If a picture is worth a thousand words, this video by Stuart Cooper is about a million. Make sure you watch the video.
Having got to the event late my whole day was off to a crazy start. I got there and Erin Herle was already there working like a mad woman. Someone give that girl a raise. She was nice enough to catch me up on what I had missed.
Gene from Flow BJJ was there to see Andy Wang. Unfortunately Kron Gracie had already made short work of Andy. Korn had an epic event. He was the only person to tap out every single opponent. I believe only our own Garry Tonon was the only person to score points on Kron. And, Garry scored 6 points on Korn. Later in and interview with Stweart Cooper he said that Garry was his toughest match.
We are super proud of Garry he did a great job. I feel bad because if I had coached him he might have won. Just goes to show the importance of a coach. Garry was up 6 points and tapped out with only 3 second left in the match. Garry said ofter the match if he had known it was only 3 seconds we would have just taken it. Garry is a tough guy. He had already powered out of the same armlock that Kron later used to tap out JT Torres.
Kron has one hell of a guillotine. He puts it on so fast the guy is tapping before he hits the ground. Otavio Sousa didn’t have a chance once Kron got a hold of his head. Henry Akins was one of the instructors at Rickson Gracie’s for years when Kron was training there. He told me there are some details in how Rickson does the guillotine. He said the developed it when Rickson was training to beat big wrestlers when they were ruling Pride FC back in the day. Kron really had it down because his submission were all really sharp.
Garry Tonon went on to have two other amazing matches. He luckily drew Buchecha in the first round of the Absolute. He was seated least likely to win even though he came closest to beating Kron. They didnt give him much of a chance in the Absolute. But, he sure showed he couldn’t be counted out.
His match with Buchecha was a good one. He took all Buchecha had and give him quite a bit back. fought out of every think Buchechaput on him including a mean head lock from haft guard. Garry got out came back and even was close on a few take downs on Buchecha. At the end of the throw down brawl of a match, the dust settled and Buchecha had only won by 3 points. A lot bitter, stinger guys, got murdered and tap out by Buchecha. But Garry Tonon hung in there and wore him out.
Buchecha fought a lot of tough battles to win his weight division. I think it took the wind out of his sales. He looked tired in the finials of the absolute. In his weight class he was strong. He fought a lot of matches to win his division and then the absolute the next day. Guy is an epic warrior.
You have to hand it to Cyborg. He did an amazing job in the absolute. He fought Garry Tonon too. There was no one to face Cyborg. They asked Garry who was sitting in the stands with his mother. Garry jumped up ran down to the mat and grappled Cyborg. Cyborg was on his roll and beat a tired Garry by 11 points. Got to give Garry props.
Cyborg took it to Keenan and beat him. I was watching Buchecha and Dean Lister.
Keenan did amazing the whole event. He is really the new kid to watch OTM. I’d pick him to win ADCC 2015 in Manous. For a guy who just got his black belt he showed that he is already up there in skill and heart. He didn’t have an easy fight the whole event. Starting with Clark Gracie and only getting knocked out by the eventual winner Romolo Barral. He even came back and beat Dean Lister for 3rd place in Absolute. Great showing by Keenan.
Joao Assis was another guy that was on fire. He ended up meeting Dean Lister in the finals and beating lister. Lister ripped off about every leg he got a hold of to make it to the finals. Dean is an ADCC veteran that proved he is still a top contender. The rest of the brackets seemed to be full of new generation.
More to come tomorrow.