Grappling Report: Ryan Hall given surprise invite to ADCC World Championships
A rundown of the biggest headlines and news from the world of competitive grappling.
The competitor list for ADCC 2022 has been growing slowly but surely over the past few months thanks to the conclusion of several trials events and the announcement of several invited athletes. There have been a number of surprises already with the inclusion of an IBJJF world champion who’s never competed at ADCC, Mikey Musumeci, and one who’s never even competed without a gi, Nicholas Meregali.
The latest invite was perhaps even more shocking however, as UFC veteran and leglock specialist Ryan Hall has been revealed as part of the 66kg division. Hall has competed at the ADCC world championships several times before and even won a bronze medal back in 2009 but he has been focusing on his MMA career since then and hasn’t competed in professional grappling since 2012.
Medusa 2 crowns two new champions
Eddie Bravo’s latest promotion, Medusa, has hit the ground running and quickly become a fantastic place for female grapplers to make a name for themselves. The promotion staged their first event towards the end of 2021 and crowned two champions at once, as the event features both a Combat Jiu Jitsu and an EBI rules tournament. This time around the women were competing in the Bantamweight and Strawweight divisions respectively.
Aislinn O’Connell had to overcome some tough opposition from promotional veterans Vanessa Demopoulos and Fatima Kline but in the end she walked away as the Medusa Bantamweight CJJ champion. In the EBI Strawweight tournament Sophia Casella impressed the crowd by submitting two out of three of her opponents on the way to gold, while Randi Miley and Bre Stikkelman won their superfights.
Full results for the event can be found here.
The Eddie Bravo Invitational returns with a bang
Last weekend was the most action-packed of the year so far, thanks in part to the hard work of Eddie Bravo and his team. Not only did they stage Medusa 2, but the very next night they got back to work in order to run the return of the Eddie Bravo Invitational with EBI 19. The event was actually won by one of the students from Bravo’s lineage as 10th Planet’s Alan Sanchez stormed to victory in an impressive showing.
Sanchez took just a little over six minute to submit his first two opponents, heelhooking Danny Stolfi and locking up a dead orchard against John Combs. After that he was able to display his experience of the EBI ruleset as Pablo Lavaselli took him all the way to overtime before he secured the choke. He then met John Danaher product Oliver Taza in the final and edged him out in a back and forth match that also went in to overtime.
Full results for the event can be found here.
The biggest underdog wins Emerald City Invitational 4
The final grappling event set for a stacked weekend was the fourth Emerald City Invitational. The promotion staged the event at 155lbs and a number of elite competitors like Gabriel Sousa, Josh Cisneros, Gianni Grippo, and Jon Calestine. Surprisingly though, it wasn’t any of the biggest names who emerged victorious in the end as the night was full of upsets from start to finish.
Kieran Kichuk won his place in the tournament through a qualifier event and became the first person to do so and go on to win the main event. He showed his tactical expertise by taking all three of his big-name opponents in to deep waters and winning his matches by submission in EBI overtime. He had tough matches against Josh Cisneros, Gianni Grippo, and Adam Benayoun, but in the end he made it past each one to take home the title.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Quick Hits
- ONE Championship makes some big moves as it signs both Kade and Tye Ruotolo to compete in submission grappling and eventually MMA.
- Jiu-Jitsu legend and frequent masters competitor Wellington ‘Megaton’ Dias has become the latest person to join the exclusive club of Coral Belts in BJJ.
- UFC Featherweight title-contender and Rener Gracie black belt Brian Ortega is stuck in Mexico after experiencing legal trouble with alleged ‘corrupt’ cops.
- Gordon Ryan has stepped in on short notice to replace his younger brother Nicky at an upcoming Who’s Number One event against Jacob ‘The Hillbilly Hammer’ Couch.