The 15th edition of The Eddie Bravo Invitational returns this Saturday, February 17 at 8 PM EST/5 PM PST live from MusclePharm’s headquarters located in Burbank, California. The entire event can be streamed live on UFC Fight Pass.
The 16-man featherweight, sub-only/EBI rules tournament’s key storyline is the potential rematch of current EBI featherweight champion Eddie “The Wolverine” Cummings and Geovanny “Freakahzoid” Martinez in the finals. The two rivals squared off in the finals of the EBI 10 bantamweight tournament in Mexico City with Martinez defeating Cummings in overtime by armbar to win the bantamweight crown. Although the fans are yearning to see Cummings vs. Martinez in the finals, neither EBI champion will have an easy road, as the brackets are filled with former EBI veterans and accomplished martial artists from both the BJJ and MMA communities.
First Round Matchups
Jon Calestine vs. Edwin Ocasio
John Calestine (Renzo Gracie) – Calestine is a Team Renzo Gracie/Danaher Death Squad black belt stepping in as a last minute replacement for teammate Eddie Cummings who withdrew due to illness. His accomplishments winning the 135 lb Onnit Invitational, Finishers/Show The Art, Sapateiro Invitational and Jiu Jitu Kumite titles.
Edwin “Junny” Ocasio (Unity BJJ) – Awarded his brown belt in December 2017 by Murilo Santana in New York City, the Bronx born, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania bred Ocasio grew up wrestling in his youth and has trained BJJ for five years. His major accomplishments include defeating four black belts enroute to winning the Kasai Pro Qualifiers and winning gold at the 2017 IBJJF Nogi Pans.
Jason Hayden vs. Juan Rosales
Jason Hayden (Gracie Fishhawk) – The Kentucky native is a brown belt in BJJ and an Army veteran who trains out of Florida, He owns a 2-1 pro MMA record with two submission victories. He fought at Combat Jiu-Jitsu Worlds this past November with a first round win over Rafeal Domingos by heel hook before losing to Vagner Rocha in the semifinals by armbar. He is the brother of EBI veteran Josh Hayden, who made the semifinals of EBI 8 before losing to eventual champion Gordon Ryan.
Juan Rosales (Vagner Rocha Martial Arts) – Rosales served as Vice President of Florida International University’s BJJ Club. He has been active on the Florida grappling circuit, competing at New Breed and the IBJJF Miami Open.
Joao Tavares vs. John Battle
Joao Tavares (GF Team) -Joao is a third-degree black belt who started training at age 7 in Brazil and has over 25 years on the mat. He is the owner and head instructor of Rio Jitsu/ GF Team in Apple Valley, Minnesota. He won gold in the Masters 1 division at Pans in 2016.
John Battle (McHugh BJJ) – Battle is a a brown belt under Pete McHugh, who is part of the Ricardo Almeida Association. He lives and trains in the Philadelphia suburbs of South Jersey, has won numerous PGL, AGL, Good Fight, and NAGA championships as he has rose through the ranks. He defeated EBI 15 participant Mike Davila by triangle at Show The Art in September 2016.
Rodrigo Lima vs. Mike Davila
Rodrigo Lima (Caio Terra Academy) – The Brazilian owns a 13-4 MMA record with six submission and three KO/TKO victories. In addition to training at Caio Terra’s academy, he has also trained out of American Top Team.
Mike Davila (Marcelo Garcia) – Davila is a brown belt who trains under Marcelo Garcia in New York City. At EBI 7 he went 2-1, including an armbar submission victory in overtime over Baret Yoshida before losing by rear naked choke to eventual champion Eddie Cummings in the semifinals. He won gold at the 2014 World Nogi Championships as a purple belt. His most recent superfight matches include a victory over Frank Rosenthal at Fight 2 Win 51 and a loss to Nick Ronan at Kasai Pro.
