JUNE 07, 2020 – Another outstanding night of entertainment this weekend, this time provided by Third Coast Grappling, a Texas-based jiu-jitsu show led by local promoter Ryan McGuire. The event featured a stacked middleweight tournament, labeled as the first Kumite of its kind, featuring a great mix of international talent, with 2 black belt world champions a world no-gi champion and several of the sport’s rising stars.
The event ran smoothly, regardless of the novel ruleset proposed by Third Coast Grappling, in which athletes can win via three different methods: Technical Fall (over 9 pts difference), Submission, or Overtime Golden Score. What this means in case there is no submission or IF one athlete is not able to dominate his match by establishing a 9 points difference over his opponent (technical fall), the match will go to overtime where the first competitor to score will be victorious.
Even though the Kumite has some of the finest grapplers in the world, one man was seen as the favorite on paper – Gustavo Batista. During his short, 2.5-year-old black belt career, Batista made the final of the IBJJF World Championship on two occasions – won one of those, and won the Pan American tournament in his debut BB year. The fact that the young Brazilian is solid from all angles of the game, has made “Braguinha” the man he is today and the reason he was seen as the man to beat at the Kumite, and he did not disappoint. In his traditional way, Batista crushed his opponents in a slow and calculated style, with Roberto Jimenez being his toughest challenge last night.
Another impressive performance was that of Roberto Jimenez. The former teen phenom came to Texas to showcase his aggressive, submission hunting style, a style that made him a star as a colored belt, and one he has not relinquished as a black belt for the sake of the W. Roberto submitted both Manuel Ribamar and Pedro Marinho from his back with excellence on his way to the final.
Another interesting side of the event were the super-fights, which contrasted the Kumite by being all in a no-gi rulest. These had particularly good performances by local talent Jordan Holy and Niles Peebles who looked fantastic.
THIRD COAST GRAPPLING KUMITE RESULTS
1/4 FINALS
– Pedro Marinho def. William Tackett via technical fall (9 points difference)
– Roberto Jimenez def. Manuel Ribamar via triangle-armbar
– Gabriel Arges def. Jake Watson via RNC
– Gustavo Batista def. Jaime Canuto via decision
SEMI-FINAL
– Roberto Jimenez def. Pedro Marinho via armbar
– Gustavo Batista def. Gabriel Arges via golden score
FINAL
– Gustavo Batista def. Roberto Jimenez via golden score.
SUPER FIGHTS
– Nial Peebles def. Sandoz via Technical Fall (9 pts difference)
– Christian Guzman def. Bradley Clifton via Marcelotine
– Jordan Holy def. Jacob Allphin via heel hook
