Although Lisbon, Portugal was jiu-jitsu’s capital for the weekend, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, in Miami, Florida, the pro-grappling promotion JitzKings was lining up a very interesting card of no-gi action, featuring a few of the top figures of US’ points and submission only circuits. The event features a roll of super fights as well as a pro-tournament.
The rules followed something similar to the ADCC, with no points in the first half of the match and points for the sequential half, while in the event that a draw was reached by the end of the match, an overtime round with golden score would be added. If even then none came on top as the winner, one was decided by the ref. Below are the results and short analysis for the JitzKings 2020 event.
Date: Jan 24
Location: Miami, FL
Superfights
A solid card with well matched-up clashes was the theme of the super-fights featured in Miami by JitzKings, with special interest falling on Enrico Cocco‘s clash with 10 Planet Freaks team leader Richie Martinez and John Combs‘ “warm welcome” to Kody Steele’s black belt debut.
Fast-paced and continuously on the offense were both Cocco and Martinez, Enrico from a top position, looking for leg-entanglements and distance passes and “Boogeyman” looking for his trademarked omoplatas and rubber-guard set-ups. In the end, it was the local hero, Cocco, who came out the winner with a beautiful leg-lock entry. Very smooth work from the veteran competitor.
The co-main event saw the always entertaining John Combs clash against Combat EBI champ Kody Steele, who earned his black belt from Rodrigo Cabral earlier this month and was making his debut in the division. John looked a lot bigger than he had done in the past and came out making full use of his physical advantage. A perfect game-plan against Kody, Combs’ vast experience in wrestling was used to force Steele to pull guard. From there John pushed for the Checkmat/Brazilian Fight Factory athlete to turtle, then taking his back and the submission. Flawless performance. More results below:
– Enrico Cocco def. Richie Martinez by inside heel hook
– John Combs def. Kody Steele by RNC
– Renato Tavares def. Marlon Medeiros by 2×0
– Pam Boveda def. Guilliam Robertson by decision
– Andre Porfirio def. Jarrod Anderson by points
– Maria Laguno def. Jessica Aguilar by Decision
– Jim Alers def. Lucas Araujo by inside heel hook
– Marcelo Bruzzo def. Tyler Moore 2×0
Tournament
A tournament stacked with local talent and a few international stars such as 10th Planet’s Ricky Lule, John Daneher’s Ethan Crelinsten, Fight Sports Orlando Castillo & Rodrigo Francioni to name a few. Out of the numerous high-level black belts on the card, the two stars with the brightest lights were colored belts Ethan Crelinsten (brown belt) and Andrew Tacket (blue belt).
16-year-old blue belt Andrew Tacket, (brother of William Tacket and ) student of the aforementioned Rodrigo Cabral, looked tremendous out there. Truly inspiring performance of non-stop aggression at a relentless pace, Tacket proved to be a submission machine with all his wins coming via tap, including over the well-accomplished black belt, Rodrigo Francioni of Fight Sports.
In the final, faced with Ethan Crelinsten, the teenager did not shy away from the fight against one of the biggest names in the sport, throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the Canadian grappler and putting the John Danaher pupil in deep trouble a few times, though succumbing to a sweep in the last few seconds of the match. Crelinsten looked equally fantastic at JitzKings, he who was coming off a long absence due to an injury. Unphased by the previous injury, Ethan showed up calm and composed, proving once again that he is at the very top of the no-gi game.
Round 1:
– Orlando Castillo Kevin Granados by decision (2×2)
– Jose Cadavid def. Ricky Lule 2×0
– Ethan Crelinstein def. Guilherme Lima by inside heel hook
– Spencer Mumme def. Jay Ciotti by outside heel hook
– Corban Sainz def. Cristian Guzman by 4×0
– Andrew Tackett def. Aidan Collins by flying triangle
– Emilio Hernandez def. Adam Ferrara by Kneebar
– Rodrigo Francioni def. JM Holland by 3×0
Quarter Finals:
– Jose Cadavid def. Orlando Castillo by golden score
– Ethan Crelinstein def. Spencer Mumme by inside heel hook
– Andrew Tackett def. Corban Sainz by RNC
– Rodrigo Francioni def. Emilio Hernandez by 2×0
Semi Finals:
– Ethan Crelinstein def. Jose Cadavid by golden score
– Andrew Tackett def. Rodrigo Francioni by RNC
Final
– Ethan Crelinstein def. Andrew Tackett by 2×0
Cover photo from JitzKings Social Media Account.
