Eddie Bravo made waves again through the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu community when he had an epic rematch with Royler Gracie which helped him to steal thunder from the Gracies once again. Never one to be outdone, Bravo saw something in the Metamoris competitions, but tried to improve upon the competition with his own style which was the foundations for the Eddie Bravo Invitational. He put two of his own black belts, who happen to be brothers, in the 170 and 145 weight classes, and they made it to the finals. In those finals they faced two of the best grapplers in the world with Garry Tonon at 170 and the always entertaining mad man of BJJ Jeff Glover going into the finals at 145.
These are both OTM sponsored athletes which once again reaffirms On The Mat and Lucky Gi as one of the best brands out their for BJJ and Mixed Martial Arts. You will see a lot of Gi makers start throwing money at the athletes that are hot at the moment. They just want to capture some heat of their sudden fame, but OTM and Lucky Gi have constantly invested in athletes they knew would be quality grapplers with the right amount of time and effort. This invitational was a clear representation of that as both of the oTM sponsored athletes made it to the finals of their perspective weight classes.
Tonon squared off with Richie “The Boogeyman” Martinez who not only is a 10th planet black belt but also 2-0 as a professional MMA fighter. He had submitted all three of his opponents on the way to the final but ran into the roadblock that is Tom Deblass black belt Garry Tonon. The finish was ultimately set up by Martinez himself as he overcommitted to his own submission which allowed Tonon to submit him with a heel hook.
Not to be outdone, Glover and Geovanny Martinez put on a show for the ages. Leading up to the final, Martinez had captured three submissions in under three minutes in his first three matches. That would not be the same when going up against a world class grappler the likes of Glover who matched Martinez well into three overtime rounds. Ultimately it was Martinez who came out on top, but in a match like that no one is really a loser.
This competition showed off some of the most innovative submission games and grappling, and just like their sponsored athletes, OTM makes their gear as creatively as the games of their sponsored athletes. They have dipped their toe into waters unheard of in BJJ gear with custom, wholesale, bamboo, and hemp Gis. You need to check their own line of gear as well as their custom gear if you want to be a threat on the mats before you walk on to them, because just like Glover and Tonon built a name for themselves wearing OTM gear, you can too.