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Evan “Oz” Gideon was making bold predictions before this tournament and he made sure they came true - winning 10 matches to a single loss.  Oz tore through the Medium Heavy division, defeating notables Carsell Swain (Pan Am Bronze medalist) and wrestler Kenny Johnson (Machado JJ) in the early rounds.  On the other side, Manual Diaz (Sandro Batata) defeated two very tough grapplers - Pan Am Silver Medalist, Marcus Sosa (Claudio Franca) and 2009 World Medalist, Jason Boivie (Marin MMA).  The Championship match was tough but Oz pulled out the victory with a single advantage!  You can see the match on our Baltimore Martial Arts fanpage.

Because of his Gold medal, Oz was selected for the Open division.  Oz made the most his opportunity and made it to the finals where he lost on advantages to the Super Heavyweight Silver Medalist.  On the way, Oz was able to hold off Marcus Sosa, the grappler who had defeated him earler in the Pan Ams, and tie up the series.

Oz Gazes Into the Abyss

Brad ”Fred” Pearson was on fire at the Worlds, hitting big takedowns, passing guards, and controlling from the top position and became Crazy 88 BJJ’s first World Purple Belt World Medalist in history with 4 wins and 1 loss. Brad stuck to his strengths, avoided his weak spots, and it showed his results.  In the finals, Brad got caught up in a front headlock and ended up losing on a heartbreaking 2-0 score but it was an awesome performance overall.

Mike Atkin with World Silver Medalist, Brad Pearson

Other Team Lloyd Irvin Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Medal Winners (We kicked *ss!!!!!):

• Tracey Goodell: GOLD @ Purple Female Light
• Andris Brunovskis: GOLD @ Purple Feather
• Willie Leonard: GOLD @ Purple Ultraheavy
• Frank Camacho: GOLD @ Blue Middle
• DJ Jackson: SILVER @ Blue Middle, BRONZE @ Blue Open
• Rachel Demara: BRONZE @ Blue Open
• Kenneth Brown: BRONZE @ Blue Ultraheavy

Tomorrow will be the Purple Belt Open and Brown Belt divisions as well as the first few rounds of the Black Belts.

Jon Discusses Strategy In Between Matches with Julius and Lloyd

Timmy Spriggs Fought Well, Winning Three Matches, Despite Only Training During School Vacations!

Training for the BJJ Worlds is heating up! Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was hosting the Competition Team practice for Team Lloyd Irvin this Saturday and the mats were packed with talented grapplers. Even with recent Brazilian Nationals Champion, Tracey Goodell, Jim Harbison, Mike Fowler, and JT Torres in Brazil, Camp Springs brought a great Brazilian Jujitsu Team up.  NY Open Champions – DJ Jackson and Frank Camacho were on the mats.  New Purple Belt, Brazilian Nationals Champion, and Pan Am Champion, Willie Leonard was there crushing people with his top pressure.  We also had veteran purple belt Lenny Maggio and new flexi-guard addition, Andris Brunovskis training. 

Evolve Academy sent Pan-American Silver Medalist, Kenny Brown, and NY Open Womens Champion, Rachel Demara.  The Womens BJJ squad was joined by Nyjah Easton and Rita Floyd (Nyjah will be starting a Washington DC Childrens Program in the Summer).   From Leo Dalla’s, we had Kevin and Levi Sadr make the trip up. 

The training was simple – non-stop matches for 2 hours.  Everyone got good work in with a variety of training partners.  One of the benefits of having a strong team right in the area is the availability of high-level training partners who can all push each other to the next level.  Look for a strong performance from Team Lloyd Irvin at the Worlds in a few weeks!

Mike Easton & Frank Camacho

Mike Demonstrates How to Properly Hold Someone's Hand as They Cross The Street

Mike Sees Some Cupcakes in the Corner

Mike Explains Intricacies of Fighting Off the Cage

Mike Easton and Frank “The Crank” Camacho visited our Baltimore MMA school to give a seminar on Mixed Martial Arts.  Even with short notice and a grappling competition on the same day, we had good turnout for the event.  The seminar covered everything from the feet to the ground, from wrestling to ground and pound.

Mike is professional fighter and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt with victories in multiple promotions.  Frank Camacho is a young fighter (under 20 years old) from Guam who moved to Maryland just to train at Lloyd Irvin MMA academy.  Between the two of them, they have close to 20 professional MMA fights so it was great to have them in the room, sharing their knowledge.

Mike has an upcoming fight in Tennessee in February and is also considering doing the Abu Dhabi Gi next weekend.  Frank, despite dominantly winning his last fight, plans to focus on his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training (he already has great standup) this year before getting back into the cage.  They are true Mixed Martial Artists!

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