Brandon Vera defeats Krzysztof Soszynski at UFC 102

Another strong showing for Team Lloyd Irvin as Brandon Vera took the unanimous decision victory over “The Polish Experiment” and TUF-veteran, Krzystof Soszynski. “The Truth” controlled the fight with his superior Muay Thai skills and used his wrestling experience to negate all of his opponent’s takedown attempts. Congratulations to Brandon!

Next up on the professional MMA front are Mike Easton, who will be fighting Chase Beebe at the UWC, and Muhsin Corbbrey, who is making his WEC debut.

Christian Barcikowski Selects August Charity

THE IEF MISSION: TO HELP PEOPLE SEE

IEF is proud to have played a part in the reduction of the leading public health causes of blindness and has, in the last decade, worked harder to combat childhood blindness and the new threats highlighted by the World Health Organization in its December 16, 2004-released data on visual impairment. With your support we can continue to bring hope to the people of the world’s developing nations.

Childrens Hunger Fund is July Charity (Mason Hollis)

For July’s (belated) charitable donation, we let NAGA Champion Mason Hollis choose a cause.  Mason had quite a debut performance at the Battle at the Beach and has a good heart as well so Crazy 88 Jiu Jitsu is glad to support his charity.

Children’s Hunger Fund (CHF) works in some of the most needy regions in the world. In the slums of Guatemala, in the refugee villages in Northern Uganda, in the wake of disasters in Indonesia and Perú, and on the mean streets of America’s inner-cities, CHF earnestly seeks to provide for the needs of children and make lasting impact in their lives.

Grapplers Quest SouthEast Championships Results

Jon “Devastator” Delbrugge anointed his new Purple Belt with a Grapplers Quest title.  Devastator finished his first two opponents – Kimura & Brabo choke before facing some stiff competition in the BJJ finals.  The championship of the Purple Belt division was a sweep-for-sweep affair with Jon coming out ahead by a single advantage.  Not bad for Jon who sustained a slight concussion and bloody cauliflower ear earlier in the day, competing in the Advanced No-Gi (lost in the Finals to an ATT Black Belt 6-4).

11 Months of Training for Jon Delbrugge's 1st Purple Belt Title

Kwami Mensah lost 4-0 in the first round of Adult Advanced and then had a very close match vs.  a Brown Belt in the Masters grappling division.  Kwami had his opponent in a tight choke from the back but his opponent did not have any quit in him and held on for the 6-4 victory.

Kwami then strapped his Gi on and cleaned out the Masters division: 4-2, 6-0, and 2-0.  He then jumped over to the Adult BJJ division where he had another 3 matches.  The round of 8 opponent had a tough top game but our teammate was able to take his back for the points W.  The second opponent was a guy who was double jointed.  Kwami had him in a full blown armbar that had the referee poised to stop the bout.  Kwami had to secure the armbar under his armpit and belly down before his opponent would submit.  After the match, his opponent demonstrated how he was able to resist for so long – he could bend his elbow in the opposite direction!  In the finals, Kwami outworked his opponent until he passed in the final minute.  Another Blue Belt division for “The Curious Case of Kwami Mensah”.

Tye Ryan Murphy won his first three gi matches: 10-0 then breadcutter, 10-0 then breadcutter again, 6-2 then armlock tap.  In the semifinals, he lost a 6-4 match but managed to hit some of the new DeLaRiva techniques that we have been focusing on.  In the Bronze medal match, he lost a tied match on a judge’s decision.

In the No-Gi, Tye competed in the Advanced division and lost on advantages to a wrestler from American Top Team.  Tye strayed away from his gameplan and spent most of the match grappling on the feet, his opponent’s comfort zone.  Still a solid performance from Tye who began training October 21, 2008.

Timmy “#1 Stunna” Spriggs‘ first match was against Marcel Goncalves, a Brown Belt under Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu.  The entire match was on the feet and #1 Stunna ended up losing 2-0 (0-1) on a late takedown.  He then entered the No Gi Absolute where he fell prey to a guillotine when he came up for a sweep.

In the Blue Belt bracket, Stunna submitted his first three opponents before getting disqualified in the Finals.  Timmy went for a kneebar (legal at Grapplers Quest gi divisions) but his opponent claimed it was reaping the knee creating the DQ.

“Big” Al Washington continues working hard, getting the valuable competition experience necessary for future success.  He has a full-time job and still trains everyday, sometimes more than once, in both Muay Thai or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  He is the epitome of what we expect in our White Belt Competition Team.

Crazy 88 + Brad Court + Third Law = Team Lloyd Irvin in Florida

NAGA Battle at the Beach 10 – Kids Results

NAGA Battle at the Beach 10 – Adult Results