JULY 04, 2020, marked the day when professional jiu-jitsu returned to Europe, more precisely to England, through the 9th edition of GrappleFest, one of the top grappling promoters in the nation.
The card featured a much-anticipated match-up between the talented featherweight Ffion Davies, who traditionally competes as a featherweight (129.0 lbs), versus former IBJJF ultra-heavyweight world champion Tayane Porfirio, who competes at around 260 lbs. The simple fact that Ffion accepted a challenge with such a size disparity is a testament to her warrior spirit, but what transpired during the actual clash was much more than that. A full report on Ffion versus Tayane and other GrappleFest 9 matches below.
Open Weight
– Tayane Porfirio def. Ffion Davies via decision
Ffion Davies and Tayane Porfirio went to war at GrappleFest 9 in an absolutely action-packed match. We were expecting fun exchanges to begin with from these two, but this far exceeded our prediction.
Tayane came out extremely aggressive, bulldozing the Welsh athlete to the ground with force. Davies weathered the storm and Porfirio’s stack passing attempts, starting to impose her own offense after the 1-minute mark, taking the better of Porfirio on several occasions, including conquering the back on two occasions. Tayane’s girth, however, did not allow Ffion to connect her hands properly and establish control for long.
Plenty of credit should be given to Porfirio who never gave up, and was not afraid to use her 120+ lbs weight advantage against the crafty East Coast representative, particularly with some nasty wristlocks and footlock.
Although Ffion deserved a standing ovation for her performance, and she did seem to dominate the positional exchanges by way of sweeps and back control, the young competitor played a points type game. Most, if not all, the submission attempts were undertaken by Tayane, albeit with little control. As such, given that this was a submission-only event and sub attempts were the most valued commodity, Porfirio got her hand raised and the win. An epic battle worth re-watching.
Under 94 Kg
– Jackson Sousa def. Dan Strauss via decision
A slow match we are sad to say, fully spent on the feet. Daniel Strauss’ strategy seemed to be something along the lines of holding Sousa’s neck for 9 mins and 34 seconds, then jump guard.
Jackson attempted a few takedowns, and although he could not hold the North London based challenger on the mat, every action that did take place in this bout was initiated by Jackson who deservingly got the nod from the judges.
Under 70 Kg
– Ashley Williams def. Kevin Corkhill via decision
Great display of offense by Ashley who dominated the match from “post to post”. Corkhill showed solid defense but was overwhelmed by Welshman.
Under 90 Kg
– Lew Long def. Ben Hills via short-choke
Under 90 Kg
– Chris Walsh def. Freddie Sykes via inside heel-hook
Under 75 Kg
– Craig McIntosh def. Ellis Younger via decision
Under 75 Kg
– Wing Chau Cheung def. Yousuf Nabi via straight ankle lock
Under 100 Kg
– Lee Chadwick def. Edward Aitken via decision
