Grand Prix Grappling decided to try a new venue this time with the Don Coleman Coliseum in West Houston.
According to Hebron, the impetus for this change versus the high school gymnasiums they’ve used in the past was twofold: For one they wanted a location that was central to the majority of Houston area schools and this new place accomplished that. They also wanted to emulate the stadium atmosphere of big league competitions such as the IBJJF Pan Ams and the Mundials as well.
“I know it’s a big deal to plan and spend all that money to go out to California and compete so I wanted to do the same time of thing here for grapplers in Texas,” said Hebron. Adding, “…and for the guys that do go out there, maybe this will help them prepare for what it looks like out there so they’ll be as ready as can be when they do go.”
All in all, feedback regarding the new venue seemed overwhelmingly positive from speaking to longtime grapplers that have frequented GPG events in the past. Be on the lookout for Hebron and crew to revisit this venue sometime in the fall.
As for the action on itself down on the mats, it was definitely a long solid day of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition as close to 500 competitors were reported to us as having registered to compete.
Both team and individual results are forthcoming from GPG so we’ll report back on those. For now, please enjoy the videos and photos below.
Trio of superfights highlight some top competitors
In the first, area brown belts Daniel Rivas of Team Rivas and Jeremiah Matthews of Gracie Barra squared off in a GI match.
Next up, Team Ferreira’s head man and 2011 TXMMA black belt of the year Carlos Diego Ferreira was supposed to square off against former world champion Erik Wanderley of Gracie Barra. Wanderley was a no-show at the event due to reasons undisclosed to us at the time of this writing but taking his place on about ten minutes notice was 4OZ Fighter and former Legacy FC lightweight champion Ray Blodget. For those that didn’t know, Ray fought the night before at LEGACY 12, turning in FOTN honors in his bout with Scotty Juarez. Huge props to Ray for stepping up to fight Ferreira a mere hours after his grueling fight.
Last but not least was a very cerebral chess match with black belt world champion Pablo Silva (GB Texas) taking GFTeam rep and Paradigm head BJJ instructor Igor Santos.
Additional select matches (30+ in total) from GPG’s Houston JJ World Championships available on the Texas Grappling Channel so make you subscribe and check them out here!
Grand Prix Grappling July Photo Gallery
You can view and order from the entire gallery of 1,600+ photos from this tournament by Mike Calimbas Photography here. We’ve also posted a large amount of shots to the TXMMA Facebook Page to like, tag, and share as well so enjoy!