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The event will get less hype with Georges St-Pierre and Gordon Ryan both pulling out, but UFC’s BJJ venture is still putting on a damn good card with several elite grapplers at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 5 (UFC FPI 5).
The card is now headlined by gi world champ Nicholas Meregali, who will continue his no gi career against Ryan’s longterm rival in Felipe Pena.
Two other intriguing heavyweight match ups are also going to be featured, with B-Team star Nicky Rodriguez taking on reigning ADCC champion Yuri Simoes, and recent ADCC trials winner Dan Manasoiu going against BJJ world champ Victor Hugo.
The sleeper pick and underrated match to watch is definitely Nicky Ryan’s bout against Jonnatas Gracie, which is probably guaranteed to be an entertaining and technical affair.
Mason Fowler, Gordon Ryan’s original opponent on the card, will now face B-Team’s Haisam Rida. With this being a Fight Pass card, they again included UFC vets, with Hannah Goldy and Vagner Rocha also slotted in the card.
Join us starting on Sunday, December 10 starting at 8 p.m. ET for some entertaining BJJ action.
UFC Fight Pass Invitational 5 recap
Nicholas Meregali won the main event, but it wasn’t very entertaining as his opponent Felipe Pena just tried to stall for several minutes of the match. Pena was deducted 6 points for passivity and 1 for a guard pull, but in the overtime period he still didn’t show any urgency to try to win. In the end, the BJJ star in Meregali got the back, and Pena quickly tapped before the one-handed rear naked choked was even locked in.
Best performers of the night are the other two heavyweights in Nicky Rodriguez and Mason Fowler. Rodriguez absolutely dominated Yuri Simoes from the regular period, where they didn’t count the points, to the OT frame as he got slick takedowns and a lot of dominant positions over the reigning ADCC champion.
Mason Fowler, who was supposed to face Gordon Ryan, dominated late replacement Haisam Rida, controlling him from side mount and north south before finishing with a kimura.
Both Rodriguez and Fowler called for a match with Gordon Ryan next, with Nicky Rod asking for each men to put up $50,000 of their own money in a winner take all BJJ match.
UFC Fight Pass Invitational 5 full results, video highlights
Nicholas Meregali def. Felipe Pena by submission (tapped before rear naked choke was fully locked)
Nicky Rodriguez def. Yuri Simoes by points
Mason Fowler def. Haisam Rida by kimura
Victor Hugo def. Dan Manasoiu by americana
Jonnatas Gracie def. Nicky Ryan by points
Elisabeth Clay def. Luiza Monteiro by heel hook
Vagner Rocha def. Victor Silveiro by short choke
Aaron Wilson def. Christian Guzman by triangle armbar
Hannah Goldy def. Amanda Mazza by armbar
Achilles Rocha def. Andy Varela by points
How to watch UFC Fight Pass Invitational 5: Start time, free live stream for first BJJ matches
UFC Fight Pass Invitational 5, as the name suggests, will be streamed live on UFC Fight Pass. The event happens on Sunday, December 10 starting at 8 p.m. ET, but there will be a free live stream of the earlier matches on the YouTube embed below.
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