Keenan Talks Brass Tacks (and Sponsorship Program/Tryouts)

I've always had a lot of respect for Keenan as a disrupter of the status quo. I appreciate anyone who says unpopular things and doesn't back down from voicing either the unconventional or the unpopular. He references some ideas about "how things are done" versus stopping to ask yourself "why are they done" and goes in depth about the goals for his gym, the program, and some of the things he's looking for in potential team members.

BJJ Scout's BJJ Digest: Keenan Talks Hero Worship, Kinectic Mismatch Fest, et al

I haven't bothered to watch Kinectic because anytime one guy can wax an entire 5 man squad, it was a non-competitive AF affair. Basically, as close to work as you can set up that isn't predetermined. I'm glad guys got paid, hopefully the event made money, whatevs.

BJJ Scout's BJJ Digest: Tonon Recalls Keenan Poach Effort for TLI, Craig Jones gonna Craig Jones, et al

Ah, the good ole Brown Belt Kumite days, prior to the college gang rape thing coming out about Master *****, the NYE rape case, the DJ Jackson case, the well, everything.....it was a younger, more naive time in JiuJitsu, Master ***** laying low these days, reaaaaaal low, in fact, even when he corners guys in the UFC or on the contender series he's clearly not trying to be caught on camera (this is a guy, if you'll recall, that promoted Dominic Cruz to blue belt inside the Octagon after a fight and clearly loved the spotlight prior to the outing of all the problematic stuff surrounding his team....)... anyway, I've digressed.

DJ won't ever win a world title because, well, you can't pass guard on both knees with your head in the crotch for 7 minutes. Spriggs can't get past Keenan's lapel/worm guard, and who else is there? Shane?
Dude won and literally no one cared because his team is the penultimate black sheep of the JiuJitsu community. I guess, at the end of the day, it does matter not only what you do but how you do it, and more so...with whom you choose to surround yourself....and training with such a problematic team has tainted any success that may come their way at times.

The ole proverb goes: the rot starts from the top.

BJJ Scout's BJJ Digest: Keenan Shades DDS, Metamoris Return Comments Section Liiiiit, Wallid chimes in on Renzo...so muuuuuch

Man, I'm over hear eating popcorn.

Keenan chimes in (a former Team Lloyd Irvin protege who left not really during the NYE party sexual assault scandal, but months and months later when the public scrutiny was relentless) on DDS cult behavior with an anecdote. Meanwhile he trains with the hardest repping Jesus squad in JiuJitsu with some of the most suspect physiques around the year.

Wallid Ismail pops in to stoke the flames of his ages old Gracie beef.

Askren vs Burns? Let it be true. Askren teases Usman for BJJ black belt but doesn't say a word about is that a tech fall? Is that the right term in wrestling for how he got tossed for a 5 point throw?

Metamoris has laid low long enough (the guy who called it the original Fyre Fest deserves a *&^%'in gold star hahahaha) to orchestrate new suckers to give them money and athletes to be dumb enough to not get paid again I guess.

Man, what a weekend for combat sports stuff.
We had a UFC, Ultimate Mat Warriors, Abu Dhabi Gi on Saturday and King of the Mats on Sunday.

FloGrappling Showdown Cash Challenge - Atos vs GFTeam - Feb 23rd

I'll be at the Finishers Open next Saturday, coaching one of my guys, but it's going down 5pm EST Saturday, Febuary 23rd:

Teams are as follows:

Via FloGrappling.com: "Team Atos vs GF Team Competitors

• 66KG Joao Mendes (Atos) vs Israel Souza (GFTeam) 
• 77KG Michael Liera Jr (Atos) vs Jaime Canuto (GFTeam) 
• 88KG Keenan Cornelius (Atos) vs Dante Leon (GF Team)
• 99KG Lucas ”‘Hulk” Barbosa (Atos) vs Gutemberg Pereira (GFTeam) 
• +99kg Kaynan Duarte (Atos) vs Max Gimenes (GFTeam)

---

Rules: Standard IBJJF Rules: 10 Minute Matches

No surprises here, all competitors have extensive experience in this format.

---

Team Standings Structure

• Win by submission = 3 points
• Win by points = 2 points
• Draw = 1 point
• Loss = 0 points"

Some early thoughts: Lieira will win by submission. Keenan will decisively beat Leon by points. Hulk looked less than usual monstrous self at the King of the Mats, so we'll see if he's hitting a slump. Duarte will beat Gimenes by points. Duarta struggled with Meregali in the most recent match of his I watched, but Duarte I don't think will have the same stylistic troubles with Gimenes. 

BJJ Scout's BJJ Digest - Penn Reminisces starting at Ralph's, Keenan, Penn Learns Berimbolo, Shoulder of Justice...

The crossroads of things related to Ralph continues around and around, we'll see how it all shakes out. Happy Holidays to those who didn't find time to train, happy holidays to those who did. I managed to work a ton of holiday hours and still only miss a few sessions due to holidays hours a the gym(s) and traveling a bit. Big things slated for 2019.

Guam Doing Big Things

I've slowly noticed the trickle of Guamanian fighters in mostly Asian region promotions and now a few in the UFC and Bellator. I'll say this. Those dudes comes to fight. That being said, the jiujitsu scene must be growing at the effort and behest of some motivated people with another event like one I recall awhile back: 

Polaris Jiu-Jitsu PPV This Weekend: Competitor Profiles

Eduardo Telles



Garry Tonon

 

Victor Silverio

Oli Geddes

 

Keenan Cornelius
 

White Belt's 60 Second Guide to Polaris BJJ PPV This Weekend

Keenan will finish Marte in less than 10 minutes. Having seen Lucas Leite get the quick armbar on Marte awhile back, I don't see Keenan having much trouble dispatching Marte.

