Polaris 12 Prologue: Episode 1 - Langaker, PJ Barch, Ash Williams, Gilbert Burns

Will Burns show up 20 lbs overweight again? Will Williams get robbed by refs/judges like at Kasai? Will the butter panther return to form after ACL surgery?

Quintet 3 Team Orders & Brackets Announced

This is basically Avengers Infinity War of Submission Grappling. I'm hard pressed to think of an event of any format with this varied a legion of competitors.
Yo. Can't. Wait.

Quintet 3 - 10/5: Team Line-Ups Finalized

Kasai 3 Welterweight GP Groups Announced

I’m beyond excited for this card Saturday. This whole event is ridiculous from prelims to main card to Grand Prix.
Lutes will likely advance in his group with a strong takedown game, willingness to disengage and reset endlessly and play the boundaries the way he did at the Kasai qualifier. He also looks like he’s on the "Jesus and hard work" bodybuilding regimen that’s hard to miss.
I’m having a harder time calling this bracket. Canuto brings a flying armbar, insert any other unpredictable move game, Silverio and Barch have top game and wrestling and Rau has a submission hunting game from bottom, and top/passing. 

Quintet 2 - Recap & Analysis: Team 10th Planet wins the day

Team Tiger Muay Thai vs Team Reebok

Vandijck vs Dong Sik Yoon
It's a lot of Vandijck beasting on the 45 year old and good bit smaller Yoon. Vandijck hits some fireman's carries (kata guruma for you Judo players out there) into some top position, but never really consolidates any positions of dominance. Yoon for his part is also unable to set up any legit submission attempts.
Both men off the mat.

Suleiman vs Tokoro
Another, much more considerable, size differential.
Suleiman rolls through for a couple kneebar/leg lock attempts, but otherwise time expires with no real deep submission attempts on either side.
Both men off the mat.

Viking Wong vs Haisam Rida
Viking Wong taps as early as is humanly *&^%ing possible to a toe hold that Rida grabs a hold of while standing over X-guard. I think he basically grabbed the foot with both hands and Wong was already tapping. Not gonna lie...given that and the little conversation that was had with the referees and Wong before the match...feels....a bit....shall...we say.....suspect?

Alex Schild vs Haisam Rida
Rida looks for the toe hold again, and Schild gives up the kneebar. On a guy that huge, it's hard to explain why Schild couldn't clear the knee line given how short his legs (and small they are) compared to Rida. Hmm.

Stuart Cooper vs Haisam Rida
Rida gets the RNC against Cooper with 4:40 left in the match. Team TIger Muay Thai gets broadsided and blown out with Team Reebok (Sakuraba's squad) only having to utilize 3 of its members to run through their 5. Ouch.

Up Next, Team 10th Planet vs Team Vagabond
PJ Barch vs Suchorabski
Barch on the back, high, transitions to an armbar as he loses the back, Suchorabski looking for a leg attack immediately following escaping the armbar attempt. Looks like we got a live one here. Suchorabski gets to the back with the body triangle, then transitions to a mounted arm-triangle, but doesn't quite have the position to finish it. Suchorabski sits to the ground after a reset and stalling warning from the referee to both competitors, Barch cuts through the lazy guard sit immediately and transitions to the back then immediately to a kimura grip. Suchorabski defends some dangerous looking armbar attacks/transitions, the match ends with each guy reaching for an ankle lock but to no avail.
Both guys off the mat.

Richie Martinez vs Joao Assis
Joao dives into a half-guard pass and Boogeyman is deep on a gogoplata attempt, Joao eventually escapes and they reset. Boogeyman again deep on a gogoplata style attack but Joao bails on the pass in response and they reset. Boogeyman again deep on the gogoplata style attack but Joao again bails on the pass and they end up with legs entangled. A tense moment of Joao attacks an ankle lock, but Boogeyman's long legs buy him time to clear the feet/bite on the hips/leg and he escapes.
Both guys off the mat.

Geo Martinez vs Satoshi Ishii
Wow. Talk about a size mismatch. Christ.
Ishii HEAAAAAVY on an over/under pass which he gets then continues to circle toward north/south. 2 minutes left and Ishii locks up a kimura. Danger. After wrenching the arm free, Ishii is literally lifting Geo's whole body off the mat in an attempt to extricate it from defense and crank it behind Geo's back. Geo escapes. Wow. 20 seconds left and Ishii locks up another kimura and turns it into an armbar attempt followed by a Japanese neck scissor but times runs out. Gutsy performance by Geo, no other way to put it. Heavyweight Olympic gold medalist Judoka had him in a full kimura with 2 minutes left on the clock and he survived.

Allam vs Kazusionak
Kazusionak sits/jumps into a rolling kneebar. Mind blown. Couldn't have drilled it any more aesthetically.

