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UFC star Aljamain Sterling unhappy with loss, slams BJJ rules
Fury Pro Grappling 8 was the final big professional grappling show of the year and as usual, they booked a number of UFC veterans to compete on the card. There was plenty of BJJ action and some exciting submission finishes throughout the card, with one of the most notable moments coming towards the end of the night. Pat Sabatini locked up a beautiful Suloev stretch very early in his match with Niko Price, forcing him to tap with one of the best submission finishes of the night.
All of this led up to a BJJ main event that was incredibly anti-climactic. Aljamain Sterling was competing against grappling veteran Kevin Dantzler and neither man was willing to venture outside their gameplan. Dantzler wanted to play guard and Sterling wanted to wrestle, so a lot of the match was Sterling standing over an opponent on his back and asking him to get up. Dantzler won the decision, likely based on the only submission attempt of the match, and Sterling was clearly unhappy with it as he went on a rant about BJJ rules and scoring.
Full results of the event can be found here.
New bantamweight champion emerges at Medusa 5
Medusa has quickly become the biggest female-only grappling promotion on the planet and Eddie Bravo has guided his brainchild to huge success. They finished 2024 with their 5th event, featuring a 16-woman bantamweight combat jiu-jitsu tournament. It was the same division they hosted a tournament in for their last event, so the reigning champion Alex Enriquez was the obvious favorite. She won her first round match against Gillian Noll but was injured in the process, and had to drop out of the bracket at that point.
Although that was unfortunate for her, it proved to be a great win in retrospect as Noll re-entered the bracket in her place and put on amazing show. Noll submitted her next opponent and then beat both of the other top contenders for the title, Peyton Letcher and Jennifer Rivera, in EBI overtime. By winning the promotion’s bantamweight combat jiu-jitsu title she also set up an incredibly interesting rematch with Enriquez, that the promotion will almost certainly look to book in 2024.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Ryan Aitken retains Combat Jiu Jitsu middleweight world title
Medusa 5 wasn’t the only major combat jiu jitsu event in the last few weeks, as Eddie Bravo also put together another edition of the CJJ world championships. This time it was taking place in the middleweight division, and Ryan Aitken was the returning champion after a great performance in 2021. There was a ton of tough opponents waiting for him, but he managed to turn in another vintage performance to defend his title.
Aitken submitted Sean Fallon in the opening round and beat top contender Chris Wojcik by ride-time in EBI overtime in the quarter final. His last two opponents ended up being a pair of rematches from his last title-winning performance in 2021, with Derek Rayfield standing in his way first. He submitted Rayfield with a heel hook before facing off with another top 10th Planet representative, Kyle Chambers. With his final win coming in EBI overtime, Aitken took home the title once again.
Full results for the event can be found here.
BJJ superstars set to compete at ONE 165
ONE Championship has become known for pushing submission grappling by building their own divisions and allowing elite grapplers to develop as MMA fighters at their events. The best examples of both of those approaches are on full display at ONE 165, which promises to be an exciting card from start to finish. The first fight to be announced was the long-awaited fun fight between Japanese MMA legend Shinya Aoki and UFC veteran Sage Northcutt.
The second MMA fight announced for the event is a battle between two of the promotion’s top featherweight contenders, ADCC veteran Garry Tonon and former two-division champion Martin Nguyen. There will also be a submission grappling world title on the line in a rematch of one of the best grappling matches of 2023. Kade Ruotolo will be attempting to defend his lightweight title for the second time against one of the best grapplers in Europe, Tommy Langaker.
Quick Hits
- ADCC announced their first ever Youth Championship for the day before ADCC 2024, featuring 192 elite young prospects competing across 24 different brackets.
- Igor Tanabe put Shinsho Anzai opponent to sleep at RIZIN 45, moving to 5-0 in his professional MMA career with every fight ending in the first round.
- Famous English personal trainer and author James Smith was promoted to brown belt in BJJ by Ryan Walsh at Garage Jiu Jitsu Wollongong.
- The IBJJF announced a series of changes to their rules for the 2024 season, making minor amendments to stalling rules and straight ankle-locks for brown belts and above.
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Smash pass to the Truck, to Back control
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