Results from my day of playing in Abu Dhabi

ARGH!!!

LOL…you win some. you lose some.

Today I played at the 2013 Abu Dhabi Cup in the UAE.  The division was stacked with several of the top Grapplers, as the Abu Dhabi is literally the world’s mecca for BJJ.

My first match was against an opponent from Jordan named Wesam Ziad Ahmad.  Having heard he was a wrestler, I immediately pulled guard.  Watching him try to pass, I decided to go inverted as I noticed he was leading with his hands while controlling my ankles.  After a quick feeling out process, I shot the triangle from the inverted guard, and got the tap out victory!

During my second match I faced 2nd degree BJJ Black Belt Bruno Fornari of the UAEJJ team.  From Brazil, Professor Fornari is currently teaching in the UAE as part of their BJJ program.  Having watched my last match against Wesam, Bruno attempted to pull guard before me, which lead to us both ending up on bottom.  During the scramble to get ontop, I attempted one of my favorite submissions, a modified guillotine choke, which he was able to defend, ending up in the top position.  The ref awarded an advantage, which I mistakingly took for being awarded to me.

Looking at the score board, I noticed ”my side” of the mat had an advantage of 1-0, however, the ”color” on the TV, matched his ankle band, and I fell victim to ”not paying good enough attention”–Bruno was actually awarded the advantage from gaining top position from the double butt flop–>and for the next 5 minutes I played safe, not opening my guard, as I was under the impression I was ahead.

Following the end of the match, the Ref raised the hand of Fornari–and he went on to claim the Gold Medal for the division.

As the old saying goes, Experience is priceless…lol.  I couldn’t help but to think this was Karma catching up with me, as I previously won a match over BJJ Black Belt Marcus Waters in the Philippines International tournament, when he thought he was ahead by an advantage.

Overall it was a fun experience, and I look forward to my next opportunity to compete.  I was pleased to see Khalid, pull off one of the Triangle setups we have been working during our privates in his first match–and feel confident he will use this experience to grow as an athlete.

All the fights were shown live on Abu Dhabi Sports 1 TV, which was a cool experience!!  Having been almost 7 years since the last time I’ve competed in the UAE, I’m motivated to bring Kuwait Combat Athletics back once we’ve had an opportunity to build our team!