Midway through the card we were treated to celebrity Sumo with 42 wardrobe groin checks by Rumble Johnson while Blaydes seemed able to not have to check his cock and balls every 3.5 seconds. The announcer walked us through a painfully unnecessary explanation of Sumo rules and etiquette that was cringe to say the least.
Gordon Ryan pretty effortlessly avoided Tex's leg/ankle attack entries, cleared them, advanced to mount, then had a couple head & arm chokes thwarted, then on the 3rd go, used it to transition to the back. Predictable stuff if you've done a bunch of positional rounds in the blue basement in NYC.
Having seen Tex's matches previously, it was pretty easy to predict that he wouldn't get to Gordon's foot much if at all, and that Gordon would use it to clear and pass and threaten the back. Tex had a solid transition to the second leg from an elevation midway through the match, but Gordon cleared the foot/heel and got back to work.
I've had some folks who follow me on Instagram that would tell me otherwise as to how this match would go, but it went as I'd predicted to anyone who had asked me.
Cocco did a lot of reset, circle, clear out of dodge and run against Crelinsten. Cocco gave up a takedown in a transition after initiating a double leg then blinking first in the game of chicken that comes in the wrestling transition. I had hoped to see some more of his passing having seen him play more on top at the JitzKing promotion a few weeks back.
Cavalcante didn't have much in the way of surviving 50/50 other than hand fight and hope for the best, and eventually on a transition to a different leg position rolling through to belly down (I can't quite recall) and a butterfly grip (couldn't see from the camera angle). He had the Urijah Faber on both knees and handfight gameplan for Nicky, but didn't pop to his feet and reset often enough, allowing Nicky to get to the entry for the leg.
Jimenez had some close calls with Dan Martinez. He's still way behind on the leg lock escapes (watch his losses at the ADCC trials as evidence. Let the fanboi comments commence, I'm just telling you the truth. Violently twirl and hope for the best works until it doesn't (see Pena and Tex Johnson for what I'm walking about). Jimenez won on position/points.
Cyborg & Lovato went about as expected with what felt like a bunch of unnecessary overtime rounds. Cyborg basically not shooting anything resembling a takedown and stuffing Lovato's attempts to force it to the mat. Lovato would take bottom, and Cyborg would do what he does in all his matches.
Nick Rodriguez hopped around a bunch, and threw the legs by, eventually hitting a knee through pass, then on a reset that began in bounds then went out of bounds got the back and body triangle and predictably face crushed his opponent.
Rocha vs Moises: aggressive collar ties, a few actual takedown attempts from Vagner surprisingly.
Gaudio and Fellipe Andrew had a rematch from Europeans (Gaudio kneebarred him there) and at this point is became apparent that heel hooks were allowed in the Gi? The commentary as is common with these events was hit or miss with some laughably lack of knowledge on display. Fellipe caught what looked like a straight ankle lock (he's got a ton of these wins in the Gi in various events as evidenced by his amazing record on BJJ Heroes). I look forward to another match because this one was all gas, no brakes right from the start.
Luiza Monteiro showed by she's one of the greats by quickly dispatching Grindatti with an omoplata attack then transitioning to the leg/foot. As usual, the lack of instant replay meant if you missed the finish you had to rely on the comically uninformed commentary and post match interview to guess what happened.
Ana Vieira also showed why she's one of the best with what looked like a toe hold win over Vedha Toscano.
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