There was a time when BJJ brown belt William Tackett was considered an underdog, but since then, many competitors have learned from their mistakes (and Tackett’s submissions) that this teenage grappling star is a force to be reckoned with.
Now, he’ll have to see if it’ll be enough to win $10,000 in an eight-man bracket at 3rd Coast Grappling: Kumite this weekend. In many other events, Tackett would likely be considered the favorite, especially after coming off a two-match winning streak (and a brown belt championship title) at Fight 2 Win 141 and 142. But 3CG has stacked their COVID comeback card to the brim with talent, and if Tackett wants to come out ahead of names like Gabriel Arges and Roberto Jimenez, he’s going to have to pull out every bit of skill he has at his disposal.
Of course, Tackett has plenty of skill to unleash. He (along with his dad and brother) started training in 2009. “We always had an interest with martial arts from watching Bruce Lee movies as a kid,” he told the Jiu-Jitsu Times.
Obviously, a lot has changed for Tackett since his childhood days on the mats. Now, he’s sitting in that “underdog, but not quite” position — not a household name (yet), but you can’t mention him without someone calling him “underrated” or mentioning how it’s only a matter of time before the brown belt goes from being a “rising” star to a superstar in the jiu-jitsu world. Even with all of the hype that’s surrounded him recently, though, Tackett is still comfortable going into the event. “I don’t feel any extra pressure,” he said. “I feel that the pressure is more on my opponents, ’cause they are older and have been training as an adult longer. I love being the underdog — it motivates me!”
This won’t be Tackett’s first time on the 3CG stage, either. He trains out of Texas (which has truly turned into the Third Coast of jiu-jitsu as grappling has come back during the coronavirus outbreak) and is welcomed both as a local and as a high-level crowd attraction for the promotion. “I like 3CG ’cause they always are trying to put on the biggest matches with the highest level athletes,” said Tackett of the promotion.
Tackett will have plenty of people standing in his way, but he has his eye on one potential opponent in particular. “I feel like [Gustavo] Batista will be the man to beat in the tournament. He is the toughest style for mine so I hope we match up in the finals,” said Tackett.
Regardless of the outcome, we can all expect to see much more of Tackett in both the near and far future. My goal is to compete a lot in the next few weeks to gain some eyes from the crowd and bring attention to me and my team,” said Tackett. “Then I plan to take off competing for a few months in preparation for the ADCC trials.”
You can watch Tackett and all the other athletes on 3CG’s first-ever Kumite event this Saturday, June 6, starting at 8 p.m.. The event will be streamed live on FloGrappling.
