Sapateiro is making its return on March 20, and they’re kicking things off with a black belt match announcement that’s going to excite leg lockers.
EBI 15 champion Jon Calestine will be making his return to competition to face Combat Jiu-Jitsu Jordan Holy, according to an announcement made by Sapateiro days ago. The match will end only via submission and have no time limit, and it will accompany an open-weight tournament with a $1,000 prize.
We’ve seen a lot more of Holy in recent months. He finished off 2020 with a win over Ruben Rivera at 3CG 5, and prior to that, he impressed fans at events like Submission Underground and CJJ Worlds with his submission skills. Having defeated names like Frank Rosenthal and Marvin Castelle, he’s long established himself as a force to be reckoned with.
Calestine has previously established his prowess at Sapateiro, taking home the 145 lb championship title back in 2017 at Sapateiro 9. He also became the Onnit Invitational 135 lb champion that same year, but his big moment came at EBI 15, when he replaced Eddie Cummings in the featherweight division on 24 hours’ notice and took home the championship title. He hasn’t competed since 2019, and fans will be eager to see his return.
This is a great matchup featuring two talented and stubborn submission artists, and it’s a wise choice by promotor Josh Leduc to refuse to leave this one up to the judges. We can expect to see some highly technical and creative submission attempts from both of these athletes.
Sapatero: Battle for the Axe 2 will take place on Saturday, March 20 and will be streamed live via PPV.
