MARCH 10, 2019, LONDON – ENGLAND. Built for the London Summer Olympics of 2012, the Copper Box Arena was the perfect home for one of the top “gi jiu-jitsu” events of the year, the King of Mats (KOM), a tournament that runs in parallel with the United Arab Emirates Jiu-Jitsu Federation (UAEJJF) Grand Slam Tour.
Set to feature all of the Grand Slam’s lighter weights champions (Tokyo, LA, Rio, and London) under one roof, the King of Mats London lost one of its main figures, Gianni Grippo, to an injury last week. As a last minute replacement, the federation called on Samir Chantre, the veteran co-founder of the Ares JJ team. The KOM saw the top rooster, light-feather, and featherweights on the UAEJJF circuit go to war. Lukewarm at first, the grapplers did pick up the pace as the tournament went by, providing good matches to the audience.
As is most common on these lower weights classes, traditionally more prone to experimenting with modern techniques, the lapel-guard was of the utmost importance throughout the tournament, with nearly all athletes aiming to use this control to overcome their opponents.
From all the competitors on the mat today, special mention to Isaac Doederlein, Gabriel Sousa, Paulo Miyao, and Tiago Bravo, who did their best to use their offense as often as possible, committing to forward-moving grappling and succeeding for the most part. Doederlein is looked at his sharpest throughout the weekend, both on the Grand Slam (yesterday) and today, very impressive campaigns.
On a side-note, Paulo Miyao came on the mats with messages drawn on his body, the messages increased as he advanced on to each round, Paulo was also incredibly emotional after the event, hinting that there may be a backstory to this out of character behavior.
Full results below.
GROUP 1
1st Round
– Hiago George def. Lee Ting by 0x0 pts, 3×0 adv
– João Paulo Neto def. Nobuhiro Sawada by 3×0 pts
2nd Round
– Hiago George def. Gabriel Sousa by decision (0x0 pts)
– João Paulo Neto def. Lee Ting by 2×0
3rd Round
– Gabriel Sousa def. Nobuhiro Sawada by 13×0 pts
– João Paulo Neto def. Hiago George by decision, 0x0 pts, 1×1 adv
4th Round
– Lee Ting def. Nobuhiro Sawada by decision, 0x0 pts, 0x0 adv
– Gabriel Sousa def. João Paulo Neto by 0x0 pts, 1×0 adv
5th Round
– Gabriel Sousa def. Lee Ting by Toe-hook
– Hiago George def. Nobuhiro Sawada by submission
GROUP 2
1st Round
– Isaac Doederlein def. Carlos Oliveira by choke from the back
– Paulo Miyao def. Tiago Bravo by 10×2 pts
2nd Round
– Carlos Oliveira def. Samir Chantre by decision, 2×2 pts
– Paulo Miyao def. Isaac Doederlein by 2×0 pts
3rd Round
– Tiago Bravo def. Samir Chantre by 2×2 pts, 2×0 adv
– Paulo Miyao def. Carlos Oliveira by 2×2 pts, 1×0 adv
4th Round
– Isaac Doederlein def. Tiago Bravo by 2×2 pts, 3×1 adv
– Paulo Miyao def. Samir Chantre by 3×0 pts
5th Round
– Tiago Bravo def. Carlos Oliveira by armlock
– Isaac Doederlein def. Samir Chantre by
SEMI-FINALS
– Paulo Miyao def. Hiago George by decision
– Isaac Doederlein def. Gabriel Sousa by wristlock
3RD PLACE
Gabriel Sousa def. Hiago George by 6×4
FINAL
– Paulo Miyao def. Isaac Doederlein by decision, 4×4 pts, 3×3 adv, 3×3 pens.
