The tenth edition of the Eddie Bravo Invitational came to the world live from south of the border in Mexico City, Mexico. This event featured some of the best bantamweight grapplers in the world and one of Bravo’s own, Geovanny “Freakazoid” Martinez, walked out of the show with his third EBI championship. He and rival Eddie Cummings met in the final and after a back-and-forth battle it would be Martinez getting his hand raised in victory.
EBI 10 brought together a number of important names in the grappling arena, including Martinez, Cummings, and men such as Baret Yoshida. Yet, the show was built around the much anticipated matchup between Cummings and Martinez. These two men have been on a direct path since Cummings became a two-time champion with wins at EBI 4 and EBI 7. Cummings dropped down a weight class but it would be Martinez who’d become a three-time champion on Friday night.
Cummings was on the attack in the finals, forcing Martinez to play the defensive and escape multiple bad positions. During the second half of the fight he would switch his game plan and attack various positions, threatening up until the very bell.
Victory would come in the overtime session where Martinez was able to submit Cummings via an armbar, and the Danaher Death Squad member was unable to return the favor. While EBI 10 didn’t feature the most talent-rich division, it did allow for Cummings and Martinez to initiate a rivalry that will be very compelling to watch in the future.
Full EBI 10 Results
Round 1
Geo Martinez defeated Kristian Woodmansee by way of darce choke
Marcelo Cohen defeated Joey Diehl by way of kimura
Bruninho Barbosa defeated Suraj Budhram by way of calf slicer
Ricky Lule defeated Javier Gomez by way of inside heel hook/kneebar
Eddie Cummings defeated Alessandro Costa by way of outside heel hook
Alexis Alduncin defeated Ashley Williams by way of overtime submission
Baret Yoshida defeated Eric Medina by way of overtime submission
Arturo Cadenas defeated Pablo Rogel by way of heel hook
Quarter Finals
Geo Martinez defeated Marcelo Cohen by way of outside heel hook
Ricky Lule defeated Bruninho Barbosa by way of guillotine
Eddie Cummings defeated Alexis Alduncin by way of inside heel hook
Baret Yoshida defeated Arturo Cadenas by way of no-gi ezekiel/amassa pão choke
Semi Finals
Geo Martinez defeated Ricky Lule by way of katagatame
Eddie Cummings defeated Baret Yoshida by way of inside heel hook
Final
Geo Martinez defeated Eddie Cummings by overtime submission (armbar)