TOMORROW !!! Show the Art: Finishers Sub Only 5 - Brackets, Undercard Matches, & Superfight

The undercard kicks off with a number of matches to get the ball rolling. I've trained with Fabian Ramirez a number of times and looking forward to see how he does. He comes from Serra BJJ (along with the headlining superfight Jason Rau). Ethan Crelinsten who won at 135 lbs has entered the fray against a tough bracket of bigger guys indeed. I train with Ethan on a daily basis when he's here from Tristar and trained with him leading up to the ADCC last fall. Came as no surprise to me when he kimura-triangled his first opponent. David Porter is the most experienced Finishers competitor with a number of appearances and his friend/training partner Gary Gioni had an impressive showing at his own previous Finishers debut. Going to be some really tough matches for whoever makes it through their half of the bracket to get to the final. Great day for Sub Only/EBI format grappling. Jason Rau take on Marcel Goncalves (Metamoris Challengers, EBI, and other pro events) in the main superfight.

EBI 15: Featherweights - Sneak Peak Promo Video and 10th Planet Qualifier

A lot going on that day up in Ferbuary. Can't wait to be honest. Eddie Cummings returns to defend the strap he's won twice, and Geo (the inaugural/original featherweight champ) returns to face Eddie after beating Eddie at Bantamweight. What's not to love? There's also a showcase Combat JiuJitsu match feat. Ben Eddy against the CJJ champion Honstein.

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Manuwa Exists Again, Comments on Daniel Cormier

 Well, despite getting trounced from a punch in the clinch by the guy DC just crushed (Volkan Oezdemir), Manuwa I guess has recovered from his starching and wants to get some press. I don't blame him, it's the fight game, but I'd suspect he might get more traction if he aimed a bit more believably, and tried to pick off a guy on his way into the top 10. 

Joanna Begins Rolling Out Excuses

Let the cavalcade begin.....it's hard to drum up sympathy when you spent the entire buildup basically saying that Rose had zero chance of beating you. It was gratifying to see Joanna's mind games fail and her get drummed over so completely in less than one round. The fight didn't go long enough for me to give much credence to her claims of it being the weight cut, she simply got drilled with a straight punch, was wobbled, got drilled again, then Rose pounced. 

PFL (used to be WSOF) Announces Format & Dates

Finally some specifics about their big plan for the coming season. I guess it's another run at the IFL. Old school sports know it alls have the league idea ingrained in their minds. I don't know that I agree or disagree regardless, but Bellator has largely done away with it's tournament format minus the occasional bracket to determine a new champ, ala the HW tourney they're doing.

Some highlights included a touted $10 million prize pool, but we'll see how that's broken down and actually paid out to the 72 athletes mentioned. They're staking claim to Thursday nights for their live events, running from June to August, with a playoff season, and a final championship. They've hired a CEO with a ton of experience, but we'll see if it goes the way of the IFL. Fingers crossed.  

Upcoming NoGi/Heel Hook Grappling Events Through Mid April 2018

February 3rd - Show the Art/Finishers Sub Only:
What began as a small east coast invitational event has really grown over the past few years into a feeder for EBI and showcase for up and comers willing to try the EBI format. Several of my teammates have won it, and it's actually one of the first places where I saw Gordon Ryan competing and picking up wins before I even considered moving to NYC or transitioning to NoGi. The previous 170 lb champ, Serra BJJ's James Gonzales (who most recently put on a grew showing at the Combat JiuJitsu Worlds 1 Event) will face a bracket containing Gary Gioni, Chase Davis, David Porter, Alex Nemeth, Jon Blank, Pierre Leclerc, and a number of others. Every event these guys has put on has been amazing and I've rewatched several of the streams as they are all available on youtube. They put on a great event and put money in the pocket of the competitors and have featured both Teens and Women's superfights. If you're a fan of NoGi Grappling and EBI format, you'd be remiss to miss this event in person or streaming online. I've trained with a numebr of guys on the card either at RGA or previously and I'm excited to see how the bracket plays out. It also features a superfight between Jason Rau (Rise Invitational Champion) and Serra BJJ representative against Marcel Goncalves.

