Third Coast Grappling 8: The Underdogs was an exciting tournament, with Renato Canuto defeating Jefferson Guaresi in the finals (via referee decision). However, alongside the exciting matches stood one superfight that ended up being a tad different from the other ones; where Anthony Birchak and Josh Rodriguez exchanged slaps in the middle of the match!
Birchak, who’s a 10th Planet athlete and a former UFC competitor, pushed on Birchak’s face while playing the guard passing game. Birchak responded to this with a slap; to which Rodriguez replied with an even harder slap of his own.
The two athletes were then brought to a halt by the referee. The bout continued and Rodriguez ultimately won the match.
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Rodriguez posted on his social media that he doesn’t regret the slaps taking place:
First I want to apologize for a crazy match, never my intentions for things to get out of control. I’m not apologizing for the slap, it’s becoming a thing now to smack the guard player in the head over and over as if they’re trying to break posture when I’m already sitting. It was a baby smack back, not something to lose your sh*t over.
Either way never want to win an ugly match like that but best believe we’ll be running this back soon. Next time the Darce will be locked in.
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