By TXMMA Staff
Some of BJJ’s top current and future stars showcased in Dallas
DALLAS, TX – Fight to Win rocked the house at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center last weekend as part of the 2016 Europa Expo. First up, Fight to Win PRO 6 took center stage on Friday night. You can find all the action from that event via FloGrappling here but Saturday had a lot of grappling action as well. That all took place at the annual Europa Supershow BJJ tournament put on by Fight to Win and World Grappling Circuit.
Keep viewing below and find some of our favorite matches of the day:
5 Highlight Performances from Europa 2016
1. Lucas Pinheiro (Gracie Gym) vs. Lee Crosley (Alvarez BJJ)
At only 16 or 17 years of age, Lee Crosley of Alvarez BJJ is young in the game. Be that as it may, he’s still a man-child and is not shy about trying to take the game to anybody he faces. This includes opponents like “Bad Boy” Lucas Pinheiro, a Brazilian national champion and worlds silver medalist at brown belt, and also a Pan Ams silver medalist this year. Not to take anything away from Pinheiro but Crosley had his most notorious performance yet here.
2. Roberto Jimenez (Alliance Gacho) vs. Lucas Pinheiro (Gracie Gym)
Another wunderkind, Roberto Jimenez has been named the top teen competitor in Texas already as of 2015 and he’s only just now getting into the meat of his teenage years. Like Crosley, he too faced Pinheiro last Saturday and found similar success. This was of a 15 match day where he submitted all 15 opponents, won his gi divisions at blue belt, and also won the advanced nogi divisions as well.
3. Roberto Jimenez (Alliance Gacho) vs. Lee Crosley (Alvarez BJJ)
With both these rising teens having submitted a black belt via footlock, they would then clash and have their own epic battle later in the day. It was as intense as could be anticipated with neither backing down en route to the finish.
4. Nicole Evangelista (Colorado BJJ) vs. Karen Kovach (Genesis)
Speaking of rising teens, Colorado’s Nicole Evangelista is another that’s starting to make her name on the scene. She won her juvenile division at this year’s IBJJF Pans and is bound to accomplish way more in the future. Here she is taking on purple belt nogi masters world champion Karen Kovach, this time in the gi.
5. Charlie Bright vs. Jason Bright
Last but not least we arrive at our fifth match, which wasn’t really an official match at all. In lieu of telling his story, we’ll pass along the words of his mom, as messaged to me (Mike Calimbas).
“I am the mom of Charlie Bright, the young man at the Europa Expo in Dallas this weekend, who waited 7 hours until his brother finished his match. He takes karate back in St. Louis and wanted to fight his brother Jason. It was remarkable to say the least. I thought they were going to kind someplace out of the way and have a mock match but what happened was remarkable. He was able to use a real mat with a real referee and the ending even more special. The referee and spectators cheered and made it seem like a real match. At the end, the referee raised Charlie’s hand and declared him the winner. It made the entire worth it (7 hours for 3 minutes of fun). That’s patience and the light at the end of the tunnel. As we were leaving the convention Center, the ref waved to Charlie and told him what a great job he did and the smile that lasted the whole way home was awesome. What a great ending……..we taped the match and thru social media we were able to see a picture of the results (with Charlie’s hand held high in victory). Thank you again for making Charlie’s 24th birthday one that he will remember for years to come.”
BONUS: Complete Playlist – 70 Matches from Europa 2016
But wait…. there’s more. Here’s 70 matches in total recorded from Europa 2016. Enjoy the rest of the action!
