Team Tiger Muay Thai vs Team Reebok
Vandijck vs Dong Sik Yoon
It's a lot of Vandijck beasting on the 45 year old and good bit smaller Yoon. Vandijck hits some fireman's carries (kata guruma for you Judo players out there) into some top position, but never really consolidates any positions of dominance. Yoon for his part is also unable to set up any legit submission attempts.
Both men off the mat.
Suleiman vs Tokoro
Another, much more considerable, size differential.
Suleiman rolls through for a couple kneebar/leg lock attempts, but otherwise time expires with no real deep submission attempts on either side.
Both men off the mat.
Viking Wong vs Haisam Rida
Viking Wong taps as early as is humanly *&^%ing possible to a toe hold that Rida grabs a hold of while standing over X-guard. I think he basically grabbed the foot with both hands and Wong was already tapping. Not gonna lie...given that and the little conversation that was had with the referees and Wong before the match...feels....a bit....shall...we say.....suspect?
Alex Schild vs Haisam Rida
Rida looks for the toe hold again, and Schild gives up the kneebar. On a guy that huge, it's hard to explain why Schild couldn't clear the knee line given how short his legs (and small they are) compared to Rida. Hmm.
Stuart Cooper vs Haisam Rida
Rida gets the RNC against Cooper with 4:40 left in the match. Team TIger Muay Thai gets broadsided and blown out with Team Reebok (Sakuraba's squad) only having to utilize 3 of its members to run through their 5. Ouch.
Up Next, Team 10th Planet vs Team Vagabond
PJ Barch vs Suchorabski
Barch on the back, high, transitions to an armbar as he loses the back, Suchorabski looking for a leg attack immediately following escaping the armbar attempt. Looks like we got a live one here. Suchorabski gets to the back with the body triangle, then transitions to a mounted arm-triangle, but doesn't quite have the position to finish it. Suchorabski sits to the ground after a reset and stalling warning from the referee to both competitors, Barch cuts through the lazy guard sit immediately and transitions to the back then immediately to a kimura grip. Suchorabski defends some dangerous looking armbar attacks/transitions, the match ends with each guy reaching for an ankle lock but to no avail.
Both guys off the mat.
Richie Martinez vs Joao Assis
Joao dives into a half-guard pass and Boogeyman is deep on a gogoplata attempt, Joao eventually escapes and they reset. Boogeyman again deep on a gogoplata style attack but Joao bails on the pass in response and they reset. Boogeyman again deep on the gogoplata style attack but Joao again bails on the pass and they end up with legs entangled. A tense moment of Joao attacks an ankle lock, but Boogeyman's long legs buy him time to clear the feet/bite on the hips/leg and he escapes.
Both guys off the mat.
Geo Martinez vs Satoshi Ishii
Wow. Talk about a size mismatch. Christ.
Ishii HEAAAAAVY on an over/under pass which he gets then continues to circle toward north/south. 2 minutes left and Ishii locks up a kimura. Danger. After wrenching the arm free, Ishii is literally lifting Geo's whole body off the mat in an attempt to extricate it from defense and crank it behind Geo's back. Geo escapes. Wow. 20 seconds left and Ishii locks up another kimura and turns it into an armbar attempt followed by a Japanese neck scissor but times runs out. Gutsy performance by Geo, no other way to put it. Heavyweight Olympic gold medalist Judoka had him in a full kimura with 2 minutes left on the clock and he survived.
Allam vs Kazusionak
Kazusionak sits/jumps into a rolling kneebar. Mind blown. Couldn't have drilled it any more aesthetically.
Kazusionak vs Sachnoff
Kazusionak falling back on an achilles lock. All crank. All the extension. Sachnoff escapes. Gets to the back. Locks up a body triangle. Gets the RNC finish.
Sachnoff vs Dopidze
Sachnoff spends time on the smaller guy's back but doesn't get the finish.
The referees (3) will decide by flag/votes which team continues on. Nail biter, but not really as Sachnoff basically won the last match.
Team 10th Planet moves on to face Team Reebok (Haleo I guess?) in the finals.
Up first:
PJ Barch vs Daisuke Nakamura
Barch hits an armdrag to the back, transitions through to a high back mount position wi/out hooks, looking to consolidate the position. Barch with a body lock from the back, Nakamura holding onto a kimura until the ref's call stalling and reset them. On the reset, from standing, some clinch work, Barch shrugs his body lock grip into a read body lock and Nakamura goes down to both knees allowing Barch to look for the back mount. Barch on the back, digging for an RNC, a short choke, then transitions off the back to attack to an armbar or possible back triangle armbar but loses it with less than a minute to go. Barch is back to it with a stepover kimura, and is deep on it with a few remaining seconds but Daisuke doesn't tap and time runs out.
