Over the weekend there were several impressive showcases of grappling around the United States, perhaps the most monumental of which was the Sapateiro Invitatational.
The underground grassroots organization has, in the past, been the proving grounds that reflected greatness. Competitors such as Gordon Ryan, Ethan Crelinsten, Vagner Rocha and many many others have graced the central Florida based tournament, so many fans were saddened to see the promotion stop putting on events.
This weekend was the first full tournament that Sapateiro has hosted in a long while, and it was indeed a showcase of some of the best that grappling has to offer, featuring an 8 man 155 pound tournament which was made up of Keith Krikorian, Werther Marciales, Andrew Alexander, Mauricio Gomez, Robert Diggle, Jordan Holy, Corey Brown and Cristian Guzman. The event also featured the first Catch Wrestling world title defense in over 100 years with a match between Curran Jacobs who captured the title in 2018 and hadn’t defended since then and 10th Planet standout Quentin Pablo Rosenzweig. The event also featured other showcase matches and alternate bouts. The big winners were the 10th planet competitors on the card, Krikorian and Rosenzweig.
Along with bringing his events back, promoter Josh Leduc also slyly declared war on a company that currently holds a monopoly on jiu-jitsu content, Flograppling. On the mat Leduc placed a large sticker that had his most recent mantra “F*ck Flo”
I reached out to Josh for comment on this bold move
“F*ck Flo because they have a monopoly on grappling promotions. They pick and choose their favorites while ignoring other events and competitors who don’t fit their ideas. They control their rankings and then pay promotions based off of their rankings.
Basically it’s a catchy way to remind everyone that there is more to the sport in the sense of professional grappling than what happens on Flo. You have Fight Pass, Fite TV, and all the promotions that put content free on the internet like us, Sub Spectrum, and Finishers.”
Moving forward, the 155 pound champion will be jumping up a weight class or 5 to challenge for the light heavyweight title current held by Emil Fischer. This matchup will take place as the main event of a qualifier tournament being held for a future 170 pound tournament on September 26th.
As for Leduc’s thoughts on what Sapateiro’s return means for the sport:
“The return of Sapateiro means great shows. Hopefully we can prove that you can be successful and show the sport to a wider audience with free content.”
Tune in for the fun at Sapateiro’s Facebook and YouTube pages.
