Grappling Report: Gordon Ryan slaps Andre Galvao in altercation
A rundown of the biggest headlines and news from the world of competitive grappling.
Who’s Number One delivered yet another fantastic event that produced a number of moments worth reporting. First up was Nathiely De Jesus overcoming the odds to become the first woman to defeat Gabi Garcia for the second time, followed by Roberto Jimenez showing some excellent defensive work before succumbing to an armbar at the hands of Gordon Ryan.
The main event then saw Craig Jones make short work of ATOS’ Ronaldo Junior, and that’s when everything went downhill. As Jones’ teammate, Ryan took to the mats to shake hands with ATOS head coach Andre Galvao, he was flipped off in return as a result of their recent social media wars. The pair had another backstage altercation where Ryan slapped Galvao as the pair argued back and forth.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Gordon Ryan smacks the daylight out of Andre Galvao pic.twitter.com/7om88yCVGq
— MMABreez (@BreezMma) February 27, 2021
Two incredibly close decisions at the top of Fight 2 Win 164
F2W 164 saw the promotion catch a lot of heat from fans and pundits as both the main and co-main event matchups were unbelievably close, which naturally leads to some debate about the deserved victor. In the co-main event, Canadian Dante Leon wasn’t able to secure the victory against Manuel Ribamar despite the athletes trading Guillotine attempts and Ribamar was awarded the Decision victory.
The main event then saw a huge upset as Vagner Rocha emerged victorious against multiple-time ADCC World Champion Yuri Simoes. Neither man stalled, but neither man was able to really get their game going in the match which led to an impossible choice for the judges on the night. In an uncommon reaction, F2W CEO Seth Daniels even publicly addressed the complaints and explained the reasoning behind both of the decisions.
Full results for the event can be found here.
16 year-old Victoria Lee follows in sibling’s footsteps in ONE debut
It might seem crazy to most that Victoria Lee just made her professional MMA debut at the age of 16, and in Asia’s biggest organization, ONE Championship. But it wasn’t even remotely new ground for the Lee family as Victoria’s older siblings Angela and Christian both made their MMA debuts for the promotion at the ages of 18 and 17 respectively. Now, the older Lee siblings hold the Atomweight and Lightweight World titles.
The teenager won her debut with a Rear Naked-Choke in the second round, putting her Jiu-Jitsu skills to fantastic work. All of the Lee family have solid grappling skills although Christian is known as more of a knockout artist, and was even able to defeat Shinya Aoki. Victoria seems to fight much more similarly to her sister Angela with both sisters showing phenomenal skills on the ground, and the elder having racked up 7 submission wins already.
Third Coast Grappling 6 increases prize money as bracket fills out
The prize money for Third Coast Grappling 6 has now grown by 50% from $20,000 to $30,000, shortly after the promotion has reached the halfway point in fighter announcements. The increase will be allocated solely to the winner and they will now take home $25,000 while the runner-up gets a $5,000 consolation prize. Six more spaces remained last week after 3CG started by announcing Kaynan Duarte and Nicky Rodriguez.
The third competitor announced was William Tackett, who will serve as something of an underdog despite the fact that he’s a proficient leglocker who’s more than capable of battling his way to the final. He will also be joined by the reigning Submission Underground Absolute Champion Mason Fowler who excels under EBI rules, so it’ll be interesting to see how he fares in a more traditional grand prix format.
Quick Hits
- A battle of leglock specialists will take place at the next Sapateiro event as Jordan Holy has been booked to face Jon Calestine.
- Japanese MMA and grappling legend Shinya Aoki is set to fight former UFC veteran Sage Northcutt in a headline match a ONE FC event in April.
- Polaris Triple Champion Ashley Williams has announced his intention to do a seminar tour around the UK in order to help gyms struggling as a result of Covid-19.
- Ex-UFC Featherweight World Champion Max ‘Blessed’ Holloway was recently awarded with his brown belt in BJJ by Rylan Linares.