Rolled out to Pure MMA in NJ to coach a student of mine who was doing the Finishers Open White/Blue -155 Bracket, and managed to coach another Renzo teammate of mine whilst there who took 3rd in the -135 White/Blue bracket.Tomorrow a number of the best -145 Submission Grapplers will square off. I won't lie, it was bittersweet being there today as I was the first guy announced for this bracket and had to pull out due to ACL/Meniscus surgery. I'd been prepping for EBI format since before Christmas in order to do this tournament and I've previously beaten 3 of the guys in the bracket.
Keith and/or Frank are the 2 top seeds to win the event. Frank has won a bunch of superfights in the past year, travelling all over to the UK and even Kuwait recently for an event meanwhile Keith has been filling his schedule with: superfights, bracket format events, IBJJF, EBI format, ADCC trials...everything and anything over the past year. Keith is also the reigning -155 Finishers champ beating a very tough Nick Ronan in the finals of that event. I'm super bummed given the level of talent signed up that I'm now going to miss this event and Sub Spectrum -135 event happening next weekend which I was also slated to compete in.
JM Holland of EBI & Combat JiuJitsu resume rounds out the obvious favorites to win the event. Emilio Hernandez is my 4th seed to take it with a passing oriented top game but willingness to fall back on legs throughout the match. Previously, I've seen him do well attacking the feet of those who leg lock him with enough diligence to force them to abandon leg entanglements, but I haven't followed his recent matches so will be interesting to see what if any modifications he's added to his passing and submission attacks. Sheridan Moran competed in a previous Combat JiuJitsu event and with a heavy top game and wrestling pedigree will be tough to finish in regulation.
My picks for the bracket are as follows:
Left side of the bracket is basically a lock of Keith vs Frank in the Semi-Finals, and I expect JM Holland to take his half of the bracket. I saw Kyvann struggle to beat several guys at the Grappling Industries Secaucus event a few weeks ago and unless that was him working on some new things or feeling out new parts of his game as a test run, it wasn't a convincing performance to suggest to me that he'll beat JM Holland or Emilio Hernandez. Kyvann should beat Stapleton first round in regulation. Depending how Gabe Tejada's leg locks have come along, he may catch Valor Boyer. I've beaten Valor twice in OT in EBI format, but wasn't particularly threatened by his offensive finishing/submission arsenal. Hughes vs Dvorovy is a non-matter as whichever guy wins will get leg locked by Rosenthal next round after Rosenthal likely leg locks or perhaps passes the guard and backtakes his first round opponent.
I'll be teaching class then posted up in bed icing my knee and watching the matches, experiencing soul crushing FOMO
No comments:
Post a Comment