I had the chance to compete in the Utah Grappling Games in Lehi, Utah on July 31st 2010. The format of the tournament was single elimination, and they had both Gi and No-Gi Divisions.
I decided to enter the "Advanced Gi" division, and I was fortunate enough to be featured as one of the four competitors in the "Super Fight" division, for the "Champion Grappler Fight Show". The Super Fight division was a few hand picked fighters that had had success in the local grappling scene, as well as international competition. Here is the write up that was used to promote the show.............
Main Events
GRAPPLER SUPER FIGHTS: [Harold Lucambio vs Ben Garner]
VS [Tony Ventrano vs Marc Brewer]
FIGHTER BIOS
Harold Lucambio (Lucambio BJJ in California)
Harold is a Jiu-Jitsu Brown Belt, former UCE Welter-Weight Champion, has multiple submission grappling gold medals, and was the Champion Submission Challenge VIII “Absolute Champion”
Ben Garner (Absolute MMA)
Despite being relatively new to the sport Ben has won more local grappling gold medals than any other competitor in the state, earning him the 2009 Champion’s List title “Utah’s #1 Grappler”. Ben has a BJJ fight record of 37-7, he is a 6X Champion Submission Challenge gold medalist (including 2 Absolute Titles), 3X NAGA gold medalist, 2X Far East Invitational gold medalist, 2X AGGRO gold medalist, and 1X Inter Mountain West Judo Champion.
Tony Ventrano (Fusion Academy)
Tony is a Jiu-Jitsu Brown Belt, a Gracie Open gold medalist, BJJ by the Sea gold medalist, Claudio Franca Invitational gold medalist, , and a Sub4Santa gold medalist.
Marc Brewer (University of Grappling)
With a dynamic and quick paced game Marc has won multiple titles in gi and no-gi competition at NAGA, Grappler’s Quest, Sub4Santa, and Champion’s Submission Challenge.
My first fight of the day was in the Gi division, against a 2nd degree Purple Belt from Brazil. He was just about my size and weight, so I was really excited to roll with him. That, and I got a chance to talk to him and his team a bit before the bracket started, and he was an extremely respectful, well mannered guy. As I expected, he fought a very tight, controlled match. Aside from a slight wardrobe malfunction on my part, where my arm slipped out of my sleeve during a sweep from my opponent, I think I played a good game. I passed his guard twice, got knee on belly at one point, and scored one sweep, so I ended up winning by points 3 - 0.
So it was on to the second round against a monster Brown Belt, named Osmond Silva, who happened to be a teammate of the guy I had fought in round one. He was an abnormally large man, who looked like he had at least a 70" reach. He was extremely friendly, and I had an absolute blast rolling with him. Much like my first match, we went all five minutes, (not nearly enough time for an advanced match in my opinion), and I was out pointed 2-0. I walked away head high though, having fought a good match, making just a few small mistakes that were simply capitalized on by a bigger, more experienced player. Though I won't lie, it felt pretty good seeing that giant in the corner of the room, lying flat on his back, exhausted, his team mates fanning him with t-shirts. I couldn't help but crack a smile, and feel a small sense of pride.
The match following was to decide 3rd or 4th place. But complications arose, when a fellow teammate named Stump, tapped too late in a tight triangle choke, and was put to sleep. He woke just fine with little ill effect, but was very disoriented, and pretty shaky. All of this wouldn't have been a problem, until the officials notified us that we would be facing each other in five minutes, to fight for the 3rd place seat. So out of respect for Stump, who is my senior being ranked as a 1st degree Purple Belt, I promptly removed myself from the bracket, and forfeited the Bronze medal.
After waiting around for another hour or so, the Super Fight main event was finally upon us. My first fight was against. Harold Lucambio, a tough Brown Belt out of California. Harold had lived in Utah a few years ago, trained with us at Absolute MMA for a year or so while he was a Purple Belt. We had rolled quite a few times before, and I have a lot of respect for him as a person, and as a fighter. As it turns out, he was also the person who had just put my friend/ teammate to sleep... So, that changed things a bit, haha.
Harold turned out to be exactly what my coach had predicted, strong, tight, and calculating. After circling for a bit, feeling each other out, and hand fighting, I got a short single leg take down, and ended in his open/half butterfly guard. I fought off his slight attempts at a shoulder lock, and passed to cross body, then quickly transitioned to mount. In response, he turned belly down, giving up his back. From there I fought for the choke, and to flatten him out, but his base was really strong, and he managed to prop up on all fours, and shook me to his upper back. So I slipped for a sloppy arm lock, and missed, landing me on the bottom, with Harold in my open guard. At that point I saw my opening, (remembering my coach's advice to look for a foot lock,) and threaded my left leg through his, catching his right ankle in a heel hook, finishing the fight by submission.
To Harold's credit, I had to crank so hard before he tapped, that something in my forearm popped, shooting lightning up and down my arm, totally numbing all the nerves on the back of my thumb. Its been a week since then, and the feeling still hasn't returned!
So now we were on to the finals. Tony Ventrano and Mark Brewer had a very t
echnical match in the first round, and Mr. Brewer came out on top. So I faced Mark for the final match, and for the right to hang that shiny "tournament champion" belt on the wall. To give readers a little back round on the situation, Mark and I had fought two times, in two previous tournaments. Of those matches, we were 1-1. I had come out on top in our most recent fight. So he came with blades sharpened, ready to redeem himself. Needless to say, we were both eager to get the match underway.We met in the center of the mat, spectators surrounding the borders, pit fight style. The referee gave a brief summary of rules, signaled the time and score keepers to begin, and gave us the green light to begin. We respectfully shook hands, and went to work.
Instantly we both started to circle one another, getting for a feel of the pace, and hunting for a opening to attack. We clinched, and pummeled for position briefly, and I went for
a quick guillotine choke, rolling to my back, then continuing the momentum to the top position. I fought from his guard trying to keep top control, and we ended up in a foot lock battle, Mark was going for a straight ankle lock, and I was trying for a heel hook. I have a lot of respect for him after that brief battle, because not only did I feel his ankle popping and snapping, but a few people on the sidelines said that it sounded like popcorn, and still, he held out and wouldn't tap. After some more scrambling, Mark ended on top, in my guard.For the next three or so minutes, we fought hard, him trying to pass, and me, fighting for control, while looking to sweep. With intense shouting from the audience on both sides, we were reminded that we had only one minute left in the eight minute round. We both tried to advance, once again, growing more urgent, as the score was still unchanged at 0-0, with no advantages. With 30 seconds left to fight, I managed to catch his leg, during a scramble, and take
the top. Both of us were exhausted, but with 15 seconds left, I passed his guard, held for control, and won the match 1-0. We both collapsed in complete fatigue, shook each others hands, and chuckled a bit at the messed up scoring system. I give Mark a great deal of respect, for a very hard fought match. He was an awesome competitor, he was very respectful, and gave his best, and I wish him the best in the future.
