OCTOBER 25, 2022, this weekend we saw another edition of the Eddie Bravo Invitational (EBI), the event that introduced submission-only to a mainstream audience and raised awareness to the no-gi movement that was brewing in the United States at the time.
Since the success of its initial launch, 8 years ago, EBI has somewhat fallen out of fashion, likely due to the wide range of more attractive rulesets for athletes to compete in, in no-gi today, nevertheless, the tournament is still relevant in the grappling landscape, and a worthwhile show to follow for the fans, particularly when it brings forth athletes like Nick Rodriguez, Giancarlo Bodoni, Roosevelt Sousa, André Porfirio, Nick Griffith, and Kyle Boehm. 6 athletes who are in the upper echelon of the sport’s landscape.
This edition of EBI had the promotion’s open-weight title on the line and did a fine job and bringing a fair few solid athletes to the tournament, namely the ones referenced above, with the rest of the roster being completed by fairly unknown or amateur competitors. The show was fully dominated by B Team’s Nicky-Rod who was coming off a very solid silver medal performance at the ADCC’s +99 kilograms weight class last month. Rodriguez imposed his solid takedown and guard passing skillset, crushing all his opponents even the ones that survived his submission attempts and were taken to overtime.
One of Rodriguez’s toughest challenges was expected to be Giancarlo Bodoni, who was also coming off of a spectacular performance at the ADCC World Championships, where he took 1st place in the under 88-kg division. Bodoni did perform well against his first opponent, the tough Austin Baker, but suffered a rib injury during his match and despite the win he was unable to proceed in the tournament.
Kyle Boehm of 10th Planet was another fun contender to follow, who submitted his way through to the final of the tournament. Boehm is usually fairly reliant on his leg locking skills to get the job done but was able to change gears against the equally leg-lock savvy André Porfirio in the semi-final, and get that win from a top position, by taking the Fight Sports’ representative back and snatching his neck for the rear strangle. Check the full results below.
Round 1 of Open Weight Tournament:
– Nick Rodriguez def. Ezekiel Zurita via reverse triangle
– Nick Griffith def. Franco Pana via smother choke
– Andrew Kimler def. Maxim Cote via outside heel hook
– Giancarlo Bodoni def. Austin Baker via EBI overtime
– Kyle Boehm def. Travis Moore via inside heel hook
– Roosevelt Sousa def. Angel Lugo via lateral kneebar
– Pat Shahgholi def. David Vieira via inside heel hook
– Andre Porfirio def. Dan Martinez via Aoki lock
– Sam Barbosa def. Mario Gonzalez via
Quarter Finals of Open Weight Tournament:
– Nick Rodriguez def. Luke Griffith via EBI overtime
– Austin Baker* def. Andrew Kimler via armbar
– Kyle Boehm def. Roosevelt Sousa via inside heel hook
– Andre Porfirio def. Pat Shahgholi via EBI overtime
* Baker competed in Bodoni’s place due to injury.
Semi-Finals of Open Weight Tournament:
– Nick Rodriguez def. Austin Baker via triangle
– Kyle Boehm def. Andre Porfirio via RNC
Final of Open Weight Tournament:
– Nick Rodriguez def. Kyle Boehm via EBI overtime
Superfight:
– Maxim Cote def. Fedor Nikolov via EBI overtime
Combat EBI superfight:
– Mercedes White def. Paola Ambriz via EBI overtime
