DECEMBER 13, 2020 – This weekend was filled with entertainment for grappling fans of all tribes, from gi to no-gi, from points to submission only and from pure submission only to Fight 2 Win and even EBI rules, there was a little bit of everything for everyone. The first big event to run was Who’s Number One (check results here) and the CBJJE World Championships (gi) on Friday, followed by F2W 159, and the talent-packed South American championship by the IBJJF.
With so many high-level events taking place in the same weekend, many might have forgotten the Eastern European production, TMS, whose initials stand for “The Mission, Submission”. Set in Kyiv – Ukraine’s capital – the TMS Grand Prix gathered a few high-level Easter European grapplers, with two Southern European athletes, namely Pedro Cadete of Portugal’s Alex Machado Academy and the veteran Bruno “Tchola”, also of Portugal’s BPT. Although with plenty of talent on the mats, the two stars of the event were John Danaher’s black belt, Ethan Crelinsten, and Checkmat’s Matheus Luna, who is a gi specialist but tried to test his no-gi skills for this 16 men tournament.
The rules were submission-only, but no heel-hooks or reaping allowed, with modified EBI rules applied if no winner was found in the first 8 minutes of grappling. This was the second event with international stars set up by the Ukrainian promotion, so there was room for a few mistakes (and there were a few regarding the ruleset), but, luckily nothing happened that influenced the end results.
The man of the hour was undoubtedly Ethan Crelinsten. The Canadian was the smallest competitor in these 83-kilogram brackets (around 183 lbs) but put on a great display of technique, speed, aggression, and killer instinct throughout the tournament. This included a brutal slam forced by Crelinsten when he had his arm under threat by Muhammad Ahmadzada during the overtime round of the semi-finals. A slam so violent, it sent the heavier athlete to the hospital (yikes). Check full match results below.
ROUND 1
– Roman Nepota def. Bruno Borges via Triangle
– Tomas Smirnovas def. Ruslan Israilov via EBI Overtime
– Max Nedoshchak def. Kasparas Strazdas via Calf slicer
– Matheus Luna def. Saar Shemesh via EBI Overtime
– Ethan Crelinsten def. Kuba Najdek via RNC
– Roy Dagan def. Dmitriy Babiychuk via EBI Overtime
– Pedro Cadete def. Murtazaali Murtazaliev via EBI Overtime
– Muhammad Ahmadzada def. Vlad Yaroschuk via Ankle lock
QUARTERFINALS
– Roman Nepota def. Tomas Smirnovas via Guillotine
– Matheus Luna def. Max Nedoshchak via EBI Overtime
– Ethan Crelinsten def. Roy Dagan via EBI Overtime
– Muhammad Ahmadzada def. Pedro Cadete via EBI Overtime
SEMI-FINALS
– Matheus Luna def. Roman Nepota via EBI Overtime
– Ethan Crelinsten def. Muhammad Ahmadzada via INJURY during OT
FINAL
– Ethan Crelinsten def. Matheus Luna via EBI Overtime
