“Many competitors from West Texas and New Mexico showed to compete in our no-points, no-time limit submission only tournament,” said promoter Christopher Story.
He told us that many competitors might be suffering from “submission remission” after getting their first glance at the format at the BJJ Classic.
“Many of the matches spanned 20 minutes while a few exceeded the 45 minute mark! It was definitely a treat to watch everyone who stepped onto the mats try and finish their opponents to get the win!”
According to story, teams including Ralph Gracie, Rhino BJJ, Pittman BJJ, Evolve BJJ, Elite MMA, Royce Gracie, and many others came out to showcase their skills at the recent tournament.
The highlight of the event was the performance of brown belt Luan Carvalho (Nova Uniao / Rhino BJJ), who submitted opponent after opponent to win 1st place in the Brown Belt Open Division. Story mentioned to us that the division was filled with some tough guys and the bouts on the way to the top were very entertaining to watch.
The same could be said about the purple belt absolute division, won by Evolve BJJ’s Rashad Salahuddin.
This tournament was the first time kids and teens from around the area were able to display their mettle in a submission-only format as well. A few of the matches lasted in excess of 15-20 minutes and Briley Wells, a BJJ fighter with only six months of training, tested his skills for the first time on the mats despite cerebral palsy. Spectators looked on, inspired by his performance.
The BJJ Classic returns for their next tournament in the Dallas area on October 20th. Additional details and registration info can be found on the tourney website here.
Here’s a slideshow from the BJJ Classic in Lubbock.