This past weekend, on October 3rd, 2021, the world’s biggest jiu-jitsu instructionals platform, BJJ Fanatics, launched another one of its Grand Prix format tournaments, this time in collaboration with the Nuway Combat promotion. The event gathered well-known professional grapplers such as Nick Nolan, PJ Barch, Mathias Luna, Johnny Tama, Bruno Matias, to name a few, who showcased excellent matches for the crowd and the fans watching at home on the free live feed streamed by BJJ Fanatics on their YouTube channel.
After quite a few entertaining matches, training partners PJ Barch and Johnny Tama met in the final with PJ getting a very quick tap on the former World No-Gi Champion, that way cementing his claim to the 10k USD cash prize on offer.
THE UPSETS
Quite a few upsets at the BJJ Fanatics Grand Prix. The first coming via Bellator featherweight contender, Jay-Jay Wilson. The professional mixed martial artist went toe-to-toe with one of the rising grappling stars of Gracie Barra, Bruno Matias, and came out looking like a real veteran, taking the match to Bruno in a very back-and-forth war of attrition.
Another man on a path of disruption (and destruction) this past weekend was TriStar Gym’s Pierre-Olivier Leclerc. As we have seen in a few of Firas Zahabi’s students in the past (Ethan Crelinsten, Oliver Taza), Pierre-Olivier showed tremendous knowledge of the leg-lock game, which, despite him being a brown belt, saw him through top tier BJJ black belts Mathias Luna and Aaron Wilson.
THE MAN OF THE HOUR
Despite the solid performances of Leclerc, Jay-Jay, Nick Nolan, and Tama, the man of the hour was undoubtedly PJ Barch. The 10th Planet representative showcased his fantastic skillset once again. Superb knowledge of takedowns, leglocks, and the passing game. A well-rounded grappler with very few kinks in his armor and a scary man to face at this weekend’s upcoming IBJJ World Championships. If Barch was not on your radar before, definitely keep your eyes on this young man as he is certainly as good as they come.
ROUND 1:
– Nick Nolan def. Vinicius Wong via RNC
– Jay-Jay Wilson def. Bruno Matias via decision
– Johnny Tama def. Spyke Carlisle via armbar
– PJ Barch def. Caleb McCallister via submission
– Pierre Leclerc def. Mathias Luna via inside heel-hook
– Aaron Wilson def. Troy Russell
QUARTER-FINALS:
(given the nature of the tournament [12-men] only two quarter-finals matches occurred.)
– Nick Nolan def. Jay-Jay Wilson via decision
– Pierre Leclerc def. Aaron Wilson via inside heel-hook
SEMI-FINALS:
– Johnny Tama def. Nick Nolan via decision
– PJ Barch def. Pierre Leclerc via decision
FINAL:
– PJ Barch def. Johnny Tama via inside heel-hook