Both men off the mat.
Sakuraba vs Boogeyman
Sakuraba through to sidemount/scarf hold/kesa getame, but gives up the back, Boogeyman gets the truck and looking for a possible groin stretch/banana split submission or twister. Boogeyman catches him in a Darce. My heart cracks into a couple pieces. Sigh.
Boogeyman vs the Giant Rida
Rida looking to pass as Boogeyman sits. Rida jumping though to mount, then on the pass, then step over to the back, locks up the kimura grip and falls back on the armbar for the win. Looked like Boogeyman had space to escape, as Rida was reconfiguring his grip and had a few grip switches on the arm, but who knows.
Rida vs Geo
Rida on top of Geo who once again is facing a behemoth of a man. Looking for that toe hold but Geo doesn't leave his foot dangling like chum in the water, uses it to come up to top, and as Rida defends losing top position, his head hangs low and Geo locks up a guillotine, then goes high elbow as Rida is slow to defend the second hand. Geo transitions to mount and strangles the giant.
Geo vs Tokoro
Geo has him mounted 2.5 minutes in. Geo gets to the back, but loses it. Tokoro looking to pass. Both guys working and both are probably just glad to face someone roughly their own size. Both guys off the mat as the match ends in a draw.
Yoon vs Allam
Yoon has his work cut out for him as he faces the younger, considerably heavier man. 3.5 minutes in and Allam has the body triangle on the back. Ouch. Allam crushes the face, then Yoon gives up the chin and a palm to palm grip short grip choke finishes. Allam gets the win.
Team 10th Planet gets by Team Vagabond by the narrowest of margins, then gets the win(s) necessary in the final to take the day. Looking forward to see them face Team Polaris from the first Quintet.
Another interesting clash of styles and faces. Man, I love Quintet (even though there's no heel hooks). Some very gutsy performances and some surprise standouts as well. I gotta give credit where credit is due: watching Geo survive Satoshi wrenching on the kimura was the real deal. His finish of Rida as well, impressive stuff.
The strength of the back position and firepower to finish once there, the body triangle, and poor leg lock defense stood out as turning points in a number of matches.
Vandijck vs Dong Sik Yoon
It's a lot of Vandijck beasting on the 45 year old and good bit smaller Yoon. Vandijck hits some fireman's carries (kata guruma for you Judo players out there) into some top position, but never really consolidates any positions of dominance. Yoon for his part is also unable to set up any legit submission attempts.
Both men off the mat.
Suleiman vs Tokoro
Another, much more considerable, size differential.
Suleiman rolls through for a couple kneebar/leg lock attempts, but otherwise time expires with no real deep submission attempts on either side.
Both men off the mat.
Viking Wong vs Haisam Rida
Viking Wong taps as early as is humanly *&^%ing possible to a toe hold that Rida grabs a hold of while standing over X-guard. I think he basically grabbed the foot with both hands and Wong was already tapping. Not gonna lie...given that and the little conversation that was had with the referees and Wong before the match...feels....a bit....shall...we say.....suspect?
Alex Schild vs Haisam Rida
Rida looks for the toe hold again, and Schild gives up the kneebar. On a guy that huge, it's hard to explain why Schild couldn't clear the knee line given how short his legs (and small they are) compared to Rida. Hmm.
Stuart Cooper vs Haisam Rida
Rida gets the RNC against Cooper with 4:40 left in the match. Team TIger Muay Thai gets broadsided and blown out with Team Reebok (Sakuraba's squad) only having to utilize 3 of its members to run through their 5. Ouch.
Up Next, Team 10th Planet vs Team Vagabond
PJ Barch vs Suchorabski
Barch on the back, high, transitions to an armbar as he loses the back, Suchorabski looking for a leg attack immediately following escaping the armbar attempt. Looks like we got a live one here. Suchorabski gets to the back with the body triangle, then transitions to a mounted arm-triangle, but doesn't quite have the position to finish it. Suchorabski sits to the ground after a reset and stalling warning from the referee to both competitors, Barch cuts through the lazy guard sit immediately and transitions to the back then immediately to a kimura grip. Suchorabski defends some dangerous looking armbar attacks/transitions, the match ends with each guy reaching for an ankle lock but to no avail.
Both guys off the mat.
