BJJ Scout's BJJ Digest: Urijah Faber Starting Grappling Team Event, Craig Jones Supergroup, Mousasi Still Takin' Shots at Lovato

Mmmm. Craig Jones' squad looking like: Jake Shields, Nick Rodriguez, Lachlan Giles, and Edwin Najmi. That's a hard group to best across the weight classes, though what is the weight combined total allowed for the event? Will be interesting to see this come to fruition.

Finally Got Around to Watching Polaris 6

Ffion Davies beat an undersized opponent with pretty one-dimensional smash passing, advancing to 3/4 mount, re-passing, hunting for the head-arm choke but then transitioning to S-mount for an armbar. 

Matuda finished her outmatched opponent after she stuck her foot basically into an ankle lock. Marcin Held had a quick leg lock transition then knees hikes guard he used to transition to an armbar nearly lifted off the mat but adjusted the bite with his legs and got the armbar finish. Benson Henderson kept the heat and takedowns on AJ Sousa who seemed to wilt a bit under the physical bullying and talk of Benson Henderson. Benson dominated with forcing AJ to turtle and driving him out of bounds and off the stage multiple times. AJ shot some low singles and doubles in efforts to then reverse but Benson was

Having none of it and minus a semi close armbar-kimura transition, didn't have much to show for his half of the 15 mins of the match. 

Craig Jones utilized his z guard briefly to transition to a leg lock and it looked like Shields hesitated between deciding. Where playing legs or just bailing and that cost him. 

There was another match between Grimshaw and Canha that was positional passing and side mount et cetera but that I skimmed through almost to the end.   

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.

Rebranded WSOF Brings 2nd PFL Card July 29th

Jake Shields, Yushin Okami, Mike Kyle, and some other recognizable names will fill out a solid Cable TV cars at the rebranded WSOF event at the end of the month. Details and dates for their coming big payout format/League have yet to be solidified, but any competition to the UFC and Bellator is welcome. Competing MMA presentations to more casual viewers I think help promote the sport as a whole and build overall sport awareness. Also, guys making money outside the UFC is a good thing. The UFC finds itself clinging to its assertion that it is the premier organization but if guys are leaving for package deals elsewhere, how long will that ring true with those paying attention to more than Countdown specials and their hyperbolic monologues?