I did a lot better yesterday than my last tournament.  Granted, I went 0-4, but I actually performed to the best of my abilities and earned some points.

When I arrived at Big John’s he and the girl working the registration desk talked me into also competing in the absolute division.  I’d still go against white belts, but there was no weight classes.  I reluctantly agreed since it was free but I was pretty nervous about it.

I started with my weight class.  The first guy was my weight (155) and I jumped into guard. I have terrible take downs right now so that was the best I could do. I went for a triangle and he escaped and passed to side control. I got into half, but he got back out and took mount. I swept him and got back into his guard then he pulled a triangle when I was trying to pass and I had to tap.

Second guy was only 110. Super small guy but I already heard he was extremely technical and won the 150lb no-gi division the day before. There was a lack of small guys so they merged 155 and below.  He jumped guard and I just held him in the air.  He was definitely the lightest person I’ve ever rolled with.  I set him down pretty softly because I know there’s no slamming and I went to pass his guard but he caught one of my arms and put me in another triangle.  I knew he was much better than me, but I was hoping I was able to muscle out something.  I practically gave him the triangle when I was going to try to pass and he locked it in there tight.

Then came the absolute division.  I figured there would be a lot of people and hopefully I’d get somebody my size. NOPE! The smallest dude was 185. Nobody from my weight class entered.  I almost got a good throw on him to take him down but he went for my back. I was able to spin out and put him in guard. He passed a couple times and we went back and forth. Again, I went for a triangle and then he was able to sweep me. I was able to defend a rear naked choke well and was stuck below him for a while. I defended one armbar (on my arm that was just popped last week!) and a couple of gi chokes. Finally he got my other arm locked and I had to tap. That was probably the best match I had.  He complimented my job and said I’d dominate in my weight division.  Too bad I didn’t!

The last one was against a guy who was 240! Yes, 240! I weigh 153!!!!!!!! We kept it standing for awhile and I almost got him down but I finally just jumped guard on him.  Again I went for my signature triangle (I swear I can pull them pretty well actually) but he muscled out of it when I threw my leg up. I realized there was no way I was going to get any regular submission or sweeps when I noticed that he had his hands on the mat. I reached up for my leg and tried to pull a gogoplata on him. I almost had it but I couldn’t quite get it under his chin. His shoulder was just too big for me to get my leg all the way over. When that backfired I went for a omoplata but I couldn’t roll at all. He was just too heavy. Finally he passed my guard and literally squished me for almost the remainder of the match. I couldn’t breathe under him and I nearly tapped just because he was squishing me so bad. Finally he did some weak collar choke and I just tapped. There was NO way I could have swept him. I got a lot of props from people for doing pretty well against a guy with nearly a 100lb weight advantage though so that made me feel good.  He was very nice too and I chatted with him afterwards.

Overall, I had a great time.  Big John’s gym is very nice and the thing ran very well.  Everybody I met and/or competed against was very nice and helpful.  I felt better as the day went on and wished I could have kept competing.

I ran into a fellow Sherdog forum member who I recognized from the site.  He is a 19 year old purple belt who won on advantage points against a black belt.  That was a heck of a match.  If he puts a video up I’ll be sure to post it.

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