The most exciting show in submission grappling returns on Saturday for it's 4th installment. The Eddie Bravo Invitational IV takes place at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, California and features the who's who in submission grappling. Those to highlight the event include submission savant Eddie Cummings, the ever-exciting Geo Martinez, and the thinking man's grappler Joao Miyao.
The EBI has acted as a building ground for emerging grappling talent. EBI 1 and 3 were won by Garry Tonon who has since went on to become perhaps, the best known name in the business. Looking to following in Tonon's footsteps will be his training partner, Eddie Cummings. Cummings has exploded on to the scene in recent years and has been, alongside Tonon, at the forefront of the leglock renaissance and will be a difficult man to beat in the submission only format.
If Cummings' leglock game wasn't enough to deal with, Geo Martinez is too set to appear in the 16-man tournament. Martinez, a black belt in Eddie Bravo's 10th Planet system, is a former EBI champion and an amazing submission specialist in his own right. Martinez's unorthodox style is likely to cause fits for some of the tournament's more traditional competitors and it will be interesting to see if anyone can defeat the defending champion.
Cummings and Martinez have the highlight reel finishes in abundance, a repertoire of stylish submissions but one man has all the tools to nullify their aggressive games, and that's Joao Miyao.
When I think of Miyao I think of a chess master, cool, calm and collected. His economy of movement is impressive, so too is his defense. Miyao has twice got on to the mat with Garry Tonon, who is perhaps the most dangerous submission only guy in the world, and twice Miyao has walked away unscathed. The submission only nature of the EBI is intriguing, it will take a special talent to submit a man like Joao.
The card features a wealth of other talent including former UFC title contender Joe Soto and ADCC medalist Baret Yoshida. Eddie Bravo Invitational offers a $20,000 prize for the tournament winner, as well as bonuses of $5000 for each submission scored during regulation time in all the matches.
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