I think this was my last competition before I earned my brown belt, and one of the few I actually have footage of so I thought I’d share.
I was asked to represent my gym at an in house super fight during a tournament we call White Out. The purpose of White Out is to give new grapplers (white belts) an opportunity to compete with local gyms and earn some experience, maybe even a medal.
It’s a friendly format. Three matches guaranteed, medals for the top three in each bracket. Mostly IBJJF rules, but we ask the coaches at the beginning of the competition if they want to allow things like ankle or wrist locks. About half way through we always have a super fight or two, just for fun
Normally, super fights are between brown or black belts because they can showcase the highest level of skill. At this time, we didn’t have any brown or black belts at our gym so I was the next best thing.
My opponent was from Kings Combat Sports in Chatsworth (they’re awesome, if you’re ever over there definitely check them out) and he was a BEAST.
Analysis: I should have lost.
Korben had me locked down pretty good from the moment we started. I’ll admit the little black dots of unconsciousness wiggled into my periphery.
The only thing that saved me was a solid frame with my elbow and that repeated gator roll. Once I finally broke his triangle, I snatched his foot and went for the finish. His toe hold attempt probably would have worked if he got both hands involved, but I think I had already put too much pressure on his ankle for him to risk it.
I won, put on a good show, and represented my gym honorably. Can’t ask for much more than that.
