Miesha Tate Joins OneFC

We can only hope she’ll also do color commentary...I kid, I kid. I had to mute Quintet roughly a couple minutes into the opening match as Miesha had already hit quite a few cringe worthy high notes.

Subjected Myself to the Spyder Invitational Finals (So You Don't Have to)

Read online that Hulk and Werdum basically didn't do any mat work but that the Gi matches made up for it. Given the honesty finally being displayed in critiquing guys getting paid to put on "superfights" that are less eventful than watching blue belt deathmatches in the gym at an open mat, I was hopeful the Gi matches would deliver.....spoiler alert: it was less exciting than Worlds matches at black belt.

Miyao took a ref decision win over Jang who basically did less passing movement than Miyao did various lapel and feet/hook grips rocking him off balance. Alves in typical tongue half out and both feet tape cast wrapped nearly halfway got a submission win (armbar) over Iwasaki despite Iwasaki actually trying to pass and Alves never really putting him in danger of being swept. Iwasaki was up by an advantage with 30 seconds left and got lazy in an omoplata position he'd been in at previous points in the match, and Alves pounced and got the tap. Alves took out Miyao with a sweep, his only real points scored of the event.
I guess that's the sport in the Gi these days. Exciting, thrilling, sexy, beast mode stuff, I know.

Hugo scored a sweep, then a guard pass, then mount then additional points finishing at 16-0 against DJ Jackson for a dominating win.
Ferreira vs Duarte - Duarte scored a sweep, got to his feet, pulled guard....then stalled to ride out the 2 points....because I guess fighting for 7 full minutes then 7 more minutes in the final sounded like a lot of work.

Cho vs Shane - Shane locked his hands in a scramble, stepped around behind then hip heisted him up and put him down flat on his back. Cho hits a big bridge and almost gets kimura-triangled/back problems, but gets to closed guard with Shane still on the attack. Shane would go onto to rack up double digit points before taking the win. At this point I couldn't tolerate the laggy, jpeg level quality of the flograppling broadcast so I stopped watching.

Boo Bird Alert: Ben Askren Debut Against Robbie Lawler in January

So....Lawler gets the ole Askren "death by takedown then one thousand paper cuts" that is Askren’s style. Interested to see if a marginally more ground savvy MMA crowd will appreciate Askren’s *ahem* dominance in the form of smothering guys with mat returns and short punches now that they’ve grown accustomed to the level of savagery that is Khabib. 

Kasai 4 FW Bracket Update: Kim Terra replaces Ashley Williams

Eubanks wants a pass on second weight cut fail

Le sigh. Is it sexist if I call her out for missing weight the same I would as a man or is it sexist to hold her to the same standard as I would a male athlete? Confusing times we live in. Yay 2018.

ADCC East Coast Trials - Reflections

Had a blast competing and watching the East Coast ADCC Trials yesterday. Saw a bunch of notables and some not so well known put on some serious displays. The ruleset really provides some different variables to influence the outcome of the matches. The refereeing was diligent, consistent, and fair. I was shocked at the lack of the usual buffoonery I see at local and even IBJJF level events I've come to just accept as the price of playing the game. The referees stayed on task, no staring off into space or fixing their balls' location in their pants or the usual half or full assed-ness I have to ignore every time I go compete or coach. The rules meeting was concise, positions and scoring were clearly defined, and the reality was the event ran non-stop once it began. Scales closed about 15 minutes before the first match, and the biggest issue is with only 3 mats there were serious wait times between rounds of each bracket but it's an all day affair and that's just part of the mental battle for all the athletes.

I opted to play conservative during the first 3 minutes with no points, and my opponent let me come to top just as points came into play and I immediately went heavy on a pass attempt with some backsteps and hips floating, but he laced a leg and rather than commit to taking the back or splitting his feet to escape as he attacked an outside heel hook, I paused and committed to neither and was forced to tap. He would go on to lose to Keith Krikorian in the next round.

Some odds and ends throughout the day of guys I know and/or train with/have trained with in the past year or two: Jason Rau submitted each of his opponents until the finals where Satava scored a takedown then did the Cobrinha avoid any points or engagements to run down the clock now that he was up on points. Ethan Crelinstein laced the leg of the Ruotolo twin and locked in a tight kneebar which his youthful legs stretchy-ness wasn't enough to ride it out. Jon Calestine submitted his opponents up through the quarterfinal where he lost a ref's decision as his opponent utilized a disengage and reset plan to ride out the points portion with a few takedown attempts. ADCC's ruleset is tough where any smart player can ride out the initial points-less phase, then score or continue on to overtime and look to win a ref's decision knowing the opponent can't pull guard without getting penalized. It forces some interesting dynamics as the day wears on.

Initially I thought I'd hate training for the ADCC ruleset, but honestly, the gamesmanship and mid-match decision-making with the overtime scoring and penalties, reminds me a lot of when I competed in Judo and frankly, it's a lot more stress-inducing than the lackadaisical  approach to points scoring and winning we often adopt in IBJJF or sub only grappling. Kasai is next weekend with it's insane Featherweight Grand Prix. Doing the NYC Grappling Industries on the 17th, headed to Boston for Grappling Industries start of December, then possibly doing the NoGi Worlds if I can swing the cost of the trip. 

Eubanks missed weight (again)