This past Saturday, Mike Thomas and Phil Mento- two blue belts at Paramount BJJ in Downingtown PA- entered the NAGA purple belt division (NAGA allows blue belts to move up a division). There are a few reasons why we decided to test them at purple belt, but the main objective was to face the very best opponents possible in order to evaluate our strengths and weaknesses for the World Championships in June.
Unfortunately, there were only two other competitors in the division so Mike and Phil only had 1 match each. Check out the breakdown of their matches:
First up was Mike, who dove right into his guard and began off-balancing his opponent to set-up the sweep. Once he swept he immediately began passing, putting non-stop pressure on the opponent until he passed to sidemount. Mike attacked with a bread-cutter choke, and transitioned to knee-on-stomach to bring the score to 7-0. From knee-on-stomach he moved to mount, where he finished his adversary with a basic cross choke.
Phil was up next, who followed Mike’s format by going on the attack right away. He landed a takedown within 20 seconds but his opponent swept to get back on top to tie the score at 2-2. Phil swept back and started taking the back, but his opponent reversed and got on top. Phil swept again and was now up 6-2. He passed momentarily and began looking to set up a triangle from on top. He rolled to finish the triangle, but his opponent did a great job defending and got out. Phil swept once more before time ran out to win 8-2.
Video of the matches will be posted this weekend on our Members Site, available exclusively to students at Paramount BJJ. Mike and Phil are headed to San Francisco to compete at the IBJJF San Fran Open on Sunday, stay tuned for results!