Geovanny Martinez vs. Pablo Alfonso
Geovanny “Freakahzoid” Martinez (10th Planet HQ and Freaks) – The five-time EBI veteran has won gold at EBI three times, winning the bantamweight divisions at EBI 2 and 10 and the featherweight division at EBI 1. The Eddie Bravo black belt is 15-2 in EBI competitions with loses to EBI 15 competitor Joe Soto, who defeated Martinez in overtime by escape time, and Bill Cooper by armbar at EBI 7. The former breakdancer is the head instructor of 10th Planet Oceanside (aka 10th Planet Freaks) and his other major titles include the ADCC North American Trials Championship in 2015 and Gracie Nationals Championships in 2015. His notable competition victories includes two victories over Jeff Glover, Alexandre Viera, and Fabio Passos.
Pablo “The Hurricane” Alfonso (Ultimate Training Center) – Alfonso, a BJJ black belt, holds a 9-7 pro MMA record with seven submission victories with his biggest win coming against former WEC World Champion Miguel Torres. He has been active on the no-gi circuit and won gold medals at Grappling Industries, New Breed, and NAGA.
Sergio Hernandez vs. Ashley Williams
Sergio Hernandez (Arena MMA/Baret Submissions) – Sergio is a black belt under Baret Yoshida and owns a 4-0 professional MMA record with all wins coming by submission. He is also the owner of Pop’s Tattoos in San Diego, California. In his lone EBI appearance, he lost to Eddie Cummings in the first round of EBI 7 by rear naked choke.
Ashley Williams (CRA) – The Swansea, England, native holds a black belt under Chris Rees and Braulio Estima. He won the IBJJF European Open Nogi Championship as a brown belt as well as numerous British and European BJJ championships. His EBI record is 0-2 with a first round loss to Rafael Domingos at EBI 7 and a first round loss to Alexis Alduncin at EBI 10.
Kevin Berbrich vs. Elias Anderson
Kevin Berbrich (10th Planet HQ and Freaks) – Berbrich is a 10th Planet black belt under Eddie Bravo who trains alongside Geo Martinez at 10th Planet Oceanside. The lanky Berbrich defeated veteran BJJ and MMA competitor Cleber Luciano by split decision at Fight to Win 24 in Huntington Beach last February. In his lone EBI appearance at EBI 4, Berbrich lost to Eddie Cummings by heel hook in the first round.
Elias Anderson (Internal Quest Training Center) – Elias Anderson is a brown belt in BJJ under his father Lowell Anderson, who fought at UFC 22. Anderson defeated Denny Propokos by fastest escape in overtime at Combat Jiu-Jitsu Worlds this past November.
Rafael Domingos vs. Sergio Perez
Rafael Domingos (Zenith BJJ) – The Las Vegas based BJJ black belt holds a 7-2 professional MMA record with six submission victories. He is 4-2 in EBI competitions and made an impressive run at EBI 5 with wins over Geoff Real, Denny Propokos, and Kim Terra before falling to Garry Tonon in the finals. He returned for EBI 7 where he lost to Geo Martinez in the second round by triangle.
Sergio Perez (Hayastan Academy) – 26-year-old Sergio Perez has a professional MMA record of 3-1 with two wins by submission and one by TKO. He holds a purple belt in BJJ under Gokor Chivichyan and “Judo” Gene Lebell. He faced Geo Martinez in the first round at EBI 4 and lost in regulation by rear naked choke.
Plus a Combat Jiu-Jitsu Super Fight Featuring Nick Honstein vs. Ben Eddy
Nick Honstein (Lincoln BJJ) – Honstein holds a black belt in BJJ and has a 16-9 pro MMA record with 14 submission victories. He won EBI 11 Combat Jiu-Jitsu Championship with defeating Sheridan Moran by rearnaked choke in overtime in his first match and subbing Chad George with a twister in the finals.
Ben Eddy (10th Planet HQ and Freaks) – Eddy is a brown belt training under the 10th Planet system. His coaches and training partners include Eddie Bravo, Denny Propokos, Geo and Richie Martinez and Kevin Berbrich. He is the inventor of the Hindulotine submission. Eddy defeated UFC title contender and BJJ black belt Wilson Reis with the Dead Orchard at the first Combat Jiu-Jitsu Worlds.
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