some food for thought is here from an actual company who has pockets which could provide sponsorship


At the end of the day, if you have a "take take take" mentality, that will shine through and a company worth its salt will not sponsor you. Or, at best, a non-descript no name company will through you a Gi or two or an entrance fee, but that will be about it. Relationships, to flourish, must be synergistic. They must be symbiotic. Hopefully, both parties/organisms/whatever will benefit.



Recently, I was working at my other job and a friend who has a number of friends who are sponsored in skateboarding and snowboarding asked why I wasn't sponsored. She asked how long I'd been training, how long I'd been competing and with incredulity in her voice asked why I wasn't sponsored. Consider that she has no working knowledge of Jiu-Jitsu, as a sport, the rules whatever. Yet, Jiu-Jitsu is a niche sport, but wasn't that also the case once and perhaps to some extent still the case for skateboarding and snowboarding. Sure, they have a bit more exposure and visibility with the X-Games and the now Summer and Winter Olympics notwithstanding. But long before they had that exposure, athletes were receiving money to rep certain brands et cetera. And sometimes, you can think you know more than enough about a topic and not see it with fresh or unbiased eyes. Depth of knowledge doesn't always mean that you see the topic or area better or more effectively and in fact, too much knowledge can almost or perhaps outright become a source of diminishing returns.

It was a valid question. Rather than react out of defensiveness or justify why I'm not sponsored, I had to attempt to look at it without a filter, without my supposed knowledge of truths I specifically hold to be true about this question.

I see white and blue belts sponsored or so they claim. I may not personally want to rep those brands, but there are certainly brands I would like to represent or benefits to be gained from representing those brands.

Regardless of what excuses I might make, the following truths remain: Jiu-Jitsu is a niche sport but one with a rabid fanbase. I own something like 9 Gi's. I know plenty of white belts who shell out money for Shoyoroll Gi's. Hundreds and hundreds of competitors routinely fly across the country and even the world sometimes to compete in what amounts to amateur level competition (meaning it is not directly awarded prize money).
We can use the comparison to other professional sports or niche sports to rationalize why you or me or whoever is not sponsored, or we can see those for what they are: excuses.
The guy I beat 30-0 last weekend at US Grappling Chicago was allegedly a sponsored fighter by RevGear.
I've competed and seen white and blue belts and other purple belts and above sponsored.
At the end of the day, there are guys with more, less, or the same Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, and MMA background/resume as myself that are all sponsored.

I didn't honestly have an answer for her.

But it has started some fundamental questions I need to ask myself?
What brands so I actually support and am I willing to support?
I don't like tacky brands with a million logos.
I don't like MMA-themed gear.
Coming from Judo, I prefer a clean Gi with little flash/flair, and beyond that, it is legitimately important that I believe in the quality and durability of the product and that it's something I actually use.
What do I intend/am willing to offer a brand in exchange for their support?
What do I expect in return?
I work a full-time job and a side job. Jiu-Jitsu is still something I see as a passion of mine. I am wary of making the jump to seeing it as my livelihood and here is why.
Before college, I put together my portfolio for art school/college. The process of deadlines and the pressure of outcome expectation made me view art and the act of creation out of more necessity than simply desire made me view my passion in an entirely different way. I don't know that I'm ready to have Jiu-Jitsu be seen as something more work/job than desire/passion and monetizing your desire/passion like with all things comes at a price or at least an exchange.
Another sticking point for me is autonomy. A friend of mine who shall remain nameless, gave a rash guard to famous Jiu-Jitsu competitor but he couldn't put it on or take a picture wearing it due to sponsorship obligations.
This may sound silly, but I want to wear the Gi I want to wear and the shirt I want to wear.
At any rate, perhaps, I'm just a bit too much Kron Gracie for my own good and I'm destined to be largely unsponsored as I journey through Jiu-Jitsu.

