Outstanding display from Nick Rodriguez at Kasai Seven this weekend: Another truly impressive performance from purple belt juggernaut Nick Rodriguez as he took on a field of champion black belts last night in texas. The short matches of six minutes made it difficult to get a decisive result in the time available but there is no question he got the better of world champion opponents Vinny Magalhaes and Cyborg with his rapidly improving guard passing skills that put his opponents under great positional pressure. Then he showed his developing submission skills with a very nice heel hook victory over Bruno Bastos. Due to a quirk in the rules of Kasai events he did not go to the finals – He and Cyborg had accrued the same number of points and Mr Rodriguez appeared to dominate the action in their match together and Cyborg had been given a win for a match that never happened (Mr Magalhaes pulled out due to injury after his match with Nicky Rodriguez). Because Cyborg had more wins even though one of those wins was an injury forfeit, he went to the final where he showed his toughness by fighting through a nasty earlier facial cut to win the final. Nicky Rodriguez went to battle for third against Kyle Boehm and again showed his developing positional ground game – threatening the back and getting a tight mounted position to take another great win. It's always a joy to watch improvement and positive development and the young Jersey juggernaut showed exactly that this weekend. It's incredible how much he has accomplished in his short time in the sport and clear that his skill level is rapidly rising and he is a major threat to even the legends of the sport. There is a good lesson for all of us as we take our own journey towards self improvement and progress – hope you all enjoyed the show!!
