Grappling Report: Gordon Ryan rematch turned down by Craig Jones

IBJJF hosts events in Sydney, Dublin, and Rio

The IBJJF had a very busy weekend, with open tournaments scheduled to take place across three different continents at the same time. The Sydney Open was relatively quiet and didn’t attract many top competitors, although ADCC veterans Roberto Dib Frias and Adele Fornarino both won gold. On the other side of the world, some of the best grapplers from all around Europe met up for the Dublin Open and battled it out for the top spots on the podium.

Elite competitors like Vanessa English, Gabi Schuck, Espen Mathiesen, and Taylor Pearman all put in solid performances throughout the event to take home gold medals. The final IBJJF Open of the weekend took place in Rio de Janeiro, where some of the top Brazilian athletes in the sport took to the mats. Rider Zuchi and Thaynara Dias impressed among others, but Victor Honorio and Gabrieli Pessanha stole the show with perfect records in the gi.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cql5zuzji7Y/

Hanson and Nguyen put on a show at Midwest Finishers 13

Midwest Finishers 13 featured two tournaments and both of the eventual winners displayed fantastic technical ability during their runs. Alex Nguyen was competing in a women’s 125lbs tournament and she submitted all three of her opponents on the night. She started out strong in the opening round by finishing Tara Harbaugh with an armbar, before catching Lauren Sears and Emily Nicholson with an armbar and a rear-naked choke respectively.

There was just as much action and a whole extra round in the men’s 155lbs tournament. The young Max Hanson couldn’t be stopped though and he submitted his first three opponents in a row to book a place in the final opposite Anthony Valdes. He had a tough match with Valdes and neither man could find the finish in regulation time, with Hanson managing to catch him with an armbar in the final second of EBI overtime to get the win.

Full results for the event can be found here.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cqg0qTfpE6X/

Elite grapplers and MMA vets compete at Rise Invitational 11

There was plenty of fun action at Rise Invitational 11 in New York City, including an exciting women’s 135lbs tournament. ADCC trials winner Peyton Letcher was the eventual champion, but she had some hard-fought victories on the way there. Letcher submitted Beatrice Jin with an armbar in the opening round two perfect performances in EBI overtime in order to defeat Trinity Pun in the semi-final and Nicole Mathew in the final.

There were also several superfights at the event, including one featuring the reigning Invicta FC Atomweight world champion Jillian DeCoursey. She fought Chelsea Mapa and neither woman was able to get the finish, so the match ended in a draw. Then Andrew DeGraff put on a great performance in the co-main event to submit his opponent and claim the interim 135lbs title, shortly before Rene Sousa submitted UFC welterweight Randy Brown.

Full results for the event can be found here.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cqk63v3M_pN/

Craig Jones reveals that he turned down Gordon Ryan match

Craig Jones has just released the very first episode of his new podcast, ‘El Segundo’, and he’s already sharing some interesting insights into the world of professional grappling. He revealed in that episode that he was actually offered a main event match against Gordon Ryan at the recent UFC Fight Pass Invitational 3 event back in December. This would have been the fourth match between the two, with Ryan winning all of their previous encounters.

Apparently, because the match-offer came on just a little over a month’s notice Jones didn’t want to go for longer than 15 minutes. When this was put to Ryan though, he didn’t agree and wanted a minimum of 25 minutes for any match between the two. Because neither man was able to deviate from their wishes the match couldn’t be made and in the end Ryan faced off with Jones’ teammate Nicky Rodriguez at the event instead, beating him in EBI overtime.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CqO784MJY1u/