I've plugged Toro BJJ on here a number of times because 1) I know the owner and 2) I've used their gi and other training gear over the years in both Jiu-Jitsu and mixed martial arts. I've seen their line of Gi's since the beginning and still use both the Gi tops I have of theirs and wear them on a weekly basis. I learned about the whole Gi construction process with the owner of Cageside MMA/Toro BJJ and got a lot of insight into what it actually takes to get a quality line of Gi's from inception to reality.
The owner of Toro BJJ started his own company. In his warehouse is a fully functioning Jiu-Jitsu academy.
In short, it's the type of company I've always respected.

I've got a pretty big announcement concerning some competition news for yours truly, and a busy month and a half ahead with hopefully at least 3 times in the next 6 weeks in Greensboro, North Carolina, Delaware, and Virginia.

- Good luck and happy trainingz


 

UFC Fight Night Japan: Does Japan's MMA/UFC Hope/Pride Lie in its Women?

Rin Nakai for you female MMA nerds is coming to the UFC.
I'm actually mildly interested.
I haven't given much coverage to women in MMA on this blog but that's simply because I don't watch much women's MMA.
It's a personal choice and let's leave it at that.

At any rate, Rin Nakai makes a big ole' jump into women's UFC/MMA in facing Miesha Tate.

Hats off to the ladies.

UFC 178 Johnson vs Cariaso, McGregor vs Poirier, Cerrone vs Alvarez: Extended Preview for the Most Stacked Card in Awhile

In less than two weeks, what looks like to me, the best bang for your buck UFC card in recent memory takes place:

Flyweight title fight.
Alvarez makes his long awaited UFC debut against Cerrone in what has to be a good fight.
McGregor's hype train continues gains momentum or derails.
Tim Kennedy takes a SERIOUSLY dangerous fight against the ridiculously heavy-handed and wrestling standout Romero who looks like a LHW when he cuts weight.
Dominick Cruz returns after 2 ACL surgeries and surrendering his belt.
Masvidal who I love to watch fight is on the card. Patrick Cote from my younger years is on the card, and the entertaining Ebersole fight Doomsday.
Man.
I'm out of breath just putting all that out there. Below is the extended preview.

"main CARD

Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET

Demetrious Johnson vs. Chris Cariaso
for flyweight title

Eddie Alvarez vs. Donald Cerrone

Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier

Tim Kennedy vs. Yoel Romero

Amanda Nunes vs. Cat Zingano

preliminary CARD

FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET

Dominick Cruz vs. Takeya Mizugaki

James Krause vs. Jorge Masvidal

Patrick Cote vs. Stephen Thompson

Brian Ebersole vs. John Howard

preliminary CARD

UFC Fight Pass, 7 p.m. ET

Kevin Lee vs. Jon Tuck

Manny Gamburyan vs. Cody Gibson "                                                                                              

 

Tuesday's Grappling News: Keenan Cornelius Confirmed for IBJJ Pro League! & Paulo Miyao vs Victor Silverio

The recent Stuart Cooper documentary focus (awesome documentary with some insight into his journey in Jiu-Jitsu and the mental side of elite level performance), Keenan Cornelius, has agreed/confirmed for the IBJJ Pro League's upcoming event in October.

He joins the other all-star list of Jiu-Jitsu notables including: "Otavio Sousa, Paulo Miyao, Claudio Calasans Jr, Yuri Simões, Felipe Pena, Bernardo Faria, Gustavo Pires, Jackson Sousa, Vitor Oliveira, Ivaniel Cavalcante, Luiz Panza and Ricardo Evangelista, Osvaldo Moizinho."
Last year he defeated Jackson Souza (a budding rivalry between those two that's continued since brown belt) and returns this year to defend his title.



Silverio defends Paulo's open guard for quite a bit here with insistent grips on the pants/knees-ish placement but Paulo grinds it out and gets the win against the heavier opponent.
 

US Grappling Chicago Roadtrip Photobomb

It was a long weekend in the books. We met at 530/6am in Durham to ride up to Chicago. We ended up departing by about 715/730am (long story) and began the 12ish hour trek through West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and part of Illinois.







I slept several times as did the other guys and split my time playing on facebook or reading the Steve Jobs biography by Isaacson. We left so early I hadn't checked my weight and suspected I was at least about 3 lbs over.




