The same night as Kasai 2. Le sigh.
Hard to ignore 3 grappling title matches. The amount of solid grappling and by solid I mean truly elite level grappling going on throughout the year is exponentially higher than even 3-4 years ago. What a time to be a grappling enthusiast. Wardzinski really has his work cut out for him as do Quexinho and Chantre. I don't see Chantre getting past Joao by any means as Joao's insistence on the back will likely be Samir's undoing but the 5 min rounds with a minute restriction on unpenalized guard pulls means Joao has 4 minutes to work. Expect a lot of borderline disengaging by Samir as I don't see him passing Joao's guard by any stretch of the imagination. Samir has a solid anti-JiuJitsu game he uses to much effect in NoGi ala his last ACB NoGi match vs Tomoyuki, but in the Gi when he can't flee, and there's more grips, he won't be able to do much with Joao.
Wardzinski has a loss at the UAE Pro Final in 2017 (by submission/strangle) and a loss in an ACB title match more recently. At any rate, Wardzinski has gotten more competitive with Pena each time (more on that in another post).
Quexinho likewise has his work cut out for him with Paulo. Quexinho is coming off the podium at the Pans (3rd) for the 5th year in a row, and Paulo is still serving his two year suspension for steroids. Paulo's been staying busy doing UAEJJF and ACB events so I don't think his hiatus from IBJJF events will be much of a hindrance. As for Wardzinski Pena is the type of guy to absolutely test his butterfly guard. Pena's length and frame is the kryptonite to the game but Wardzinkski has truly had a breakout year. Pena would be world champ but a pesky steroid piss test took that title from him. I think Pena is still a bit too much for Wardzinksi over 5 rounds but it's a stepping stone to the experience Wardzinski needs on his way to a possible black belt world title in the future. The rest of the event is ridiculous as well with everyone from Hinger to Najmi to Calasans.
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