Victory In Dallas!! Gordon Ryan and Nicholas Meregali both had extremely impressive wins here tonight in the second biggest grappling event of the year. Mr Meregali showed the fruits of his hard work training without the gi. In just five months he has made great progress and he showed that tonight with a win showcasing his developing standing skills and pressure top game. He hit two beautiful uchi mata takedowns and passed to mount and rear mount multiple times. Gordon Ryan had a tense tactical match with his great rival Felipe Pena and was able to use a combination of guard pulls into reversals and takedowns to secure top position and play a disciplined pace that drains even the best. This match was essentially a meeting of the two best submission artists in the world under a rule set where one of them had to submit. The pressure over time that Mr Ryan can build us very daunting to face and on several occasions Mr Pena seemed to want to stop but then resumed. Just past the forty minute mark Mr Pena asked to stop with a verbal submission and victory went to Mr Ryan. It was an indication of just how far Mr Ryan has progressed that he was able to determine the pace, direction and outcome of the match against such a great opponent who had defeated him at the onset of his career. It was a brave and admirable gesture for Mr Pena to compete tonight – he lost a dear friend in leandro lo today and still came to do his best. Now it's back to Austin to get everyone ready for adcc 2022! Thank you to Garry Tonon and Luke Griffith for their help preparing and cornering the athletes tonight. Thank you all for your interest and support for our athletes. Wishing you all the best from Dallas!
