There are new invitationals popping up almost every weekend. These give competitors opportunities to showcase their skills and win some money doing it. On Saturday March 17th in Jacksonville, Florida, one such invitational will be taking place featuring several elite and up-and-coming athletes. Olympus Invitational I is poised to be a fantastic event. I had a chance to chat with the promoter, Bryan Brown to get some of his thoughts about the event and insights into the stars that will shine bright on his mat.
As a first installment, this Olympus invitational has drawn 32 top flight competitors. The names that stick out from the list are:
Quentin Pablo Rosenzweig – Knuckle Up Atlanta, Black belt under Steve Mitchell. 3x Kakuto absolute champion, Kakuto Light Heavyweight Champion, Sapateiro Heavyweight Champion, 2x EBI Vet
Dan Martinez – Gracie PAC. Nogi World Champ, Finishers Absolute Champion, Pan Am bronze medalist, Grapplers Quest pro invite runner up, Jacksonville Invitational SuperFight Winner (Quentin Rosenzweig)
Jason Rau – Serra BJJ/Renzo Gracie Academy black belt under Matt Serra. 185 Sapateiro Champion, Global Grappling League 170 & Absolute champion, Sub Spectrum 170/185 champion, Newbreed ultimate grappler 2016, Rise 170 lb champion
Pedro Palhares – LPBJJ Black belt under Luiz Palhares. IBJJF 1x Munich Open Middleweight champion, 2x Miami Open Middleweight champion, 1x Zurich Open absolute champion.
These are just four on a list of 32 competitors, all highly accomplished and qualified to compete on such a massive card.
While these top four are potential favorites to win the entire thing, Bryan Brown feels that there are other names on the list who should be watched closely>
“Stuart Maddox and Leon Jackson are ones to watch in the Browns, Mike Carpenter, Marc Graham and Josh Yelverton are purple belts but known to kill black belts,” he told The Jiu-Jitsu Times
I was interested in learning a bit about the mind and the man behind this amazing event.
“I’ve trained with Eddie Bravo since 2006, I’m an original member of the Bomb Squad,” he told us. “I’m a brown belt and have received every belt from Eddie. I moved to Florida 3.5 years ago and 2 years ago began 10th Planet Atlantic Beach, the 1.5 years later founded 10th Planet Jacksonville. This will be our 5th tourney. We have done the Orange Park Invitational 1 & 2 (OPI 1 & OPI 2) The Atlantic Beach Invitational 1 (ABI 1) and the Jacksonville Invitationl (JI I) Now we go big with the Olympus Invitational (OI I). $3000 to 1st place, $1000 to 2nd. This event is Proudly Sponsored by: Raw Cuts, Datsusara, Acai Station, Toe Hold, Jax Nutrition, Training Yard, Jax Muay Thai, Phalanx Family, Zebra Athletics, Cryotherapy Jax, Pura Bean Coffee, Maple Street Biscuit Company, Iron Jaw Custom Mouthguards, Savage Essentials Homemade Soap Co.”
More information about the event can be found on this page.
