Eddie Bravo has been a great influence in the world of jiu-jitsu in spite or because of his inorthodox ideas. Just during the last Eddie Bravo Invitational – EBI 11 he got the chance to introduce the mini tournament in combat jiu-jitsu.
However the 12th edition of the event will be a pioneer in another manner – it will feature an all female 16 women tournament.
Previously Bravo wanted to organize an all female edition for EBI 9 but ended up instead making it another male only tournament.
The first several editions of EBI featured young females in between breaks of main tournament but due to pay per view nature EBI had to phase out minors competing.
This is why a 125 lbs EBI female belt is in the running. But surprisingly, this wasn’t something Bravo thought of himself – it was suggested by the UFC.
Thus far 2 competitors have been revealed:
Lila Smadja, 10th planet Brown Belt and Kristina Barlaan – a Caio Terra Black Belt active on the IBJJF competition skill. Interestingly Barlaan is another competitor to have transitioned into bjj from breakdancing which she also excelled at.
