The UK’s first all-women grappling promotion, Enyo Grappling recently held their second event, Enyo 2 on Saturday, February 25th at Central Hall in Southampton, England. The professional grappling show hosted 40 top female jiu-jitsu fighters from around the country (and in some cases, the world) in which they competed in a submission-only format. Enyo 2, like their debut show, also had a mix of both Gi and No-Gi matches which are 10 minutes long for adult matches and 5 minutes long for the kids matches. The commentators on the mic were established UK black belts: Vanessa English, Daniel Strauss and Samantha Cook.
Enyo Grappling have done amazing work to bring exposure to women’s grappling; they have held two successful shows, been aired on the BBC, ITV and other national news outlets in the UK as well as hosting open mats to help women meet other jiu jitsu women in the community. Taking another huge step forward, they recently had their first ever Enyo champion.
Review
Starting off the prelims were two kids matches, in which all of the girls showed excellent showmanship as well as sportsmanship for kids of such a young age, and in the first match Kady McNelly defeated her opponent Skyler Stewart with a swift arm bar, leading to a fantastic start of what was yet to come.
The remainder of the prelims were blue belt matches in which three out of five were finished via arm bar and two via decision. A standout on the prelims has to be blue belt Lana Corina who trains out of 10th Planet London, she exerted an extremely dominant and exciting performance which even included a jump to guillotine into mount position, and despite the fact her opponent showed really strong defensive skills, Corina managed to get her to tap via an arm bar pretty soon into the match.
Main Card
The main card held some incredible matchups between 22 super experienced grapplers from all over the world. Amongst the standouts were purple belts Emily Szymanska and Tegan Jane who had a tenacious and technical back and forth which was a great display of how technical womens jiu jitsu is. Others were IBJJF European purple belt champion Angelika Glapiak who had a dominant performance in the Gi, leaving her opponent completely on the defense and went on to win her match via bread butter choke.
There were also some super fast submissions on the main card such as Bea Fernandes kimura on Heather Molinari and Kristen Walsh’s heel hook on Georgia Doe.
One of the best and most entertaining matches of the night has to have been between black belts Gamila Kanew and Amanda Pamela-Nicole, both of whom rolled the entire time with a huge smile across their faces whilst putting on a great performance of high-level jiu jitsu. Kanew went on to call out the Irish Daisy Fresh brown belt Rosa Walsh, who has been causing a storm on the global submission grappling scene, for her next match on Enyo. Another exciting match up was between brown belt competitors Hayley Carter and Danielle Tighe, who had a ferocious back and forth, which went to a decision.
Fight to be the first ever Enyo champion
With over two decades of jiu jitsu experience at just 25 years old, Welsh grappler and IBJJF No-Gi World Championship black belt bronze medalist, Ashley Bendle went up against x4 No Gi Pans Champion and brown belt who trains under Garry Tonon, Sophia Cassella, in a match for the under 55kg belt. Bendle won the fight for the title via decision after a dominant performance, making her the first ever Enyo champion.
Results
Prelims
Kady McNelly defeats Skyler Stewart via arm bar
Malli Costa defeats Amy Kplomedo via decision
Robyn Lucas defeats Chloe Gowen via decision
Lois Marsh defeats Lucie Maximo via arm bar
Lana Corina defeats Aoife Mchugh via arm bar
Main Card
Tegan Jane defeats Emily Szymanska via decision
Angelika Glapiak defeats Catherine Dixon via bread cutter choke
Bia Fernandes defeats Heather Molinari via kimura
Francesca Lana defeats Lea-Marie Stock via RNC
Kristen Walsh defeats Georgia Doe via heel hook
Gamila Kanew defeats Amanda Pamela-Nicole via decision
Hayley Carter defeats Danielle Tighe via decision
Hayley Valentine defeats Emma Pursey via decision
Fiona Middleton defeats Rebecca Gu via arm bar
Gabrielle Schuck defeats Violet Bennett via straight footlock
Ashley Bendle defeats Sophia Cassella via decision
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