JULY 17, 2018 saw the second edition of “Quintet: Grappling Team Survival Match”, a submission-only event that is rapidly gaining momentum in Japan. With very peculiar rules (more on those here) the 5×5 team proposition set forth by Quintet frontman and legendary mixed martial (MMA) arts fighter Kazushi Sakuraba, continues to prove this format is an excellent way of promoting grappling as entertainment.
For the first edition of Quintet we saw a wide selection of styles on the mats, which went from judo Olympians, to MMA legends and ADCC veterans. For this 2nd event, although with lesser known faces, the promotion managed to maintain high levels entertainment in its clashes between Teams Tiger Muay Thai, Reebok, 10th Planet and Vagabonds.
From all the names on display two stood out as the most entertaining. Those were Haisam Rida, a brown belt from Ghana and a representative of the Carpe Diem jiu jitsu academy who together with PJ Barch of 10th Planet Oceanside stole the show. Rida steamrolled 4 of his opponents before being stopped by EBI champ Geo Martinez, while Barch put on a super solid performance. Unfortunately for the Californian he was unable to submit his opponents which stopped his progression on the tournament, but the show he put on will certainly be in the minds of those who watched him compete, particularly his clash with Krysiek Schorabski – one of the most exciting sub-only matches of the year.
After two hard rounds of matches it was team 10th Planet who took home the first prize. The team squeezed past the Vagabond squad thank’s to a brave performance by Adam Sachnoff, who held the fort when chances looked slim. In the final of the event Eddie Bravo’s students managed to remove team Reebok’s big name (Haisam Rida – the only team member below 40 years of age) relatively early, and once that was achieved the road became wide open for the taking. 10th Planet heavyweight Amir Allam would then seal the deal by defeating Dong Sik Yoon. Below are the individual results for the tournament.
(SEMI FINAL) Team Tiger Muay Thai VS Team Reebok
– Christophe Vandick x Dong Sik Yoon (draw)
– Tarek Suleiman x Hideo Tokoro (draw)
– Viking Wong x Haisam Rida (Rida by toe hold)
– Alex Schild x Haisam Rida (Rida by kneebar)
– Stuart Cooper Haisam Rida (Rida by RNC)
Team Reebok advanced
(SEMI FINAL) Team Vagabond VS Team 10th Planet
– PJ Barch x Krysiek Schorabski (draw)
– Richie Martinez x Joao Assis (draw)
– Geo Martinez x Satoshi Ishii (draw)
– Amir Allam x Andrej Kazusionak (Kazusionak by scissor takedown to kneebar)
– Adam Sachnoff x Andrej Kazusionak (Sanchoff by RNC)
– Adam Sachnoff x Kikheil Dopidze (draw)
Team 10th Planet advanced by referee decision
(FINAL) Team 10th Planet VS Team Reebok
– PJ Barch x Daisuke Nakamura (draw)
– Richie Martinez x Kazushi Sakuraba (Martinez by darce choke)
– Richie Martinez x Haisam Rida (Rida by armbar)
– Geo Martinez x Haisam Rida (Martinez by Marcelotine choke)
– Geo Martinez x Hideo Tokoro (draw)
– Amir Allam x Dong Sik Yoon (Allam by short choke)
Team 10th Planet crowned champion of Quintet II.
