APRIL 04, 2021, LAS VEGAS, Nevada held the first jiu-jitsu tournament provided by the EUG Promotions, a new grappling endeavor led by Rubens Charles black belt, Mr. Hector Vasquez. The event featured the cream of the crop of the feather and lightweight divisions.
The EUG Promotion’s featherweight tournament had no clear front-runner, with all 8 athletes having all the right tools to win this historic tournament on a “right day”. Although very even across the board, the athletes did risk positions, and the competition provided solid moments of entertainment for the fans.
PERFORMANCE OF THE NIGHT
Without a doubt, the tournament champion – Andy Murasaki, of Atos Jiu-Jitsu had a night to remember. Making his black belt debut, the Brazilian athlete – who, traditionally competes as a lightweight – showed the maturity of a seasoned veteran on the mats. Pushing forward at the right time and playing defense when required.
Murasaki had two very close matches against Kennedy Maciel and Matheus Gabriel, finding himself in near-impossible positions to escape, but always figuring a way out. When on the offense, Andy played mainly from passing stance.
The highlight of the event, for Andy, was certainly his guard pass over the veteran Gianni Grippo, going on to submit the American legend with a triangle from side-control. To have an idea of how big this guard pass was, we have only ever seen Gianni’s guard passed by two athletes as a black belt: Rafael Mendes and Rubens Charles “Cobrinha” – the two most successful featherweights in the history of the sport.
WHO IS LEFT FOR MAYSSA BASTOS?
In the main super fight of the event, we saw world champ Mayssa Bastos dominate AOJ’s rising star, Jessa Khan. Many believed Jessa would pose a lot of interesting problems to Bastos’ game, that wasn’t the case. Bastos swept, passed, mounted, and took the back of the talented grappler with relative ease, particularly after the halfway mark of the match.
In 2.5 years as a black belt, the Mayssa has run through the roosterweight division with her only loss in this weight class going to Brenda Larissa, at the 2019 AJP Grand Slam (a loss she has since, avenged). Who is left for Bastos in this weight class? That is a question we hope promoters will be able to answer.
QUARTER-FINALS
– Matheus Gabriel def. Johnatha Alves via 4×2
– Andy Murasaki def. Kennedy Maciel via decision (0x0)
– Márcio André def. Isaac Doederlein via decision (0x0)
– Gianni Grippo def. Johnny Tama via 4×2
SEMI-FINALS
– Matheus Gabriel def. Márcio André via decision (0x0)
– Andy Murasaki def. Gianni Grippo via triangle choke
FINAL
– Andy Murasaki def. Matheus Gabriel via decision (0x0)
SUPER FIGHT
– Mayssa Bastos def. Jessa Khan via 21×2