Tonon via heel hook scramble in less than 5 minutes

I see a Draw here unless Lister gets the heel hook early.

Telles will patiently grind down Fowler and get the finish by about 8 minutes, collar choke, from the back.

AJ by RNC because it's NoGi.

Silverio is a beast, and I've heard conflicting stories that Kit is actually training now versus not training at all.
Silverio has looked increasingly good at black belt, and especially in the Gi. I have to take him by decision/will go the distance but a match I think will be tough.

I gotta go with Nicolini by back choke/lapel choke because I love her shin to shin guard.

And lastly, I'll take Darragh because he seemed like one of the nicest guys on the BJJ Kumite series.

Keenan Cornelius & His Favorite Wrist Locks (Mao de Vaca)

Managed to hit a wrist lock from an omoplata this weekend at US Grappling's Submission Only Richmond event. That being said, I love wrist locks.

Competitors I Currently Watch Daily

Lucas Lepri - guard passing and sweeping. In particular the lapel grip he uses and buffers with his knee/elbow connection as the basis of his passing game



Tanner Rice - wins over guys like Tanquinho et al.



Keenan Cornelius - lapel guard/guard retention, active legs and hooks and control
 

Various IBJJF San Fran 2014 Open Matches/Rafa vs Gianni Grippo Part Deux - IBJJF San Francisco Open

With some new editions in the lower class at black belt (Gianni and half of the Miyao Brothers), there will be some repeated match-ups.
Gianni recently faced Rafa at the Euros and lost a relatively stale match on points.
This time, however, Rafa turned up the heat.

 

Keenan vs Antelante at Weight



Keenan vs Moizinho in the Open Class Final
 

Gui Mendes vs Paschoal

Jiu-Jitsu Expo Superfights Card (Thus Far)

From what I've heard, only the Braga vs Miyao match will be contested in the Gi.

Kron Gracie vs Rodolfo Vieira

Leandro Lo vs Romulo Barral

Dean Lister vs Cyborg

Jeff Glover vs Bruno Malfacine

Samuel Braga vs Joao Miyao (Gi)

Keenan Cornelius vs Lucas Leite



 

This Week in BJJ Episode 43: Keenan Cornelius & Michael Liera Jr.

Watch it.

 

BJJ drama for Friday: DJ Jackson calls out Keenan

Taken from the super professional source of Facebook, this intrepid reporter has the scoop!

Keenan Cornelius and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

In the wake of his departure from Team Lloyd Irvin, here's an interview with Keenan on Jiu-JItsu. Interested to see what continuing for both Lloyd Irvin, the team, and where the higher level guys all go (assuming they leave).

Xande Ribeiro vs Keenan Cornelius: Copa Podio

BJJ Kumite Week: Lloyd Irvin & Co.

For those who don't know, after a long saga of brown belt debating and what not, Lloyd Irvin's got a bunch of top notch brown belts out at Camp Springs Maryland in a week of training then doing a submission only style tournament with the last man standing of the pack facing Keenan Cornelius.

So rather than read rumors on internet forums and even comments from those who would rather speculate than confirm the truth, here it is from the source:

"To add further to the excitement, Master Lloyd asked the group “so which one of you thinks you’re the best brown belt in the world?” Everyone in the confident group raised their hand. However one guy is more accomplished than the rest, Master Lloyd called Luke Costello down from the bleachers to the mat. “Luke you are the most accomplished brown belt here. You get to choose your first opponent.” Luke shifted back and forth on his feet and turned bright red. “Well I suppose I should’ve done some due diligence.” “I don’t know, I’ll pick the smallest guy here (points to Victor Silverio).” Victor Silverio took to the mat. Master Lloyd asked Victor, “do you want this match to be gi or no gi?” Victor quickly answers, “no gi.” Victor later explained that Luke beat him in a previous no gi match so he was anxious to get his revenge. Everyone in the room was a bit surprised – “why didn’t he choose Keenan?” one competitor whispered to another. Then Master Lloyd asked, “who’s the second most accomplished brown belt in the room?” Garry Tonon quickly stepped up the plate. Garry, in true warrior form, chose Keenan for his first match. Keenan chose to face Garry in the gi. In interviews, Garry explained that he picked Keenan because he’s the man to beat. Garry lost a close match to Keenan at NAGA and is anxious to exact revenge. When asked, Keenan revealed his strategy, “to choke Garry from the back.”
The matches officially start Tuesday, December 11:
Luke Costello vs. Victor Silverio
Garry Tonon vs. Keenan Cornelius
AJ Sousa vs. Thomas Oyarzun
Darragh O’Conaill vs. Eduardo Salazar
Sean Roberts vs. Ilke Bulut
Luca Anacoreta will get a bye in the first round. AJ Agazarm will join the tournament on Wednesday, December 12."

Yep. Keenan Cornelius putting Brown belts on notice

I blogged about it here before, but, Keenan put brown belts on notice at the IBJJF Atlanta.

Interview Thursday: Lloyd Irvin and Keenan Cornelius

Following up on the post last week HERE with Lloyd Irvin and Jimmy Harbison, Lloyd Irvin and Keenan Cornelius discuss his dominating year at Purple Belt and ascension to brown belt.