Another solid Kumite event by the Third Coast Grappling crew (streamed by FloGrappking) will take place Saturday, September 26, 2020, this time with a stacked female tournament, the first of the Kumite series featuring women. Set as an open-weight class, this Kumite VII’s brackets will be showcasing a range of decorated competitors from featherweight to heavyweight, with the combined excellence of 18 world titles (Gi and No-Gi combined).
3RD COAST GRAPPLING KUMUTE 7 TOURNAMENT
Originally set with a $10,000 cash-prize for the Kumite champion, the promotion has recently paired up with Mike Cipriani of Gamblers Jiu-Jitsu, who will be adding a $250.00 bonus for every match-winner, meaning, 250 per match to the victorious athlete.
The event will have in 3x IBJJF World Champ Ana Carolina Vieira and 5x World Champion Nathiely de Jesus its key players and the tournament favorites, two athletes with a long history of rivalry in the sport, to which the Kumite will likely add another chapter.
Vieira and Jesus will not be alone in their run for the 10k prize. On their path will be the talented Luiza Monteiro and Andressa Cintra, two athletes with tremendous potential and very submission oriented games as well as veterans Tata Ribeiro, Jena Bishop, Jessica Swanson and newcomer Yanni Reyes.
The Tournament’s first-round (Quarter-Finals) are set as seen below:
– NATHIELY DE JESUS X JENA BISHOP (Bracket A)
Worldly regarded as the top of the food chain in jiu-jitsu, Nathiely is also the largest competitor in the tournament and a masterful technician. Although not unbeatable, on paper, Nathiely is the favorite to win the show.
On the other side of this first round is Jena Bishop, one of the grittiest veterans in this game. Although a real gamer, Bishop will be at a big size disadvantage in this match-up. Her path to victory should be playing guard, yet, de Jesus’ size might be an issue from there as well.
– LUIZA MONTEIRO X JESSICA SWANSON (Bracket A)
Very fun match between two of the most technical athletes in the game, Luiza being the most experienced and well rounded of the two. Swanson is tough and likely the stronger and scrappier athlete here, but ultimately Luiza’s sharpness should get her through the round.
– ANA CAROLINA VIEIRA X YANNI REYES (Bracket B)
We have zero to no information on Reyes, she came in as a late replacement for Raquel Canuto and will be going up against one of the toughest female middleweights of all-time in Ana Carolina “Baby” Vieira. Hard to see this match going any other way than Vieira, but big challenges often reap big rewards, and if Yanni gets the unlikely upset here, we will certainly be talking about it on Sunday.
– ANDRESSA CINTRA X NATHALIE RIBEIRO (Bracket B)
Much like Nathiely X Bishop, this is one of the biggest size disparity seen across the tournament, yet, this is not as clear cut as you might think. Ribeiro’s style, particularly if she manages to pull guard without being scored on, is incredibly tough to deal with and clashes well against Cintra’s game.
Andressa is the favorite here, but do not expect this to be a walk in the park. Don’t be terribly surprised if the Checkmat featherweight pulls off the upset here.
– VINICIUS “TRATOR” FERREIRA X GUSTAVO “BRAGUINHA” BATISTA
A very fun match between two very similar grapplers. Both are position based players. Both play very well from the bottom but are mostly known for their crushing pressure passing games. Neither is known for their takedowns. This is where the similarities end.
Trator is the larger of the two. He is also well versed in both no-gi and gi while Batista is a gi specialist. Gustavo has in the knee-cut his strongest position while Vinicius’ preferred guard is the single-X, a perfect counter to the knee-cut.
Although this match-up poses a ton of questions to which we will be very happy to see answered, given that this is a gi match, we believe Gustavo “Braguinha” will have the advantage here. Currently, very few grapplers have the level of precision seen in Batista. The crispness of Braguinha’s jiu-jitsu should pose a lot of issues to Vinicius Ferreira’s fluid style from the bottom, but regardless of the outcome, this should be a very fun bout to follow.
– LUCAS “HULK” BARBOSA X GUILHERME AUGUSTO
We expect fireworks any time Lucas Barbosa enters the mat, and should see nothing other than that come Saturday night. Augusto is a very accomplished athlete, worthy of the challenge. He is heavier than the Hulk and more experienced, yet, Barbosa’s speed should pose a lot of issues to Guilherme, both standing and on the ground.
