NAGA, Colorado

I traveled to Arvada, Colorado for the NAGA tournament on March 13th. We drove out on the 12th, and I weighed in at 7:40 p.m. after nine hours of driving. I was accompanied by my coach, Rob Handley, and my teammates, Jeff Nielsen, Denver Merrifield-Nirva, and Chelsea Kilpack. I made my weight class, and was able to sign up as a Middle-Weight (170- 179.9 lbs.) To get an idea of how I compared in an out-of-state, national competition, I opted to enter in against people with my experience level in the Blue Belt Gi, and Intermediate No-Gi (2-5 year) Divisions. This tournament followed standard IBJJF rules in the Gi Division, and was governed by a time limit and point system. As for the No-Gi they, like most clubs, had some of their own rule variations to keep things interesting.

My first division was the Middle-Weight, No-Gi. I had two matches in this division, my first match was against a really cool guy named Stephen Richardson from Infinite MMA, in Loveland Colorado. He fought hard the whole round, and was really hard to handle. I managed to finish the fight with a RNC with about ten seconds remaining in the round.
My second match was won on points against an awesome competitor named David Borron, from 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu in Omaha Nebraska . This match consisted of a lot of great back and forth, and really tested my ability to stay calm and keep defending. He had some tricky set ups to sweeps, and submissions that I really liked, and my knee is still sore from his submission attempts. No-Gi Jiu Jitsu is the specialty of the 1oth Planet System, and their competitors are know for very unorthodox, flexible, highly effective No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu. In the end I was able to pull off the win, with a 6-2 point victory, and took the 1st place title and gold medal.

My second Division, was Blue Belt Gi, and I was set to rematch with Stephen Richardson. He gave me another good fight, and when he left his arm hanging on the bottom in the cross body position, I pull off another submission, this time a Kimora, taking another 1st place title and gold medal. I have a lot of respect for Stephen and his hard-work, he put up a great fight. Due to the lack of participants in my bracket, I was moved up to the Blue Belt, Light Heavy Weight Gi Division after my second win.

In the first Light Heavy Weight match, again I was set up again to face the man from Little Rock CO, Stephen Richardson. After his solid arm lock attempt, I passed his guard to cross body, and once again I caught his arm hanging above my head, and submitted him for a third time, with a Kimora. This match gave me another chance at a gold medal in the finals.

During my final match, my coach Professor Robert Handley, advised me to be patient, and let my opponent burn out a bit. I faced John Sterling, out of Easton BJJ Colorado, earlier we had a chance to watch his first match. He was very athletic, seemed to have good control, and a very strong base. The match started, and we had some back and forth from the feet, each of us unwilling to give up top position. I got lazy, and gave up a disappointing take-down, and tried to make him work hard to control the top position. After pacing 2 minutes of the allotted 5 minute round, it was time to move.
I moved my hips, forcing a scramble, and got to my feet, I saw John attempt to take a deep breath, and he started backing away to gain his composure; at this point I pushed the pace determined not to give him air, and successfully threw him with an inside leg sweep, at which point he attempted to defend the takedown and inadvertently injured his right knee.
The execution of the throw was clean, and so the referee and judges did not penalize or disqualify me for it, but unfortunately, the end result was an injury; and a verbal submission/ forfeit to end the final match.
Thankfully, my opponent was able to walk off of the mat with the help of a medic and the referee. I'm grateful that John was not seriously injured, we talked a bit after the match and he seemed to be a really cool guy. He said he planned to compete in the Pan American Championships in April, so I wish him a speedy recovery, and I hope to see him there.
After the finals, I managed to clinch my third and final division, and take home a third Gold Medal. This tournament now brings my BJJ competitive record to 37 wins and 5 losses.

The tournament was very well organized and started right on time. I was very impressed with the set-up, and I can't wait to do another one of their events. Next up, the Pan American Championships in Irvine, CA on April 8, 9, 10, and 11th.

**I would like to thank my coach and teammates and friends for all their incredible support. I am very pleased that I was able to represent Absolute MMA, and Behring Jiu Jitsu the best I could; this sport centers greatly on the concepts of respect and gratitude, and I am very happy to be surrounded by a team and competitors, that hold themselves to such high standards for both virtues.