Kazusionak vs Sachnoff
Kazusionak falling back on an achilles lock. All crank. All the extension. Sachnoff escapes. Gets to the back. Locks up a body triangle. Gets the RNC finish.

Sachnoff vs Dopidze
Sachnoff spends time on the smaller guy's back but doesn't get the finish.

The referees (3) will decide by flag/votes which team continues on. Nail biter, but not really as Sachnoff basically won the last match.

Team 10th Planet moves on to face Team Reebok (Haleo I guess?) in the finals.

Up first:

PJ Barch vs Daisuke Nakamura
Barch hits an armdrag to the back, transitions through to a high back mount position wi/out hooks, looking to consolidate the position. Barch with a body lock from the back, Nakamura holding onto a kimura until the ref's call stalling and reset them. On the reset, from standing, some clinch work, Barch shrugs his body lock grip into a read body lock and Nakamura goes down to both knees allowing Barch to look for the back mount. Barch on the back, digging for an RNC, a short choke, then transitions off the back to attack to an armbar or possible back triangle armbar but loses it with less than a minute to go. Barch is back to it with a stepover kimura, and is deep on it with a few remaining seconds but Daisuke doesn't tap and time runs out.
Both men off the mat.

Sakuraba vs Boogeyman
Sakuraba through to sidemount/scarf hold/kesa getame, but gives up the back, Boogeyman gets the truck and looking for a possible groin stretch/banana split submission or twister. Boogeyman catches him in a Darce. My heart cracks into a couple pieces. Sigh.

Boogeyman vs the Giant Rida
Rida looking to pass as Boogeyman sits. Rida jumping though to mount, then on the pass, then step over to the back, locks up the kimura grip and falls back on the armbar for the win. Looked like Boogeyman had space to escape, as Rida was reconfiguring his grip and had a few grip switches on the arm, but who knows.

Rida vs Geo
Rida on top of Geo who once again is facing a behemoth of a man. Looking for that toe hold but Geo doesn't leave his foot dangling like chum in the water, uses it to come up to top, and as Rida defends losing top position, his head hangs low and Geo locks up a guillotine, then goes high elbow as Rida is slow to defend the second hand. Geo transitions to mount and strangles the giant.

Geo vs Tokoro
Geo has him mounted 2.5 minutes in. Geo gets to the back, but loses it. Tokoro looking to pass. Both guys working and both are probably just glad to face someone roughly their own size. Both guys off the mat as the match ends in a draw.

Yoon vs Allam
Yoon has his work cut out for him as he faces the younger, considerably heavier man. 3.5 minutes in and Allam has the body triangle on the back. Ouch. Allam crushes the face, then Yoon gives up the chin and a palm to palm grip short grip choke finishes. Allam gets the win.

Team 10th Planet gets by Team Vagabond by the narrowest of margins, then gets the win(s) necessary in the final to take the day. Looking forward to see them face Team Polaris from the first Quintet.
Another interesting clash of styles and faces. Man, I love Quintet (even though there's no heel hooks). Some very gutsy performances and some surprise standouts as well. I gotta give credit where credit is due: watching Geo survive Satoshi wrenching on the kimura was the real deal. His finish of Rida as well, impressive stuff.
The strength of the back position and firepower to finish once there, the body triangle, and poor leg lock defense stood out as turning points in a number of matches.

EBI 16: Female Bantamweights - Recap and Analysis - Mesquita Wins it (Predictably)

Was more excited for the slate of competitors with more IBJJF-centric brown/black belts on the roster, but alas, I guess folks get injured, and folks elect to not compete for money, and other various reasons.

Overall, with the advent of more women brown and black belts, the overall JiuJitsu was of a much higher pedigree, that being said, you're behind the times if you're jumping to closed guard in a nogi/sub only format. The leg entanglements were more advanced than the previous women's EBI, but the calf slicer, toe holds, and heel hook finish all show much room for development in the women's division of sub only and leg lock friendly events. Overall, the talent attracted was of a higher level than the previous installment, but the mismatch of black belt world champs versus competitors who are arguably purple belt level or maaaaaybe brown belt level was.....well, made for some mismatches. Anyhow, entertaining due to a high rate of finishes, so I'll end my criticism on a high note.

Mesquita vs Neidrauer
Mesquita jumps guard, gets the arm across the body, threatens the armbar from bottom to get the back take, which Neidrauer defends and does so by giving up mount. Mesquita quickly locks up a kimura from mount, dismounts to begin the attack. 2 min's down and she's transitioned to several grip breaks, and Neidrauer gets caught after a hitchhiker style escape with Mesquita tight on the joysticking of the arm. Mesquita by armbar.

