JUNE 28, 2020, last night we got to witness Roberto Jimenez come full circle and win his first big professional event as a black belt. Over the past month, we had seen the talented Ecuatorian athlete place as a runner-up and 3rd place, first at the 3rd Coast Grappling Kumite 1 (gi) and later at the Jitz King tournament in Florida (no-gi), last night the grappling gods finally laid good some fortune on the back taking phenom.
Jokes aside it is safe to say that luck had little to do with Roberto’s winning performance. Roberto came in visibly focussed on the task at hand, slightly more tactical than his berserker usual self, a stoic display of grappling in all three matches.
Equally impressive was John Combs. Always great fun to watch, Combs kept all his matches at a high pace, always dangerous, and always fun to watch. We are definitely hoping to see more of this young talent in the near future.
1/4 FINALS
– Roberto Jimenez def. Tye Ruotolo via golden score
– John Combs def. Pierre Leclerc via tech fall (13×2)
– Vagner Rocha def. Kody Steele via golden score
– Pedro Marinho def. Johnny Tama via 10 finger guillotine
SEMI-FINALS
– Roberto Jimenez def. John Combs via kimura from triangle
– Vagner Rocha def. Pedro Marinho via golden score
FINAL
– Roberto Jimenez def. Vagner Rocha via decision
– Dacota Lewis def. Tevin Sandoz via golden score
Fun match spent entirely on the feet, but very entertaining.
– Adam Bradley def. Bruno Matias via outside heel-hook
Arguably the match of the night. These two young brown belts stole the show with comeback after comeback at a frenetic pace. A very entertaining and big show of heart by Bradley in the end, as he snatched victory with about 10 seconds to go on the clock.
– Aryan de Melo def. Michael Lugo via golden score
Not the most entertaining match, Aryan played from the top, placing tons of pressure on Lugo’s guard. Michael defended well.
– Christian Guzman def. Manuel Aguilar via decision
Guzman has been a regular appearance at the Kumite 3, this was his toughest opponent thus far. Very even match, could have gone either way.
– Andressa Cintra def. Maggie Grindatti via armbar
Maggie came in as the younger black belt trying to take out the reigning IBJJF world champion. The match was very even, with none of the two athletes exposing too much, but as soon as Grindatti exposed a limb, in the OT round, Andressa was quick to snatch a beautiful, highlight-worthy, rolling armbar.
– Lucas Valente def. Pedro Henrique Rocha via golden score
In a lukewarm match, Pedro came in with a big size advantage, Valente with a better curriculum. Rocha’s power advantage was clear early on as he destroyed Valente’s gi top with his grip, while also starting the match up on the scoreboard via a single leg takedown. Lucas returned the favor via sweep, later on, taking it to overtime. There Valente showed why he is widely regarded as one of the top lightweights in the world by overcoming adversity and making a comeback in the golden score round.
