Kaynan Duarte and Aaron “Tex” Johnson may have been considered underdogs on a card that featured names like Felipe Pena and Craig Jones, but when Kasai 5 had concluded, they were the ones at the front of the pack.
The promotion’s fifth installment featured an eight-man 205-lb tournament on the main card, plus three superfights. The event’s rules encourage submission attempts and penalize stalling, and the competitors mostly grappled accordingly.
Two of the night’s biggest surprises came through the submission-based losses of fan favorites Felipe Pena and Craig Jones. 2019 Pans champion Kaynan Duarte submitted Jones with a rear naked choke, while Johnson shocked even himself by submitting Pena with a heel hook (which ultimately rendered Pena injured and unable to continue in the competition). Duarte and Johnson went on to win first and second, respectively, while Jones defeated Sousa to win third place in the tournament.
The superfights were solid matchups, with World Champion Mayssa Bastos submitting Fiona Watson, Marcus Tinoco defeating Romulo Barral via points, and Dante Leon besting Edwin Najmi with a rear naked choke in the main event superfight of the evening.
Here are the final results from the event:
205-lb Tournament
Felipe Pena defeats Valdir Araujo via points
Tex Johnson defeats Jackson Sousa via heel hook
Craig Jones and Pedro Marinho – draw
Kaynan Duarte defeats Jon Blank via points
Aaron “Tex” Johnson and Valdir Araujo – draw
Felipe Pena defeats Jackson Sousa via points
Kaynan Duarte defeats Pedro Marinho via points
Craig Jones defeats Jon Blank via rear naked choke
Jackson Sousa defeats Valdir Araujo via points
Tex Johnson defeats Felipe Pena via heel hook
Jon Blank defeats Pedro Marinho via armlock
Kaynan Duarte defeats Craig Jones via rear naked choke
Craig Jones defeats Jackson Sousa via straight ankle lock (wins third place)
Kaynan Duarte defeats Tex Johnson via points (wins first place; Johnson earns second place)
Superfights
Mayssa Bastos defeats Fiona Watson via rear naked choke
Marcos Tinoco defeats Romulo Barral via points
Dante Leon defeats Edwin Najmi via rear naked choke
