Champions Dan Strauss, Marcin Held, Gregor Gracie, Craig Jones and Caol Uno.
UFC Hall of Famer Kazushi Sakuraba has innovated in the field of BJJ tournaments. Alongside UFC veteran Josh Barnett, he created Quintet Grappling, a no-gi promotion that debuted this Wednesday in Tokyo.
The rules are peculiar. Four teams of five face off in “king of the hill” fashion: the fighter who wins remains on the mat and awaits the next opponent from the enemy team. Teams were named Polaris, Sambo, Judo and Haleo. Fights were submission-only, with no points or advantages counted across the 10-minute duration.
In the semifinals, team Haleo faced and beat team Judo, while team Polaris defeated team Sambo. The favorite teams then met in the final, and the title was decided in the details.
First, Josh Barnett (Haleo) and Gregor Gracie (Polaris) tied. So Daisuke Nakamura (Haleo) and Dan Strauss (Polaris) went in to face each other. Strauss beat Nakamura and, after that, also beat Hideo Tokoro (Haleo). In the following match, Strauss tied with Sakuraba (Haleo). With both exiting, Brazil’s Marcos Souza (Haleo) stepped up to fight and beat Caol Uno (Polaris). It looked like team Haleo was about to turn the tables, but Craig Jones (Polaris) then submitted the Brazilian and secured the title.
Find the full line-up and results below.
Quintet 1
Tokyo, Japan
April 11th, 2018
Teams
(POLARIS)
Gregor Gracie
Craig Jones
Dan Strauss
Caol Uno
Marcin Held (Alternate for Charles Negromonte)
(HALEO DREAM TEAM)
Kazushi Sakuraba
Josh Barnett
Marcos Sousa
Hideo Tokoro
Daisuke Nakamura
(SAMBO DREAM TEAM)
Mindaugas Verzbickas
Sergej Grecicho
Viktor Tomasevic
Teodoras Aukstuolis
Marius Zaromski
(JUDO DREAM TEAM)
Michihiro Omigawa
Shutaro Debana
Hyung Ju Kim
Dong Sik Yoon
Satoshi Ishii
Semifinals
(HALEO vs JUDO)
Daisuke Nakamura tied with Michihiro Omigawa
Kazushi Sakuraba tied with Shutaro Debana
Hideo Tokoro def. Hyung Ju Kim
Dong Sik Yoon def. Hideo Tokoro
Marcos Souza def. Dong Sik Yoon
Marcos Souza tied with Satoshi Ishii
(POLARIS vs SAMBO)
Craig Jones def. Mindaugas Verzbickas
Craig Jones tied with Sergej Grecicho
Marcin Held def. Viktor Tomasevic
Marcin Held def. Teodoras Aukstuolis
Marcin Held tied with Marius Zaromskis
Final
(POLARIS vs HALEO)
Gregor Gracie tied with Josh Barnett
Dan Strauss def. Daisuke Nakamura
Dan Strauss def. Hideo Tokoro
Dan Strauss tied with Kazushi Sakuraba
Marcos Souza def. Caol Uno
Craig Jones def. Marcos Souza
