JUNE 21, 2020, Dallas, Texas, witnessed yet another edition of the 3rd Coast Grappling event, this being also the second Kumite tournament set forth by this well-known jiu-jitsu promotion.
This weekend’s event delivered a fantastic card, particularly in the aforementioned open weight tournament which featured world champ, and 185 lbs Kumite winner Gustavo Batista, double gold European Open Fellipe Andrew, Atos black belt phenom Jonnatas Gracie, brown belt super-star Pedro Marinho, American top talents Jake Watson, and Tanner Rice as well as veteran Ricardo Evangelista and Ribeiro JJ Academy powerhouse Victor Hugo. With this much talent on the combat arena, every match was a grinding battle with strategies playing a big part speed of the matches. That said, no big upsets came from the event.
Without a doubt, the most impressive competitor last night was Victor Hugo, who deservingly took the Kumite’s big 10k prize. Victor’s toughest match was his first, against Ricardo Evangelista, a bout he controlled, with a degree of caution, from start to finish without overwhelming the famous GF Team competitor. From then on, it was all about Victor’s offense, he who conquered two submissions on his way to gold, with both his submissions occurring within regulation time.
One of the pleasant surprises of the tournament was Jake Watson. Always entertaining, Watson was a big underdog against Fellipe Andrew in the first round of the tournament, but that did not stop him from going after the Zenith athlete. First working from the bottom and midway through the match launching relentless attacks from the top position – which included two very close back taking attempts, Jake took the match to the overtime round. There Fellipe imposed his own guard passing game, passing through Watson’s guard to secure victory.
Fellipe Andrew himself had a strong performance last night, particularly against Gustavo Batista, one of the scariest pressure passers in the jiu-jitsu world today. This was a very close match though Fellipe was certainly the aggressor for a larger portion of the clash, particularly in overtime. The relentless pace set forth by the Las Vegas based competitor got him the judges nod in the end, before facing Victor Hugo in the final.
SUPER-FIGHTS
– JT Little def. Josh Dawson via golden score
– Camila Lopez def. Susana Morado via bow and arrow
– Bruno Matias def. Zach Edwards via tech-fall (9×0)
– Tiffany Buttler def. Jessie Crane via decision
– Andy Cordova def. Nick Schwan via decision
– Christian Guzman def. Mario Fonseca via triangle-armbar
– Mona Bailey def. M. Jamil via RNC
KUMITE TOURNAMENT
¼ Finals
– Gustavo Batista def. Tanner Rice via tech-fall (11×2)
– Fellipe Andrew def. Jake Watson via golden score (3×0)
– Victor Hugo def. Ricardo Evangelista via ref. decision
– Jonnatas Gracie def. Pedro Marinho via golden score (2×0)
Semi-Finals
– Fellipe Andrew def. Gustavo Batista via decision
– Victor Hugo def. Jonnatas Gracie via arm in Ezekiel
Final
– Victor Hugo def. Fellipe Andrew via Estima lock
Final
– Victor Hugo def. Fellipe Andrew via Estima lock
Victor submitted Fellipe with a Triangle Choke not a Estima Lock.
Which match did you watch? The photo of the submission is on the cover of this post.