February 10th - Fight2Win Pro  Jake Shields vs Kit Dale: always one to stay busy, Jake Shields is going to face Kit Date at F2Win Pro 62 in California a week before he takes on Kit Dale's teammate Craig Jones for Polaris.

February 17th - Polaris 6 - features a stacked Pro event featuring: Jake Shields vs Craig Jones, Agazarm vs Benson Henderson, Gezary Matuda vs TBD, & Marcin Held vs Fishgold, preceded by an undercard which includes: "GI MATCH – Emilia Tuukkanen X Leoni Munslow
GI MATCH – Jay Butler X Sean McDonagh
GI MATCH – Santeri Lilius X Bradley Hill
GI MATCH – Tommy Langaker X Charlie McDonald
GI MATCH – Jake Mckenzie X Yousuf Nabi
NO GI MATCH – Ross Nichols X Tommi Pulkkanen"

February 17th - EBI 15: Featherweights
In addition to the bracket of competitors looking to dethrone Eddie Cummings (and Geo Martinez coming up from 135 to Eddie's weight class after Eddie cut down to 135 to attempt and detrone him there, Nick Honstein (Combat JiuJitsu champion) will face Ben Eddy who recently defeated Wilson Reis in a Combat JiuJitsu rules match. According to BJJEE.com, the bracket will include:
"Joe Soto- UFC Fighter. Former Bellator and Tachi Palace champion.
Sergio Hernandez -Baret Yoshida Black Belt.
Kevin Berbrich – Eddie Bravo Black Belt 10th Planet Oceanside Jiu Jitsu Coach
Jason Hayden – BJJ brown belt. Leg-Lock enthusiast. Rodrigo Lima – black belt from Caio Terra Association, Joe Baize, Rafael Domingos, Mike Davila, Ashley Williams, Joao Alfredo Tavares Marinho, John Battle, Sergio Perez and Edwin “Junny” Ocasio". 

As the sport and EBI format spreads, it's cool to see guys with more and more experience competing in this format making the rounds and bouncing between EBI format events and such. Battle I've seen in some superfights, at a previous EBI and from Show the Art Finishers. Sergio Hernandez I've seen compete at Ultimate Mat Warriors and actually got to train with when I visited California last fall at Baret Yoshida's gym (also got to roll with Baret, everyone at their gym was very welcoming and great to train with). Sergio is a previous EBI competitor. Rafael Domingos has competed in EBI before winning some matches then losing to champ Garry Tonon). Mike Davila has competed at Finishers Sub Only, and EBI as well (previously losing to champ Eddie Cummings).

April 14th - Kasai Middleweight - 185 lb Tournament

March 3rd - Qualifier for 185 lb Kasai Event scheduled for April 14th. As much for the bracket of Middlweights, I'm excited to see who they get for the superfights. They pulled together Gordon Ryan vs Yuri Simoes and a rematch of Murilo Santana vs Craig Jones from the ADCC to headline the card at their inaugural event. Amazing event. The production was top notch, the card moved smoothly, and I got to see a ton of top flight competitors all in one evening.

Big Things in the First Third of 2018 in MMA

It's kinda ridiculous what's on tap for the first 4 months of MMA in 2018:

We already had a card that featured Stipe become the most prolifc HW champ in UFC history AND DC defend his title against one of the more dangerous contenders at LHW. It's not even the end of January and this is what's happened and is in store. Last year was a flagship year for the UFC by any  metric, no matter how much of a Negative Nancy you try to be. Flat out. End of discussion. If this year can keep pace with its first quarter I see no reason why it can't do the same and hit at least the same water mark.

February 10th - Rockhold vs Romero
February 16th - Mitrione rematches Roy Nelson as part of Bellator HW tourney
March 2nd - Caldwell defends his Bellator belt
March 3rd - Holloway vs Edgar
April 7th - Khabib vs Ferguson & Thug Rose vs Joanna Rematch
April 13th - Chandler rematches Primus in Bellator
April 14th - Gaethje returns after a tough stoppage loss to Alvarez to face Poirier who is coming off of a dominant win over former champ Pettis
April 28th - Fedor faces Frank Mir in another first round matchup of the Bellator HW Legends Grand Prix