Richie Martinez vs Joao Assis
Joao dives into a half-guard pass and Boogeyman is deep on a gogoplata attempt, Joao eventually escapes and they reset. Boogeyman again deep on a gogoplata style attack but Joao bails on the pass in response and they reset. Boogeyman again deep on the gogoplata style attack but Joao again bails on the pass and they end up with legs entangled. A tense moment of Joao attacks an ankle lock, but Boogeyman's long legs buy him time to clear the feet/bite on the hips/leg and he escapes.
Both guys off the mat.
Geo Martinez vs Satoshi Ishii
Wow. Talk about a size mismatch. Christ.
Ishii HEAAAAAVY on an over/under pass which he gets then continues to circle toward north/south. 2 minutes left and Ishii locks up a kimura. Danger. After wrenching the arm free, Ishii is literally lifting Geo's whole body off the mat in an attempt to extricate it from defense and crank it behind Geo's back. Geo escapes. Wow. 20 seconds left and Ishii locks up another kimura and turns it into an armbar attempt followed by a Japanese neck scissor but times runs out. Gutsy performance by Geo, no other way to put it. Heavyweight Olympic gold medalist Judoka had him in a full kimura with 2 minutes left on the clock and he survived.
Allam vs Kazusionak
Kazusionak sits/jumps into a rolling kneebar. Mind blown. Couldn't have drilled it any more aesthetically.
Kazusionak vs Sachnoff
Kazusionak falling back on an achilles lock. All crank. All the extension. Sachnoff escapes. Gets to the back. Locks up a body triangle. Gets the RNC finish.
Sachnoff vs Dopidze
Sachnoff spends time on the smaller guy's back but doesn't get the finish.
The referees (3) will decide by flag/votes which team continues on. Nail biter, but not really as Sachnoff basically won the last match.
Team 10th Planet moves on to face Team Reebok (Haleo I guess?) in the finals.
Up first:
PJ Barch vs Daisuke Nakamura
Barch hits an armdrag to the back, transitions through to a high back mount position wi/out hooks, looking to consolidate the position. Barch with a body lock from the back, Nakamura holding onto a kimura until the ref's call stalling and reset them. On the reset, from standing, some clinch work, Barch shrugs his body lock grip into a read body lock and Nakamura goes down to both knees allowing Barch to look for the back mount. Barch on the back, digging for an RNC, a short choke, then transitions off the back to attack to an armbar or possible back triangle armbar but loses it with less than a minute to go. Barch is back to it with a stepover kimura, and is deep on it with a few remaining seconds but Daisuke doesn't tap and time runs out.
Both men off the mat.
Sakuraba vs Boogeyman
Sakuraba through to sidemount/scarf hold/kesa getame, but gives up the back, Boogeyman gets the truck and looking for a possible groin stretch/banana split submission or twister. Boogeyman catches him in a Darce. My heart cracks into a couple pieces. Sigh.
Boogeyman vs the Giant Rida
Rida looking to pass as Boogeyman sits. Rida jumping though to mount, then on the pass, then step over to the back, locks up the kimura grip and falls back on the armbar for the win. Looked like Boogeyman had space to escape, as Rida was reconfiguring his grip and had a few grip switches on the arm, but who knows.
Rida vs Geo
Rida on top of Geo who once again is facing a behemoth of a man. Looking for that toe hold but Geo doesn't leave his foot dangling like chum in the water, uses it to come up to top, and as Rida defends losing top position, his head hangs low and Geo locks up a guillotine, then goes high elbow as Rida is slow to defend the second hand. Geo transitions to mount and strangles the giant.
Geo vs Tokoro
Geo has him mounted 2.5 minutes in. Geo gets to the back, but loses it. Tokoro looking to pass. Both guys working and both are probably just glad to face someone roughly their own size. Both guys off the mat as the match ends in a draw.
Yoon vs Allam
Yoon has his work cut out for him as he faces the younger, considerably heavier man. 3.5 minutes in and Allam has the body triangle on the back. Ouch. Allam crushes the face, then Yoon gives up the chin and a palm to palm grip short grip choke finishes. Allam gets the win.
Team 10th Planet gets by Team Vagabond by the narrowest of margins, then gets the win(s) necessary in the final to take the day. Looking forward to see them face Team Polaris from the first Quintet.
Another interesting clash of styles and faces. Man, I love Quintet (even though there's no heel hooks). Some very gutsy performances and some surprise standouts as well. I gotta give credit where credit is due: watching Geo survive Satoshi wrenching on the kimura was the real deal. His finish of Rida as well, impressive stuff.
The strength of the back position and firepower to finish once there, the body triangle, and poor leg lock defense stood out as turning points in a number of matches.
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