Last Saturday the city of New York hosted another edition of Kasai Pro Jiu-Jitsu. In its fourth spectacle, Kasai held a no-gi GP featuring eight athletes.
Augusto Tanquinho, a world champion and UFC fighter, shared the bracket with other stars of Brazilian BJJ — Paulo Miyao, Bruno Frazatto and Kim Terra — as well as the Americans Gianni Grippo, Geo Martinez, Frank Rosenthal and Ethan Crelinsten.
The finalists were known after three rounds with six-minute matches where each submission was good for three points, each win by points was good for two, and ties meant one point for each opponent. By the end of these three rounds, Gianni Grippo and Paulo Miyao had made it.
The final duel went as expected in this clash of old rivals: lots of ground action with intertwined legs and an incessant pursuit of forcing a mistake. A good chunk of the fight played out cautiously on the 50/50 guard, and one peculiar play determined the result: After reaching a score of 1–0 due to a foot attack (advantages are counted as one point each) and seeing Miyao score two points with an a reversal on the 50/50, Grippo picked up the pace and came up to add two points of his own. The maneuver was made near the edge of the mat, and Miyao spun into all fours before the interruption. The ref counted the two points, and Grippo won 3–2, as can be seen in the video below.
Gianni Grippo is your @KASAIGrappling Pro Featherweight Champion! ??? pic.twitter.com/250LQ0H86Y
— FloGrappling (@FloGrappling) 11 de novembro de 2018
Additionally, Renato Canuto beat Vagner Rocha on points, Matheus Luthes finished Jeremiah Vance via choke from the north–south. Check out the complete results:
Kasai Pro 4
New York
November 10, 2018
Round 1
Geo Martinez def. Bruno Frazatto, points
Paulo Miyao def. Frank Rosenthal, points
Gianni Grippo def. Ethan Crelinsten, points
Augusto Tanquinho def. Kim Terra, points
Round 2
Frank Rosenthal def. Bruno Frazatto, W.O. (injury)
Paulo Miyao def. Geo Martinez, points
Augusto Tanquinho def. Ethan Crelinsten, points
Gianni Grippo def. Kim Terra, points
Round 3
Frank Rosenthal def. Geo Martinez, points
Ethan Crelinsten def. Kim Terra, points
Gianni Grippo def. Augusto Tanquinho, decision
Paulo Miyao def. Bruno Frazatto, W.O. (injury)
3rd-place match
Augusto Tanquinho def. Frank Rosenthal, points
FINAL
Gianni Grippo def. Paulo Miyao, points
