It was a hell of a fight card–Lucas Barbosa defeats Nicky Rodriguez! Kyle Boehm defeats Barbosa!–but most of the post-game chatter has focused on a strike thrown during BJJ Fanatics’ Submission Only Grand Prix last night. During the matchup between Tex Johnson and teenaged jiu-jitsu phenom William Tackett, Johnson threw a punch at Tackett’s head and connected. Despite strikes being definitive “out” of the EBI rulebook, the referee did not stop the fight or issue a DQ, sparking some outrage in the audience and behind screens. The matched ended with Johnson victorious, though he was knocked out of the next round by Kyle Boehm.
Until the point when the punch was thrown, and even after, Tackett had been putting on an impressive display of passing game mastery but ultimately came up short, appearing to frustrate Johnson.
Today, BJJ Fanatics’ Michael Zenga addressed the punch, and the lack of referee stoppage following:
So in case it wasn’t clear, that’s no striking in a sub only tournament.
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