EBI 7 Competitor Mike Davila Asked To Leave His Academy

Jul 17, 2016BJJEEArticles

Mike Davila was recently asked to leave his academy because of his decision to participate in Eddie Bravo Invitational 7.

Davila himself announced this in a facebook post:

The name of the gym itself doesn’t reveal the agenda behind this request but upon further look you can see that Bronx Martial Arts Academy is a Renzo Gracie affiliate led by Doug Pelinkovic, Lou Presta and Andrew Johnson (pictured below).

And if you’re looking to find out more about Davila himself this EBI promotional video might be of much help:

A video posted by Mike Davila (@thrilla_davila) on Jul 11, 2016 at 9:01am PDT

Davila appears to be currently a brown belt with 4 stripes as per another posting of his. Prior to the tournament he was one of the names Eddie Bravo highlighted in promotional material.

Reportedly John Danaher refused to shake Davila’s hand upon the end of his match with Eddie Cummings. Davila made it through the first round via heel hook against Joao Marinho and against Baret Yoshida with an overtime armbar.

Cummings defeated Davila via RNC to advance to the finals:

A video posted by TATAME.COM (@tatamemag) on Jul 16, 2016 at 10:29pm PDT

If the commentary was right and John Danaher refused to shake Davila’s hand it’s certainly an interesting move given what Danaher declared in the past on respect for opponents:

Respect for an opponent is the foundation of the martial arts. It is what distinguishes the martial arts from mere violence.

Building a culture of respect: One of the favorite moments of my coaching career occurred at the ADCC world championships. My student Garry Tonon squared off against the very talented Dillon Danis, student of the great Marcelo Garcia. The two had a rivalry and met in the first round of the tournament. After a fierce exchange of technique, Mr Tonon prevailed with a very powerful heel hook. In a gesture that made me far more proud than the actual victory, Mr Tonon immediately went over to check if his rival was alright, then went to bow and shake the hand of his great coach and mentor – showing his respect for all his wonderful achievements in the sport. I dare say that that bow and handshake made me more proud than all the leg locks, armlocks and strangles my students have performed put together. Respect for an opponent is the foundation of the martial arts. It is what distinguishes the martial arts from mere violence. If a man fights another with hate in his heart – it is a fight. If he does so with respect in his heart – he is a martial artist. Remember – in the end, whatever trivial differences there are between teams and schools, they are insignificant compared with the many similarities- there is so much more that unites us than separates us. Building a culture of respect is the basis of our enterprise. Photo: Tiago Molinos

A photo posted by John Danaher (@danaherjohn) on Jun 15, 2016 at 4:05pm PDT

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