The Eddie Bravo Invitational made history at Austin’s Onnit Academy on December 9, crowning its first strawweight champion in a night of agile, aggressive all-female matches. The event also featured special bouts between featherweights Priscilla Herrera and Gabrielle Villafuerte, and bantamweights Kayla Patterson and Andrezza Facanha.
Ultimately Mayssa Bastos reigned supreme, fighting four impressive matches and besting standout Pati Fontes for a $10,000 payout and significant bragging rights.
Here’s the recap of how the night went down.
First Round Fights:
Patti Fontes defeats Chisaki Akiyama via RNC.
17-year-old Jessa Kahn defeats longtime veteran Analilya Calzada via armbar.
Gabby Romero defeats Megan Parducho via overtime tap.
Chelsi Aguayo defeats favorite Rita Lynne Gribben via submission in double overtime upset.
Mayssa Bastos defeats Fabiana Jorge via fastest escape time in double overtime.
Fiona Watson defeats Nina Navid in triple overtime via fastest escape time.
Danielle Kelly defeats Lila Smadja-Cruz via armbar in overtime.
Rikako Yuasa defeats Sofia Amarante via first-round submission.
Quarter Final Fights:
Pati Fontes vs. Jessa Khan jumped into action with a flying arm attack by Fontes, Khan defending into strong closed guard. Fontes works mount, transitions into toe hold for the tap. Fontes advances.
Gabby Romero vs. Chelsi Aguayo began in Romero’s guard, Aguayo looking for the pass. After a battle for position, Aguayo starts working for possible kimura but gets caught in kneebar. Romero advances.
Fiona Watson vs. Mayssa Bastos began with both sitting into a pummeling battle for inside control. Bastos looks for heel, Watson escapes. Frenetic scrambles and resets. Both focus on leg attacks until Bastos looks to transition to upper body control. Watson goes to transition but passes into perfect kneebar position accidentally, tap comes in seconds. Bastos advances.
In an epic match, Rikako Yuasa faced Danielle Kelly. Kelly immediately looked for leg attacks while Yuasa continued the night’s theme of heavy top pressure and mount. Leg entanglement ate some time, but action resumed with a cartwheeling guard pass from Kelly into an armbar attempt which Yuasa escapes. Leg attacks melt into overtime. Three overtimes later, Yuasa wins by escape time a mere 4 seconds faster than Kelly. Yuasa advances.
Featherweight Special Matchup:
Priscilla Herrera and Gabrielle Villafuerte show down. Villafuerte hits early north-south position but loses position. Both fighters transition back to feet for slappy exchanges during takedown hunt. Herrera jumps into rubberguard and looks for triangle and omoplata setup. Another escape. Back on the feet, Villafuerte grabs and muscles a backtake into takedown combo. Herrera sets up heel hook and gets the tap.
Semi-Final Fights:
Pati Fontes makes quick work of Gabby Romero with an early guard to kimura finish. Fontes advances.
Mayssa Bastos arm drags Rikako Yuasa into dangerous territory, but Yuasa recovers nicely. Bastos passes and moves swiftly into body triangle. Yuasa demonstrates high-level choke defense but Bastos eventually slips under the neck and gets the tap. Bastos advances.
Bantamweight Special Matchup:
Andrezza Facanha vs. Kayla Patterson showcased the standup skills of American Top Team vs. Team Atos with two full minutes of aggressive wrestling bordering on slap-jitsu. Nearing three minutes, Patterson pulls guard to audience applause, working from closed position while Andrea looks for arm dominance. After two resets, Patterson attempts jumping triangle but loses it. Overtime comes, then a second overtime. Patterson ultimately wins by escape time in double OT.
FINALS:
Pati Fontes continues nightlong pattern of early aggression with Bastos patiently sitting. Fontes drives hard until reset. Bastos continues preference for seated advancing, working butterfly position while Fontes pursues ankle. Reset. Mutual leg entanglement. Reset. Scramble. Fontes attempts jumping entrance but Bastos defends into mount. Scramble into another leg entanglement. Bastos, hunting for knee lines, transitions into toe hold. Fontes disengages to avoid butterfly guard of Bastos again, but evenutally gets caught until time runs out. Overtime: Fontes chooses spiderweb. Fontes gets into armbar position but Bastos defends. Fontes rides with Bastos escaping just as OT1 finished. Bastos chooses back for her start. Cutting the hard angle, she sets up a long back ride while working toward the choke. Fontes defends well, bridging up. Bastos uses legs to control Fontes’ hips, eventually gets body triangle and moved into full RNC position. Bastos gets tap in final dramatic seconds of overtime and collects sizeable check from Eddie Bravo.
Congratulations to Mayssa Bastos, Pati Fontes, and all the fighters of the first strawweight EBI!
