AUGUST 09, 2020, last night Third Coast Grappling launched their 170 lbs no-gi jiu-jitsu tournament, the 5th of their Kumite series, and an event that gathered some of the very best light and middleweight athletes in the world. On this card, you found 3 IBJJF World No-Gi champions (Renato Canuto [2017], Hugo Marques [2018] and Johnny Tama [2019]) as well as ADCC veterans Tye Ruotolo and Oliver Taza, rising talent such as 3CG’s 180 lbs champ Roberto Jimenez and Kade Ruotolo, while adding in the mix veteran world medal placer Vitor Oliveira.
Although very balanced in the talent drawn into this tournament, many saw Roberto Jimenez as the “man to beat” given his recent competitive run. The Ecuatorian grappler had vast experience and success under this ruleset, while also being the biggest athlete on the card. Being the favorite on paper does not always translate into reality on the mat, but last night it absolutely did. Jimenez had a flawless performance, pushing the pace as he always does, cruising past the super-tough Hugo Marques in the first round, then going on to submit Kade Ruotolo in a fast match. Against Tye Ruotolo, in the final, Roberto saw his first real challenge. Tye looked impossible to score on, a masterful scrambler, much like Jimenez, and the two were forced to go to overtime.
CONTROVERSIAL FINAL
The final between Roberto Jimenez and Tye Ruotolo was a blast. Fantastic scrambles, fantastic pace, albeit, mostly spent standing. Roberto was the aggressor for most of the bout, with Tye biding his time, waiting for the right counters to score. In the overtime round Jimenez shot for a double leg, Ruotolo took the chance to attack a 10-finger guillotine. The two athletes hit the mat with the guillotine locked, and as soon as Jimenez fought his way out of the submission, Tye scrambled up. Given the ruleset, the takedown was not held long enough to be considered a score (3 seconds), far from it, nonetheless, the referees had seen enough to mark the 2 points for a win by “sudden death”, also known as the golden score.
CLEAN JIU-JITSU
It was fantastic to see the return of Renato Canuto to the mats this weekend. The exciting lightweight had only competed once this year in a super-fight. It seemed as though the long absence did take a toll on the Brazilian’s gas tank near the end of the OT round in the semi-final, nonetheless, Canuto was a pleasure to watch and his match against Tye Ruotolo is worth revisiting as it was absolute fireworks and arguably the Fight Of The Night.
Equally amazing was Tye Ruotolo, the teenage phenom continues to impress as he takes off in his rampant rise to BJJ stardom, as does his brother Kade. This leads us to an important moment experienced in the Third Coast Grappling – Kumite 5. All four semi-final athletes are strong advocates for a clean sport and are the perfect ambassadors for this lifestyle approach, a landmark we believed was worth noting.
QUARTER-FINALS
– Roberto Jimenez def. Hugo Marques via RNC
– Kade Ruotolo def. Vitor Oliveira via split decision (0x4 regulation)
– Renato Canuto def. Johnny Tama via decision (0x0 regulation)
– Tye Ruotolo def. Oliver Taza via golden score (10×0 regulation)
SEMI-FINALS
– Roberto Jimenez def. Kade Ruotolo via short choke
– Tye Ruotolo def. Renato Canuto via split decision (0x0 regulation)
FINALS
– Roberto Jimenez def. Tye Ruotolo via golden score (0x0 regulation)
SUPER-FIGHTS
– Arian de Melo def. Bruce Whitehead via armbar
– Jordan Burton def. Roberto Ribas via decision
– Ricardo Evangelista def. Renato Tagliari via golden score (0x0 regulation)
– Pedro Marinho def. Andre Porfirio via decision (2×0 regulation)
– Fellipe Andrew def. Max Gimenis via golden score (0x0 regulation)
