32 and 16 man Showdown Feb 24th 2013 Recap

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of refereeing and watching this unique event. The show was put on by Pecker'd Services with help from the OGA and sponsored by a whole bunch of cool local MMA / Jiu Jitsu businesses like Fight Planet and Grappling Industries.

Leading up to the event, Alex was promoting it on Facebook a lot, but I only knew a few people competing, and no one from my team was fighting, so I'll admit, I didn't pay a lot of attention to it. There were some very intriguing potential match ups though, so in the end I decided I was going to go watch. A couple days before the show I got a message from Alex saying he needed a ref comfortable with IBJJF Rules and asking if I could help out. I jumped on the opportunity because I am always looking to improve all aspects of my Jiu Jitsu game and also of course, to help the community out.

I got to work with my friend Pat Goulah on the refereeing for the day, He took care of the NoGi matches, which were following the Grapplers Quest Pro Rules, and I did the Gi matches, which mostly followed the IBJJF Rules. The exceptions to the rules were: No calf or bicep slicers, no heel hooks / knee reaping, no spine locks of any kind (even with a choke), and I feel like there is one more, but I can't think of it.

The other difference was that we were warning for some things that would be an instant DQ, for example: reaping the knee / turning the wrong way for an ankle lock, head-butting, trying to get out of bounds in a submission, and maybe some other things. It was a show, as well as a tournament, so we tried to keep it fair while keeping it entertaining. No one wants a fight to end because someone tried to get out of bounds.

I have edited this paragraph. Originally it insinuating some things that I did not mean, and was unfair to Andrew.  I sincerely apologize for that.


Unfortunately there was one incident that warranted an immediate DQ.   In the semi-final match between Darson and Andrew,  Darson ended up being spiked onto his head and neck.  It was a bad position to land in from an awkward position.  It caused a scuffle in the stands which was quite unfortunate.  Andrew apologized over the microphone, and kept it classy.    Something I did not do with the original version of this paragraph.  I cannot apologize enough for the tone of the original version.  GP has posted a clip of the incident on their site here. 

One of most impressive performances of the day came from Justin Steele, who, I believe, had the fastest submission of the day. He was the youngest, and one of the smallest competitors, and managed to make it all the way to the semis, lost to Arther, then beat last years defending champion by triangle to win 3rd place. His Jiu Jitsu was phenomenal and he was incredibly polite and classy all day long.

Darson Hemming was incredibly impressive as well. He won the nogi tournament, with a few subs, and some points. The final fight was a perfect case for small flexibility and technique verse size and strength. I'm not saying the other guy didn't have technique; he was pretty impressive in his own way,  defeating the largest competitor of the day in overtime in the previous match. Either way, Darson put on greats fights all day and it was fun to watch.

Finally, last but not least, Arther/Stanlee Zuka /Chandromahan, the guy with too many names, won the Gi 16-man division. Arther was also on the smaller end of the scale as far as competitors go, but those guys didn't stand a chance against his crazy style and inverted attacks. Also, his ankle locks were quite impressive. My ankle/foot was hurting just watching him snap them on everyone. Arther's biggest challenge was Darson in the 2nd round. This match was ridiculous, and ended up coming down to a decision. I chose Arther, and I stand by that choice. There is, of course, some discussion about it going on on Facebook, but there always is. Here is the video for your viewing pleasure. Feel free to comment there on who you thought should win and back it up with more than just "he was on top", "or he was aggressive".

Last but not least, I know, I already said finally, but I remembered one other fighter who showed a great attitude, great fighting spirit, and who is always a pleasure to watch. Mike A. the rooster weight, entered the no gi division. I think Alex and Rohit set him up with the 2nd smallest guy, but there was still a pretty obvious size difference. They had a killer match, with lots of leg lock attacks and knee bars and toe holds. It was crazy. Eventually the leg locks failed Mike and he ended up taking a nap from a arm triangle. Hats off to Graham Peckham for subbing the impossible to stop Mike!

The event did start a bit later than scheduled, but that was partially because a few people didn't show up, a few showed up late, so they had to work that all into the draw. We ended up having to drop the match length down from 10 minutes to 5 minutes after the first round because we did the math and we would have been there way past closing time if even 1/2 the matches went full time. We ended up back on schedule, and put them back up to 10 for the semis and finals.

It was a really neat event, and I am glad I had the opportunity to be a part of it. Hopefully next year I'll be able to referee and be a part of it again. I know I will do more to help promote and support it down the road because it's this type of event that helps spread jiu jitsu to the outside world. Oh yea, I didn't really talk about that. The showdown was part of a golf sale/show and sports show, where they had lots of local teams/leagues all together with interactive demos and information and things. It's a pretty cool concept, and having jiu jitsu showcased there exposed it to people who have never seen it and don't know what it's about.

So, congrats to the winners and to everyone who came out and threw down. It takes guts to enter an event with no weight classes and no skill divisions. Let's be honest, it takes guts to go out and compete no matter the circumstances! Great Job by everyone involved!

PS:
I'm heading to Boston this weekend for the IBJJF Open, and Chicago the weekend after that! There is also a small chance of Montreal for the FFC2 the weekend after that. Balance in life, who needs it? I was delusional to think it was for me hahah.