KASAI Pro adds number of big matches: ADCC champs rematch, 8-man tourney set
Murilo Santana and Craig Jones rematch on Dec 9
KASAI Grappling continues to make waves in the competitive grappling industry and that trend continued leading up to their event on December 9. This week, the promotion announced a number of super fights to go along with the already announced attractions.
The biggest news was the rematch set between Craig Jones and Murilo Santana. Jones and Santana met at ADCC this past September, and Jones pulled out an exciting victory via triangle. The Australian black belt shocked many onlookers when he submitted both Leandro Lo and Santana before falling to Keenan Cornelius in the semifinals. Now, he’s become one of the hottest names to watch in the sport as he’s branched out to other promotions such as Submission Underground and the Eddie Bravo Invitational.
Santana is a well-known veteran of the industry and a multiple-time champion across many organizations. The Mario Yamasaki black belt has competed against many of the top names in grappling and his resume boasts wins against the likes of Marcel Goncalves, Lucas Barbosa, Matheus Diniz and others.
The main event of the day features a rematch between two men who walked out of ADCC with gold medals: Yuri Simoes and Gordon Ryan. Ryan earned gold in the 88 kilograms division while Simoes earned gold in the 99 kilograms division – earning his second straight gold medal at the event. These two recently competed against each other at EBI 6 last year where Ryan came out victorious.
The action doesn’t stop there as an eight-man lightweight tournament is also planned to crown the first KASAI Pro lightweight tournament. Renato Canuto, Enrico Cocco, ‘Junny’ Ocascio, AJ Agazarm, Celso Vinicius, Gianni Grippo, Mansher Khera and Garry Tonon round out the field. This group is expecting to bring a lot of action to be the first man to hold the crown in the weight class.
Brown belts, Cameron Florczak and Alvaro Tautiva are also scheduled to face one another. Another super fight between Ray Sherwood and Brian Richards was also announced for the event. Mike Davila will face Nick Ronan. Jared Weiner competes against Mike Medrano. Lincoln Pereira battles Leonardo Delgado. Jeson Rosario is scheduled to compete against Sean Yadimarco. Jobany Rosario versus Rickson Pimentel rounds out the undercard.
KASAI Pro is set for December 9 from the Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse in Brooklyn, New York. Matches will be broadcast live on FloGrappling.