The Eddie Bravo Invitational’s 4th installment went down at The Orpheum in Los Angeles last night and provided a lot of surprises. Entering the tournament, 2-time EBI champion, Geo Martinez, was seen as a favorite, but as the night went by an unexpected contender emerged, Joe Soto.
Joe Soto is best known to combat sports fans as the man who stepped in on 24 hours to fight T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 177. Soto’s mixed martial arts exploits have seen him hold gold in both Bellator and Tachi Palace Fights. When it was announced that Soto was entering EBI there were a few raised eyebrows, his side of the bracket featured two of the best in the world in Geo Martinez and Joao Miyao. Unbelievably, following a first round submission of Eddie Fyvie, Soto managed to take out both Miyao and Martinez in over time and earn himself a slot in the final.
East Coast jiu-jitsu is taking over. Over the last few years a litany of exquisite grapplers have emerged from tri-state area and taken the grappling world by storm.The two grapplers at the forefront of the East Coast jiu-jitsu renaissance are Garry Tonon, a former EBI champion and Eddie Cummings his closest training partner. Last night was Cummings’ time to shine. Under the tutelage of John Danaher, Cummings has created one of the most dangerous leg lock games in the world and it was on full display last night. One by one Cummings’ opponents fell, first Berbrich by heel hook, then Miura, before finally Cummings submitted the BJJ legend, Baret Yoshida, again by heel hook, to earn himself a place against Joe Soto.
There are black belts and then there are black belts. Joe Soto fought valiantly throughout EBI IV but ultimately it wasn’t enough. Once he hit the mats with Eddie Cummings it seemed like the end was already predetermined. Eddie Cummings finished the fight with his patented heel hook and left himself in good stead for ADCC which goes down in 2 weeks in Brazil.
Check out the full results below:
Finals
Eddie Cummings def. Joe Soto via Heel Hook
Superfight
Grace Gundrum def. Jessa Khan via Rear-Naked Choke in Overtime
Semi Final
Eddie Cummings def. Baret Yoshida via Heel Hook
Joe Soto def. Joao Miyao via Fastest Submission Escapes following Overtime
Superfight
Talita Alencar def. Kyra Batara via Armbar in Overtime
Quarter Finals
Baret Yoshida def. Randall Dolf via Rear-Naked Choke
Eddie Cummings def. Russ Miura via Heel Hook
Joao Miyao def. Geoff Real via Rear-Naked Choke in Overtime
Joe Soto def. Geo Martinez via Fastest Submission Escapes following Overtime
Superfight
Alyssa Wilson def. Cora Sek
Opening Round
Baret Yoshida def. Dennis Dombrow via Kneebar
Randall Dolf def. Joe Murphy via Fastest Submission Escapes following Overtime
Russ Miura def. Alexis Alduncin via Heel Hook
Eddie Cummis def. Kevin Berbrich via Heel Hook
Joao Miyao def. Mike Main via Rear-Naked Choke
Geoff Real def. Dane Molina via Kneebar
Joe Soto def. Eddie Fyvie via Heel Hook
Geo Martinez def. Sergio Perez via Rear-Naked Choke