Who Will Reign At 3CG’s Queen Of The Kumite This Weekend?

September 24, 2020

3rd Coast Grappling is closing out their Kumite series with a bang this weekend as eight of some of the best jiu-jitsu athletes in the world compete to see who will win the coveted $10,000 prize and the title of Queen of the Kumite.

The eight-woman bracket will be accompanied by a number of superfights, keeping tradition with the previous six Kumite events the promotion has put on.

In what is arguably the most anticipated first-round matchup of the evening, Nathiely de Jesus will be taking on Jena Bishop to see who moves on to the semifinals. De Jesus is one of the most decorated competitors of her time and isn’t afraid of a challenge, having defeated Gabi Garcia at F2W 121. She’ll certainly have her work cut out for her against Bishop, who’s an ADCC vet and No-Gi Worlds champion. A Jiu-Jitsu Times bracket release poll reveals that de Jesus is the clear favorite among our readers, with 89% favoring her to win this bout, but it would be a mistake to underestimate Bishop.

Luiza Monteiro and Jessi Swanson have a match of their own on the card as well. Monteiro is another highly accomplished athlete on the mats, having taken gold at both Worlds and No-Gi Worlds multiple times. Swanson is still building up her black belt resume following a noteworthy brown belt career, but having taken home medals at Pans and Worlds already, she presents a real threat to Monteiro as both competitors keep their eyes on the $10,000 prize. In our poll, our readers said they favored Monteiro (76%) over Swanson (24%).

Ana Carolina Vieira will now be taking on a new opponent after Raquel Pa’aluhi Canuto had to withdraw from the event. Vieira is a highly accomplished athlete with wins at Worlds and the World Pro, and many fans are hoping for a rematch between her and de Jesus in the finals. Vieira will be going up against 3CG newcomer Yanelisa Reyes. While Reyes doesn’t have the star power that Vieira does (yet), she’s the first female BJJ black belt from the Dominican Republic. A win against a competitor as accomplished as Vieira would certainly draw some attention, and she’ll be hoping to achieve that and more at this weekend’s event.

Finally, Andressa Cintra will be taking on Nathalie Ribeiro to see which of them will move on to the semis. After a win at No-Gi Worlds last year and a medal at Euros earlier this year, Ribeiro is looking for yet another challenge, and she’ll certainly find it in Cintra, who won Worlds last year herself. Cintra will be returning to the 3CG mats after a big win against Maggie Grindatti earlier this year. Her accomplishments have earned her the favor of JJT readers, who largely believe that she (71%) will take the first-round win over Ribeiro (29%).

The promotion has also lined up a few must-see superfights, bringing in a number of 3CG veterans to battle it out one more time in the Kumite series. The main event superfight will see Gustavo Batista, who won the very first 3CG Kumite event, facing off against 2019 No-Gi Pans champion Vinicius Ferreira.

Prior to that, we’ll get to see Lucas “Hulk” Barbosa going up against Guilherme Augusto in the co-main event superfight of the night.

Here is the full schedule for the event: