Sub Spectrum will be beating the heat with another event that gives athletes the opportunity to earn some serious cash, with both women having the chance to earn a maximum of $1,750 and men having the chance to earn $2,750.
Promotor Jordan Peitzman has shared the details of the Sub Spectrum Summer Showdown with the Jiu-Jitsu Times, revealing that the Iowa event would be hosting multiple brackets, with five cash prize divisions total. Those hoping to be handsomely compensated for their efforts will be looking to enter:
- Women’s advanced no-gi absolute – $1,000
- Women’s advanced gi absolute – $500
- Men’s advanced no-gi absolute – $1,000
- Men’s advanced gi absolute – $500
- Men’s flyweight tournament – $1,000
An additional $250 prize will be awarded to both the male and female athlete who achieve the fastest submission.
Those who choose to compete in the cash prize divisions will have their work cut out for them. The women’s no-gi absolute already has 2019 double-gold World Champion Kendall Reusing and her sister, 2021 blue belt No-Gi American Nationals champ Emma Reusing, signed up to compete. Aislinn O’Connell and Christina Hansen will also be vying for the $1,000 prize.
The elder Reusing sister will also be competing in the absolute gi division, joined by Alexandra Peterson. Both of the women’s divisions will eventually have eight competitors in each bracket.
The men’s divisions will also have some big names in the mix. The no-gi absolute will see wrestling-standout-turned-BJJ-competitor Pat Downey take on a pool of competitors that includes returning Sub Spectrum champ Austin Baker. Baker will also be competing in the gi bracket, where he’ll have the chance to meet with two-time gi champion Mahmoud Jabr. In the flyweight tournament, two-time No-Gi Pans champion Marcelo Cohen will be joining Austin “Duck Jitsu” Daffron and multiple other up-and-comers from the Midwest. The latter two tournaments will feature eight competitors, while the no-gi absolute will see sixteen men put forth their best effort to claim the prize.
Additionally, there will be gi and no-gi round-robin tournaments set up for competitors of all levels in the kids, teens, adults, and masters divisions.
Peitzman, who has made a name for his promotion through cash prize events and community give-back initiatives, expressed his excitement at being able to once again be able to run events at full capacity.
“The last year and a half has not been easy, but I owe it to the Sub Spectrum fan base for keeping us alive and getting us to where we are today. We’ve had to simplify our operation a bit over the last year to keep things moving, but now we’re ready for another signature event in a brand new venue space that will allow us to showcase the sport in a way we’ve never seen in the Midwest,” he said.
Peitzman also shared his desire to use his promotion as a way to boost women’s jiu-jitsu. “Being able to host cash prize divisions for female competitors again is something that I’m really looking forward to. It’s been nearly two years since our last, and to be honest, I’ve been really disappointed in myself and my ability to fill those divisions during that time. One of my biggest worries is that female competitors will begin to see Sub Spectrum as a male-only event and that’s just not something I want us to be known for. The female divisions have consistently produced some of the most technical and exciting matches and some of the most electric submission finishes we’ve seen in our event. The Midwest Jiu-Jitsu community is really excited for this one and I can tell. We’ve already seen three times as many female registrations as we’ve seen at any event over the last year and overall it’s shaping up to be our biggest event to date — on pace to host over 250 competitors.”
You can register for the event through Smoothcomp via the Sub Spectrum website.
The Sub Spectrum Summer Showdown will take place on Saturday, August 14, at the Benjamin Theatre at Franklin Jr. High in Des Moines, Iowa.
