Weekend Texas BJJ Roundup – Gracie Grappling Cup, Newbreed Ultimate Challenge, and 2013 Dungal Recaps

ALL AROUND TX, March 12, 2013 – Catching up on this past weekend of Jiu-Jitsu action, it seems that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu players and No-GI grapplers were busy all around the state as events were held in Houston, San Antonio, and the Dallas-Fort Worth area this past Saturday, March 9^th. Here’s a recap of all the tournament action from this past weekend.

Gracie Grappling Cup – San Antonio, TX

First up, Gracie Grappling Cup returned to San Antonio’s Factory of Champions for the first time since last November. Many of our readers might remember that last event for producing the very-first women’s black belt superfight in Texas and subsequently 2012 sub of the year with Fabiana Borges taking on Christy Thomas. There wasn’t any such women’s match this time around but there were prize money divisions with almost $2,000 in total prize money going around for black and brown belt winners.

In the black belt absolute, Paragon Dallas representative Alex Martins won the $1,000 grand prize over a field that included Daniel Pinheiro (RPBJJ), Jarrod Clontz (SMAA / CFC) and Luis Rubalcava (Alliance). Also in the brown belt division, Kaue Damasceno of Nova Unaio won the brown belt division for the second straight event, taking home the $400 prize over Robert Garza of Elements BJJ in the final.

Overall the event was said to have ran very smoothly with over 200+ competitors from around 30 teams getting a chance to roll and go home by 3:30PM. Overall team standings are below and Gracie Grappling Cup will return for their next event in Waco on July 27^th. We’ll be sure to be at that one so stay tuned for more information as the event near.

Gracie Grappling Cup – Team Standings for March 9, 2013

KIDS TEAM CHAMPIONS

1st – Relson Gracie 42
2nd – Soulfighters Texas 29
3rd – Rony Lis 28
4th – Ohana 25

ADULT TEAM CHAMPIONS

1st – Soulfighters 45
2nd – Texas Powerhouse 31
3rd – Relson Gracie 30
4th – Rodrigo Pinheiro 27

Dungal Submission Grappling Championship – Houston, TX

Team leader Zulfi Ahmed and his Bushi Ban International organization held the 2013 edition of their Dungal Submission Grappling Championship this past weekend also in Southeast Houston (Pasadena). Dating back since the early days (pre-2005), the Dungal No-GI event is one of the oldest-running tournaments in the Houston area and perhaps all of Texas.

This year the big winner taking home the hammer and grand champion honors was Ricky Shivers of Gracie Barra Champions. The big man decided to compete in this fresh off his MMA heavyweight title fight a week prior versus Derrick Lewis and did not disappoint, winning over a field that included 2^nd place Renan Chavez (Zion MMA) and 3^rd place Jason Soliz (TX3CMMA).

We have not received any type of overall team standings from this event but notable gold medal division winners aside from the names above include Gerzan Chaw (Bushi Ban), Andy Cordova (GB Texas), and Terrence Ferguson (GB Katy).

Newbreed Ultimate Challenge – Dallas, TX

Last but not least up for the weekend was the Newbreed Ultimate Challenge and their inaugural Dallas Grappling Championship held this past Saturday, March 9^th at the Sportsplex at Valley View. A new entrant to the Texas tournament scene, David Heller and his Newbreed brand boasted over 350 competitors and 600 total divisions for this past weekend’s event – completed and cleaned up by 6:30PM.

No individual results to report just yet from this one but it does look like Team Alvarez BJJ was the big winner taking home the team titles in both the adult and kids & teen divisions for the event.

We’ll have more news from this event as we hear it. Or just feel free to comment on this post if you feel any individual competitors deserve to be recognized so everyone can share in their accomplishments!

Up Next for TXMMA’s Continued Coverage of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Scene

TXMMA.com and myself (Mike Calimbas Photography) will be busy over the next few weeks (through April) with tournament events scheduled to be covered all over the state and beyond.

► First up will be the 2013 IBJJF Pan-Ams scheduled for March 20^th-24^th at the Bren Event Center in UC Irvine (SoCal). We won’t be there for the entire event but rest assured we will be catching plenty of our Texas purple to black belt competitors in action and reporting back on their international achievements here on TXMMA.com.

► Then on March 30^th we’ll be traveling down to Austin, TX for Fight to Win / World Grappling Circuit’s 4^th annual Texas State Championship event scheduled for East VIew High School in Georgetown, TX. As the longest running “state championship” event, this is the one we’ve historically recognized as hailing that official status for TXMMA so make sure to come out for that one also.

► The following week we’ll be back in Houston Elbert Hebron’s Texas International Grappling Festival – scheduled for North Shore Sr. High School in East Houston. This was one of the best Houston events last year as far as brown / black divisions go so make sure to put this on your radar as well.

The month will conclude for us with two other big events.

► On April 13^th, Rafael Perez and his crew will be hosting the MatShark SA Open Pro at St. Phillip’s College in San Antonio, TX. With over $13.000 in prize money, this should be his largest event yet so it’s quite fitting that we should be there covering this series for the very first time.

► Finally on April 27^th we finish the month off with American Grappling Federation’s 2013 Austin Classic at Farley Middle School in Hutto, TX. They’ll once again be hosting another $1,000 team challenge as they did for their last event as they did at the Winter Classic in DFW this past January so look for this one to be hotly contested as well.

That’s it for TXMMA’s March and April tournament coverage so make sure to catch us at one or more of these events as we continue on with our 2013 TXMMA Tournament Season. For more info on all these events, make sure to bookmark the TXMMA Events Calendar.

As always, make sure to catch all your Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu event photos at www.mikecalimbas.com.

See you guys on the mats!