The inaugural Kinektic team tournament has arrived to shake up the rapidly growing submission grappling scene with a night full of explosive matches.
The event kicked off with Team BJJ Fanatics’ own Lachlan Giles waging a one man war against Team Lights Out Urban Achievers. The Aussie black belt took on all five members of Chris Lytle’s squad, including the UFC vet himself, and came away with 5 submission victories. BJJ Fanatics advance with 5-0-0.
Next we had Chael Sonnen’s Team SUG face Anthony “Lionheart” Smith’s Team…..Lionheart. Neither side was able to take first blood in the opening round as both Brian Sparrow and Guilherme Vasconcelos fought to a very close draw, with Sparrow making a solid effort with his bottom game. Jorge Rodrigues was able to take the first win for SUG against the heavyset Scott Morrison, but couldn’t secure a second win against James Brasco leading to the second tie of the evening. Enrico Cocco delivered Lionheart its first win via heel hook against Rafael Domingos, but like Rodrigues he only managed to draw against the physically imposing Gabriel Barbosa Checco. The round was closed out with a very entertaining match against the lightest competitor on the card Joseph “The Baddest Man on the Planet” Warren and Ronny Markes. We saw the smaller wrestler execute some incredibly fast scrambles against his much larger opponent’s takedown and top control, before ultimately succumbing to the PFL fighter. SUG advances 2-3-2.
The final round of SUG vs BJJ Fanatics was dominated by two exports from the Blue Basement: the always shirtless Nick Rodriguez and the King Gordon Ryan. Rodriguez was selected first to face Jorge and utilized top pressure and hip rotation before snagging a heel hook at the close of the match. He followed up with what was clear and away the most aggressive match of the event, a visibly disgruntled Markes responding to Rodriguez’s collar ties and head tapping with a loud slap to the face midway through the match. After a stern dressing down from the red the two men closed out the match with a draw.
Making his first competition appearance post injury, Ryan wasted no time in reminding people he’s actually pretty good at this whole wrasslin thing. First quickly dispatching Barbosa with an armbar, Ryan then fought a very patient and technical match against the constantly moving Rafael Domingos. Ryan used his guard to defend Domingo’s cartwheel attempts before managing to sink in an RNC after taking his back. The King closed out with yet another reserved but nonetheless impressive showing against Bellator fighter Guilherme Vasconcelos, winning via guillotine after both competitors opted to go to the ground. BJJ Fanatics take the night 4-1-0.
I just hope Craig Jones brought some books to pass the time.