1st place to my teammate John "Delicious Bagels" Telford and 2nd place for me in the advanced NoGi division

We ended up making it to the hotel and I checked my weight around 830pm, but I had suspicions that it was incorrect, though it estimated I was about 4 lb's over. I had a salad with chicken and slept, waking up according to the scale approximately 2 lbs over.
We got lost on the way to the venue and went 30  min's in the wrong direction but eventually arrived and finished the set-up in progress. I was running on about 10 hours of sleep over the previous two nights and felt less than stellar. Also, I was a bit nervous having never done NoGi Advanced and having not competed in NoGi in any manner in over 3 years.

I began feeling the familiar feeling I used to before doing the NoGi: namely that I just wanted it to be over, but I remembered Donald Cerrone saying in an interview that there are red lights thoughts and green light thoughts. Red light thoughts are self-doubt, insecurity, and in general negative emotions. Instead, before I realized it, I had caught myself and focused on what I would do in the match first. Rather than just go out there with no plan, I decided I would sit to guard and work from bottom as that was where I was most comfortable. I had neither the desire nor the recent training to fight for a protracted takedown and just opted to adopt that as my strategy.
It worked, I beat my first opponent 8-4, despite that I let him dive for a takedown as I sat to guard, starting him off with 2 points. I nearly caught him in a triangle, had some close calls as he stood up to pass/guard break, but eventually butterfly swept into a knee through position, scored some knee on belly points but gave up top position as he did the semi-bench press escape as I raised my hips to garner knee on belly points. My teammate and I handshook it out as we were both beat from the trip and waiting for the Gi. I reffed some NoGi intermediate and 30+ men's matches and would later in the day referee some really, really good blue belt men's matches. They were some of the best matches I saw that day.

CJ Murdock, black belt and MMA fighter

 

Venue before the start of festivities. It was a long day.



I warmed up for the purple belt featherweight and faced my opponent from the NoGi Division. I can only be honest and say I felt very confident going into the match. I knew with the Gi on I would almost certainly not give up takedown points, and would immediately work to sweep after pulling guard. I did just that and hit a quick butterfly sweep into a cross grip/knee through pass position. I got my underhooks and passed to knee on belly then eventually as he sat up to sit out took his back, later working my way to mount. I threatened with a double lapel choke from the back and several ezekiels from the back. Later he reversed position as I scored knee on belly and I dove for a rolling baseball choke after making way quite ahead on points.

Busy weekend with something like 26 hours in the car. I'm glad I went through another competitive day and conquered some negative self-talk and made my way back into the Advanced NoGi division at it's another avenue to more matches. I got more referee experience and spent time with the awesome folks at US Grappling.
Win or learn. This weekend I got to do some winning after some very hit or miss performances in the first half of 2014 and my first year at purple belt.

 



1st place to my teammate John "Delicious Bagels" Telford and 2nd for me in the purple belt featherweight

West Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana are not my favorite scenic routes through which to travel. I'll just leave it at that.

530/6am meet-up at Cageside MMA HQ/warehouse and Triangle Jiu-Jitsu Academy to begin the 12+ hour ride up to Chicago

with the awesome folks at US Grappling after a 12 some odd hour day

teammate close out with fellow purple belt featherweight John "Delicious Bagels" Telford

US Grappling Chicago This Weekend

 
 



I'll be riding in a van many hours this weekend but it means I get to compete in Chicago and work/referee the event with the awesome folks at US Grappling.

I'm also biting the bullet and doing NoGi Advanced for the first time. It will also be my first NoGi competition since my ACL reconstruction.

Pretty excited I'll also get to see the UFC Fight Night on Saturday as well.

 

Competition Year in Review -BJJ and Judo: Purple Belt Featherweight and -66kg Black Belt

As best I can, I've reconstructed my tournament performance in both Judo and Jiu-Jitsu for the past year.
Jiu-Jitsu has been a busy-ish 2014 as I was promoted to purple belt in December and began the new year in the faixa roxa division at featherweight. I've competed in 5 tournaments since that time with mixed results. I've competed once this year in Judo and twice last Fall. I had intended to hit another Judo tournament this weekend but I've opted to take an opportunity to travel and compete/referee for US Grappling in Chicago instead.






