By: Jeremy Chua
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, FlipSports brought Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu back to life in the local sporting scene as it staged Emergence – a one-day tournament that featured nine total matches.
The competition was composed of 10-minute super fights as the country’s top grapplers went toe-to-toe last November 20, at PETA Theater in Quezon City.
For tournament director Gerard Gallos, it’s all about giving back to the sport, and staging a tournament in the middle of a pandemic was FlipSports’ way of fulfilling that advocacy.
“We believe that Filipino Jiu-Jitsu athletes deserve better, the goal of Emergence is to showcase Filipino Jiu-Jitsu talent and to unite the community. We also want Jiu-Jitsu to be more exciting and entertaining so that non-practitioners can enjoy watching the sport,” he said.
“We can’t wait to have an event with a bigger venue and live audience, iba yung energy pag live and I know yung mga kakaunti na nakapanood sobrang nag enjoy, even yung non-practitioners,” Gallos added.
Headlining the main event of the tournament was a dream match between Jan Cortez and Vince Ortiz.
Ortiz tried to dictate the pace of the match early on but Cortez was able to bounce back with his submission attempts on the ground. After a lengthy match, Cortez was able to score more points to close out the tourney with a 9-2 win over Ortiz.
Meanwhile, reigning URCC Flyweight champion in Junjun Montilla squared off against Paolo Tiu in the co-main event of the tournament. Both fighters went the distance but the veteran in Montilla was craftier on the mats as he nabbed more points to run away with a 4-0 victory.
The other matches saw a mixed bag of results as some fighters were tactical in closing out their respective matchups.
Joaquin Dy made quick work of Noah Uychoco using a triangle armbar, stopping the bout at the 3:17 mark to emerge with a win via submission.
Takahiro Suzuki also went head-to-head with Ivan Padilla but failed to overcome the Filipino grappler as he absorbed a 5-15 defeat via points.
For the lone women’s match of the tournament, Mylene Matias was able to outclass her more experienced opponent in Gliza Jacinto to earn herself a 12-6 victory.
Troy Legaspi also pulled off a triangle choke against Joshua Dy at the 6:10 mark of the match to win via submission.
Another URCC champion in John Adajar saw action on the mats as he outlasted his opponent in Michael Canlas to emerge victoriously.
David Mendoza dominated his matchup against Marc Chua to win via points with an 8-2 tally while Enrique Hilario also achieved a similar result as he prevailed over John Madamba on an 8-4 advantage.