Leve vs Mayo
They spend 2 mins on the feet before Leve gets a foot/ankle and runs Mayo down to the mat. After some efforst to pass, Mayo shoots then sits back to guard. Leve spends nearly 5 mins in guard and some efforts to posture/pass, but gets swept, recovers to a scramble and despite lacking much technique, Mayo shoves her to the ground (hey, sometimes that's all there is to it/that's necessary). Mayo spends the remaining 90 seconds of regulation attempting to pass, but to no avail.
Leve wins on escape time.

Boveda vs Vaughan
Haflway through the match after a lot of closed guard on both sides, Vaughan forces through to half-guard, and quickly to mount, then to what appears to be an arm triangle, but despite Boveda being in an S-mount type position with the arm giftwrapped, she taps - presumably from the arm triangle?

Alzuguir vs Feliciano
Alzuguir vs is patient, then gets past the guard and works to mount where she's patient. Feliciano is patient due to the sub only format and doesn't give up the back in order to escape, smart move on her part. They move to overtime. Alzuguir for her accomplishments in IBJJF, and the Gi, not really having any tools to get to the back by scooping the elbows/create transitions to move to submission opportunities. Feliciano, however, in overtime, with Alzuguir on her back manages to get to the better side to address the body triangle, but (hard to tell from the angle) gets RNC/jaw crushed?) then opts in the armbar position to go for the bicep crush, but loses the elbow position from the head-side arm, and therefore doesn't have the pressure to force the extrication of the arm to get it free in time/Alzuguir escapes quickly.

Basilio vs Patterson
Basilio hunts for a guillotine from top early to pass/attack. Basilio looks to backstep, but Patterson to her credit uses the free hook to trip her up, and re-pommels to suck in the leg then transitions but Basilio attacks with her own heel hook. The angle/depth looks okay from the aerial view, but then a nice transition, and attack sequence from Patterson who sets up her own kneebar. The angle from top looks good, but the foot is at her sternum/chest level, making it unlikely to finish, especially on a black belt of Basilio's caliber. Patterson spends some time with her feet to the outside, triangled, looking to toe hold or look for an outside heel hook, but gets lazy, and allows the black belt to roll belly down and despite the leg being straight, submits to a toe hold.

Nordeno vs Tracy
Couple mins in, Tracy gets to single leg X, foot across the hip to attack what initially looks like a heel hook, but she opts for a toe hold, interesting choice, Nordeno counters with a heel hook, they pommel feet to the inside and disengage. Nordeno attacks with a toe hold of her own, and Tracy snakes a leg inside to alleviate the torque. Tracy looks for a toe hold, but gives up a potential calf slicer/crab ride/back take with Nordeno beginning the series of attacks/climb from behind. Nordeno goes belly down on an ankle lock, and Tracy doesn't really commit to resetting after the initial attack, and Nordeno gets even deeper in on that lackadaisical foot left behind in calf slice position from last time, and this gets the tap giving Nordeno the win, and knocking out the 10th Planet Women's Qualifying winner.

Goodell vs Sullivan
Sullivan selling out on some ankle locks belly down, Goodell looking for some back takes. Hard to say what's having more effectiveness.
Sullivan ekes it out by fastest escape time.

Ribas vs Smadja
Ribas on top with some heavy pressure (they always say it is, but I've had people yelling that in matches, and the guy on top of me didn't feel heavy et cetera), Smadja escapes into a leg entanglement/attack as a counter to a sloppy ankle lock sit back by Ribas. Ribas pre-emptively spins, but Smadja smartly keeps the bite, keeps the feet pinched, at the hip, grips palm to palm, and the flailing escape didn't get Ribas any distance from the hips, and then turns the opposite way in desperation (the wrong way at this point) and wisely taps.
Smadja with the heel hook for the Win.

Quarterfinal 1 - Mesquita vs Leve
Mesquita gets the arm overhooked from closed guard, has the far wrist under control, dangerous spot for Leve, especially against a black belt....and predictably, once the wrist is controlled, and the arm overwrapped, the triangle isn't far behind, after some adjustments, Mesquita gets the tap via triangle.

Quarterfinal 2 - Vaughan vs Alzuguir
Vaughan shows some impressive passing in forcing Alzuguir to turtle, then on to attack the back/turtle. Vaughan is pretty high off the top of the back but stays on the attack as Alzuguir looks to escape the high back take. Alzuguir escapes, but accepts bottom position and Vaughan looks to be considerably more fresh. Alzuguir spins from bottom to 50/50. Vaughan waits for a sloppy heel hook entry/grip attack by Alzuguir then uses it to come up to standing, then address the foot on the hip in an effort to escape the leg entanglement and possibly pass the guard from top/standing. Alzuguir pommels Vaughan's foot to the 50/50 again to retreat a bit to a control position and reset. Vaughan appears to take some chances when looking for avenues to escape during the leg lock exchanges. I can't help but expect someone more experienced in controlling the legs will catch her in one of these transitions where she's used to escaping.....and from 50/50 she twists the wrong way, doesn't fit the hands or split the feet controlling her...and gets half kneebar/half heel hooked.
Eh.

