Had a unique opportunity this past weekend to both watch the Finishers Sub Only 6 live and in person at the venue, and to be a competitor in the 16 man -155 Pro bracket.
Saturday, I did the Open Tournament they hosted (their first time hosting an open tournament the day previous to the Pro Bracket). I took 2nd in the purple/brown/black -145 division: submitting an opponent via heel hook in regulation in my first match and losing via armbar in the 3rd overtime round of the final after getting ahead in ride time. The open tournament ran smoothly and efficiently and if we want to have more opportunities in this format, more folks need to show up.
11pm that night, I was scrolling through the good ole Instagram before bed and saw they needed a last minute replacement. I got the spot. I remember the first place I saw Gordon Ryan compete (before winning EBI et cetera was a Grappler's Quest & at an early Finishers event).
Sunday - the superfights were all competitive with little to no fluff in terms of the usual cannon fodder mismatches you see booked at events to fill out an undercard/prelims.
Recapping the superfights I recall in particular:
Setente Cuatro won via ride time/fastest escape in OT. Micale controlled the regulation with a variety of leg attacks and Cuatro largely defending and turning out. Micale struggled to escape the body triangle in OT leading to the loss via ride time.
Jon Blank who I've seen pick up some solid wins in various events picked up a submission win via heel hook in regulation
Merlin Ramos picked up a heel hook win over D-Boy Masington after some lengthy heel hook exchanges/ foot lock attempts from both competitors.
Chris Sodbinow countered an outside heel hook attempt with a flawless backtake to get an RNC win over Jordan Holy who was originally slated to face Frank Rosenthal.
Medina vs Sherman was thrilling from start to finish. Sherman had Medina in trouble early and for the majority/7-8 minutes of the 10 minute regulation. Sherman was well up on ride time before succumbing to a triangle while escaping back control in I believe the 3rd overtime round.
Rey de Leon picked up a quick RNC win in OT over Junny Ocasio. Ocasion controlled much if not virtually all of the regulation with guard passing and mount, but Rey stayed calm, ignored the feeling of being behind because it was sub only, and capitalized in the OT round.
Ashley Williams vs John Battle - competitive moments for both men. Several meaningful leg entanglements and a deep back take attempt from Battle at the close of regulation and resulting in a draw as there was no OT in effect for this match.
As for the bracket:
Each of the semifinalists had notched several submission wins and as a whole, both in the bracket and for the superfights, few matches went the distance.
Nick Ronan skated through all of his matches with a variety of skills from his game. Passing the guard, top game, bottom game, and 3 submissions: armbar, heel hook, and RNC.
His opponent in the finals, Krikorian picked up 2 heel hooks wins and an RNC overtime win to make it to the finals.
The finals match saw a lot of top game from Ronan looking to pass, but Krikorian able to re-guard deep at the end of the passing attempts, and Ronan stepping out of any leg entanglements then resetting to pass. Krikorian got a quick RNC finish in the top of the first OT round, and Ronan went for the armbar in his rebuttal due to the short time he had to work with but Krikorian escaped.
Elsewhere in the bracket, Emilio Hernandez picked up 2 heel hooks finishes, as did Ian Murray who picked up 2 heel hooks wins prior to facing Nick Ronan. Ronan expertly jumped to guard at the start of the match to prevent any such danger by Murray who had picked up 2 very quick, very tight heel hook wins previously. It was one of those brackets where each of the semifinalists had really impressed on their way there and felt like any of the 4 could have taken it based on ther first round and quarterfinal performances.
The bracket played out with with a ton of exciting matches, a variety of submissions achieved, and some very tight, technical exchanges between a number of the competitors.
Saturday, I did the Open Tournament they hosted (their first time hosting an open tournament the day previous to the Pro Bracket). I took 2nd in the purple/brown/black -145 division: submitting an opponent via heel hook in regulation in my first match and losing via armbar in the 3rd overtime round of the final after getting ahead in ride time. The open tournament ran smoothly and efficiently and if we want to have more opportunities in this format, more folks need to show up.
11pm that night, I was scrolling through the good ole Instagram before bed and saw they needed a last minute replacement. I got the spot. I remember the first place I saw Gordon Ryan compete (before winning EBI et cetera was a Grappler's Quest & at an early Finishers event).
Sunday - the superfights were all competitive with little to no fluff in terms of the usual cannon fodder mismatches you see booked at events to fill out an undercard/prelims.
Recapping the superfights I recall in particular:
Setente Cuatro won via ride time/fastest escape in OT. Micale controlled the regulation with a variety of leg attacks and Cuatro largely defending and turning out. Micale struggled to escape the body triangle in OT leading to the loss via ride time.
Jon Blank who I've seen pick up some solid wins in various events picked up a submission win via heel hook in regulation
Merlin Ramos picked up a heel hook win over D-Boy Masington after some lengthy heel hook exchanges/ foot lock attempts from both competitors.
Chris Sodbinow countered an outside heel hook attempt with a flawless backtake to get an RNC win over Jordan Holy who was originally slated to face Frank Rosenthal.
Medina vs Sherman was thrilling from start to finish. Sherman had Medina in trouble early and for the majority/7-8 minutes of the 10 minute regulation. Sherman was well up on ride time before succumbing to a triangle while escaping back control in I believe the 3rd overtime round.
Rey de Leon picked up a quick RNC win in OT over Junny Ocasio. Ocasion controlled much if not virtually all of the regulation with guard passing and mount, but Rey stayed calm, ignored the feeling of being behind because it was sub only, and capitalized in the OT round.
Ashley Williams vs John Battle - competitive moments for both men. Several meaningful leg entanglements and a deep back take attempt from Battle at the close of regulation and resulting in a draw as there was no OT in effect for this match.
As for the bracket:
Each of the semifinalists had notched several submission wins and as a whole, both in the bracket and for the superfights, few matches went the distance.
Nick Ronan skated through all of his matches with a variety of skills from his game. Passing the guard, top game, bottom game, and 3 submissions: armbar, heel hook, and RNC.
His opponent in the finals, Krikorian picked up 2 heel hooks wins and an RNC overtime win to make it to the finals.
The finals match saw a lot of top game from Ronan looking to pass, but Krikorian able to re-guard deep at the end of the passing attempts, and Ronan stepping out of any leg entanglements then resetting to pass. Krikorian got a quick RNC finish in the top of the first OT round, and Ronan went for the armbar in his rebuttal due to the short time he had to work with but Krikorian escaped.
Elsewhere in the bracket, Emilio Hernandez picked up 2 heel hooks finishes, as did Ian Murray who picked up 2 heel hooks wins prior to facing Nick Ronan. Ronan expertly jumped to guard at the start of the match to prevent any such danger by Murray who had picked up 2 very quick, very tight heel hook wins previously. It was one of those brackets where each of the semifinalists had really impressed on their way there and felt like any of the 4 could have taken it based on ther first round and quarterfinal performances.
The bracket played out with with a ton of exciting matches, a variety of submissions achieved, and some very tight, technical exchanges between a number of the competitors.
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