Well, it’s fair to say the JitzKing Middleweight Tournament delivered some serious results. The tournament brought out all of the drama and action we’ve come to expect from JitzKing, and the super fights broke up the action nicely. After the success of their inaugural Featherweight tournament in January, the promotion is setting themselves up for a big future.
The finals of the JitzKing Middleweight tournament saw Pedro Marinho take on one of the predicted favourites, Oliver Taza. Marinho’s path to the final was extremely impressive. His first round match-up against David Garmo saw Marinho latch onto and ride out a beautiful guillotine choke to proceed into the second round, where he defeated Jason Rau on points. His third match of the night came against the widely regarded favourite, Roberto Jimenez. Marinho pushed a serious pace and ultimately snatched a gorgeous outside heel hook to punch his ticket to the finals.
Taza’s path to the finals was arguably a bit easier. His first match of the night against Gabriel Castro ended in a tight kneebar from 50/50 in overtime, after attacking the legs relentlessly in regulation. His second match of the night was possibly the fastest submission of the night as he quickly secured an inside heel hook against Benji Silva. Taza ran up against the brick wall of BB Monstro in his third match. Taza did well to stay on the offense throughout the match, threatening with leg entanglements while doing a beautiful job of rebuffing Araujo’s aggressive passing. After a clash of heads in overtime and a continued stalemate Taza was rewarded with the referee’s decision and a shot to the finals.
The final’s match was a scrappy affair, with a fair amount of wrestling and cautious strategic play from both men. Marinho was hunting for inside trips on the feet, hoping to repeat his beautiful guillotine sequence from earlier in the night. Taza elected to pull guard often but found his way to his feet just as often. Neither man found much success on the feet until Marinho hit a clean double leg to go 2-0 on the score board. There was minor controversy as detractors felt that Marinho hadn’t cleanly secured the takedown before points were awarded, but the ref’s call stood. Marinho spent the remainder of the match very loosely engaging, conscious of his points lead. After repeated warnings from the referee Marinho committed to passing and very nearly secured a north-south position just prior to time expiring. Marinho won the match 2-0 and is your new JitzKing Middleweight Champion. He also copped a cool $5k cash for his efforts.
The full results are listed below. Some stand out matches that deserve re-watching are Rau vs Bechtloff, Marinho vs Garmo, Tackett vs Wilson, Combs vs Watson from the first round. In the second round, Tackett vs Jimenez was edge of your seat entertainment. Likewise, the third round match between Marinho and Jimenez was fireworks. Shout out to Kody Steele and Mauricio Gomez for putting on a hell of a show in their superfight too! After the performances we saw tonight, we can’t wait for the next tournament that JitzKing will deliver.
JitzKing Middleweight Tournament Results
Opening Round
- Jason Rau vs JB Bechtloff – Jason Rau wins by outside heel hook in regulation.
- Pedro Marinho vs David Garmo – Pedro Marinho wins by guillotine in regulation.
- William Tackett vs Jay Jay Wilson – William Tackett wins by points in overtime.
- Roberto Jimenez vs Yuri Villefort – Roberto Jimenez wins by triangle armbar in regulation.
- Valdir “BB Monster” Araujo vs Johnny Tama – Valdir Araujo wins by points in overtime.
- John Combs vs Jake Watson – John Combs wins by guillotine in regulation.
- Alan Sanchez v Benji Silva – Benji Silva wins by referee’s decision.
- Gabriel Castro vs Oliver Taza – Oliver Taza wins by kneebar submission in overtime.
Quarter-Finals
- Jason Rau vs Pedro Marinho – Pedro Marinho wins by points in regulation.
- William Tackett vs Roberto Jimenez – Roberto Jimenez wins by points 3-0 in regulation.
- Valdir Araujo vs John Combs – Valdir Araujo wins by points 7-2 in regulation.
- Benji Silva vs Oliver Taza – Oliver Taza wins by inside heel hook in regulation.
Semi-Finals
- Pedro Marinho vs Roberto Jimenez – Pedro Marinho wins by outside heel hook in regulation.
- Valdir Araujo vs Oliver Taza – Oliver Taza wins by referee’s decision.
Finals
- Pedro Marinho vs Oliver Taza – Pedro Marinho wins by points in regulation.
Superfight Results
Black Belts
Kody Steele vs Mauricio Gomez No-Gi – Kody Steele wins by points in overtime.
Orlando Castillo vs Raphael Cadena Gi – Raphael Cadena wins by points in overtime.
Purple Belts
Corban Sainz vs Tony Torres No-Gi – Corban Sainz wins by kneebar in regulation.
Blue/Purple Belts
Andrew Tackett vs Caio Matias – Andrew Tackett wins by triangle armbar in regulation.
Orange Belts
Sofia Delgado vs Alana Delva No-Gi – Sofia Delgado wins by points in overtime.
Caleb Tackett vs Tristan Sainz NoGi – Caleb Tackett wins by points in regulation.
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