Quarterfinal 3 - Basilio vs Nordeno
Basilio gets the arm overhooked, and hits a key lock/Mir lock from closed guard, despite Nordeno's arm looking pretty far out of the hole and not really at 90 degrees.
Basilio by key lock/Americana/Mir Lock/whatevs

Quarterfinal 4 - Sullivan vs Smadja
Smadja uses top position to sit back on a leg early, then throws up a triangle attempts, once on top, she allows Sullivan to spin through to an outside heel hook position, Smadja begins some counter measures, but stops with her knee midway out, and appears to just stay in range for Sullivan to crank on the foot left behind as Smadja never completed clearing the knee line in order to reset. Sullivan moves on via unimpressive toe hold triumph over marginal defensive measures taken by Smadja.

PJ Barch vs Mikey Gonzalez
Some wrestling on the feet for a few minutes, Barch in half-guard, passes the guard, as Gonzalez turns out, in an effort to escape/scramble, he leaves behind and arm and Barch is on the mistake quickly, he transitions to the back, Gonzalez briefly looks as though he'll escape, but elbow control and stopping rather than insisting until he was back head to head/in a neutral position gets Barch sitting in top side half-guard with the arm still locked up in a Kimura grip which leads to a transition to an armbar, then back and in the escape the arm comes free and Barch finishes Gonzalez with a Kimura.

Semifinal 1 - Mesquita vs Alguzuir
Mesquita jumps to closed guard but Alzuguir sits back and drives the foot across the hip threatening a heel hook, Mesquita comes to top, splits the feet, and is on top, relatively comfortable, she dives over the top and snags an errant arm to give her a Kimura from top mount. With about 2 minutes remaining she steps over the free arm completely to lock up a triangle and force the tap.

Semifinal 2 - Basilio vs Sullivan
Basilio effortlessly passes, transitions to mount, giftwraps the arm and is hunting for the backtake 90 seconds into the match. Sullivan looks to be escaping but leaves behind her elbow and Basilio locks up a Kimura which evolves into a straight armbar for the finish as Sullivan's lanky frame does her in whilst escaping the mount from earlier.

Richie Martinez vs Bobby Emmons
Emmons passes (somehow, because the movement would not suggest he's a guard passing machine...) then does just enough to stay in top side mount for 3-4 boring minutes afterward. From there the flail-fest really kicks off in earnest. Boogeyman looks for a Darce from top while floating over the flailing legs of Emmons, but doesn't lock it up, Emmons halfway commits to driving underneath with a Craig Jones style entry but he lacks the leg dexterity, inversion rotation, and general sense of swinging his legs all the far way around for it to work and ends up turtled with Boogeyman looking to take advantage. Emmons triangles the leg but its while he has lost the underhook battle, his legs are completely smashed flat to one side, and there's no way a guy the size/frame/experience of Martinez is going to let Emmons get underneath him to do anything with it....and it looks like the Darce is forthcoming due to forcing the triangle around the available leg from this position...and that's exactly how it goes down. You learn early on when experimenting with getting the triangle around the legs that this is the cost of locking it up from out of position, and this danger does exist.

Final - Mesquita vs Basilio
Both women seated 90 seconds in, neither wanting to come on top to spend time passing. Both pommeling their feet to the inside position while some lackluster handfighting. Both women seated again at the 7 minute mark. Basilio leaps over the top for a guillotine, but while floating, and lacking the skills to pommel her feet to the inside position ends up in danger of a heel hook as Mesquita's foot comes across the hip, fortunately for Basilio, she's pretty stretched out, rather than caught with the knee bent roughly 90 degrees or near it, and with both legs almost completely straight and extended when she goes to triangle them again, she ends up low down the leg, right above Basilio's knee so she should be relatively safe even when Mesquita goes belly down. They spend 2 minutes in 50/50 not really sure how to turn it into a heel hook (sigh),

Overtime - Basilio wisely is slightly walking her legs away before time kicks in, but stays flat on her back/shoulders when she goes to thumb post/hitchhike out and predictably with a black belt on her arm joysticking it, gets tapped ruthlessly quickly for not having the details necessary to compromise Mesquita's legs cross body before going for that escape.
Details matter, people.
Mesquita wins via insanle easy armbar in the 1st overtime.
Ignorance of the overtime and the escapes for the first layer of common armbar overtime attacks costs Basilio from even really having a shot in the overtime portion.