US Grappling Greensboro Submission Only -
- win by brabo/lapel choke from mount - scored guard pass and knee on belly points
- lost by RNC/choke from the back

US Grappling Virginia Beach-
- won by points - scored sweep points from RDRL and deep half, adv for guard pass attempt, gave up sweep points and adv for inverting to avoid guard pass
- loss by mounted collar choke - omoplata transition to giving up sweep points, guard pass, and mount points 

US Grappling Richmond -
- won by arm triangle - takedown,  sweep, guard pass, mount
- gentlemen's agreement with teammate

US Grappling Grapplemania/Raleigh
- loss by points - gave up sweep and guard pass, scored sweep points
- loss by bow n' arrow choke - torreando pass led to leg drag position then eventually the back take then submission

US Grappling Virginia Beach -
- loss by bow n' arrow choke - scored sweep points, gave up a leg drag off of a torreando pass/swarm which led to guard pass points, and also back mount points
- win by triangle - gave up sweep points, scored sweep points, guard pass (but no points scored) to back take points, lost back position, finished with triangle


Some takeaways: the grips on the knees are something which I have to immediately address. The leg drag/torreando pass swarm ala Leandro Lo is a powerful position and thus the leg drag also if not immediately addressed. This deficiency has also stemmed from my not having/maintaining proper grips from on bottom while in various forms of open guard.
As for giving up sweeps while on top. I need to seek out better open guard players. Too often in training, I force my way into a low/heavy pressure passing position but when in tournaments against other purple belts, I often find myself further away in distance/IE: spider guard, shin to shin guard, et cetera and I have to become more comfortable in these positions and in imposing my will in passing from these position when I find myself there which is often right at the beginning of a match as is often the case in modern Jiu-Jitsu.



Judo - I went a bit further back in Judo to include my tournaments since returning from ACL surgery to have a larger pool of data from which to draw.

Hometown Heroes
At 66kg -
- Loss by DQ/hansokumake - up on points, DQ'd by touching leg while executing kouchimakikomi
- Win by Ippon - throw/ouchigari
- Win by DQ/hansokumake - up on points
- Win by pin

At 73kg -
- loss by Ippon/throw - referee error
- Win by points - waza ari - osotomakikomi

Maryland - Shufu Open
- at 66kg - win by Ezekiel from the back - up on points, scored with kouchimakikomi
- win by pin
- loss by Ippon - throw - hip throw

at 73kg -
- win by waza ari in golden score - osotomakikomi
- loss by pin
- loss by pin

Jacksonville Memorial -
at 66kg -
- win by ippon - throw - shoulder throw
- win by ippon - throw - ouchigari
- loss by points

Some Takeaways: my loss in the finals in Jacksonville was solely due to conditioning. I had some submission opportunities and combining my mat work from throws transitioning to the very short amount of mat time allowed in Judo is a continuing process. Switching gears so to speak from Jiu-Jitsu style mat work to Judo style mat work will continue to be a work in progress. I am a strong thrower in Judo comfortable winning on the mat or standing up and genuinely feel comfortable in all the stages or areas of Judo competition.
My loss in the finals in Maryland was simply because my opponent and I were the two best guys in the bracket. We had decisively beaten each of our opponents on the way there and I could tell by his style and mine, one of us was going to get thrown flat out and it was just a matter of who missed the first step.

I haven't devoted the necessary time to Judo training and specifically the strength and conditioning necessary for Judo competition in my time back from ACL surgery. My birthday is coming up, and now that I'm in the 30+ age range but intend to continue competing in the regular adult division, I have to work extra hard and train specifically to force my body to stay in shape, especially for the rigors of Judo competition. I don't like the much narrower range of throwing techniques in modern Judo, but it is another avenue of competition and one that will make me better as a grappler overall, and thus; thus any excuses to not compete are just that, excuses.

 

Caio does Am. Nationals after Missing Worlds, Worm Guard Faces Turtle Guard

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