The road to CJI 2 is beginning with the first official CJI trials happening in Australia, under the guidance and structure of Lachlan Giles, one of the best coaches and grapplers ever from the region. These trials will determine their team for the CJI Quintet event at -99kg and +99kg in a unique way. We will cover all the action live as it happens on the B-Team’s YouTube channel (free for everyone to watch). Everything kicks off Friday at 10pm EST (local Melbourne time, Saturday noon).
The Australia/Asia regional team already has three spots decided. The -66kg grappler will be someone from outside the region, fulfilling the one wildcard allotment they get, and the other two spots will go to CJI 1 originals who have had world-level success.
- -66kg: Fabrici
- -77kg: Levi Jones-Leary
- -88kg: Lucas Kanard
- -99kg: Vacant
- +99kg: Vacant
There’s basically three stages to these trials;
- A sixteen man mini-bracket with a single winner who advances to a
- Six man round robin tournament, with points given and taken away based on submission wins (five men already have been chosen for this round)
- Lachlan decides who the best options for -99kg and +99kg will be
Whoever gets most submissions at the event also wins $5,000 – as sponsored by instructional site SubMeta.
We’ll be updating this page through the day with all the most recent results and notable moments from the day. Most recent results at the top. Running blog at the top, full match by match results are at the bottom. Everything will be contested in a 3/4 CJI pit, with one side still open for the public.Â
Live Blog
Most recent results at the top. Since they aren’t showing or announcing points, I’m calling anything that is not a submission a win by decision.
Round Robin Round One
We are back! First match up in this round robin style six man is Bob Frias vs Alibi Orazbek. Orazbek with the early takedown, Frias working from closed guard. Frias moves into the legs, there’s a controversial no-tap from Orazbek that causes some confusion and we end up in 50/50 and Bob gets on top. He jumps to the back but falls off. Orazbek ends up back on top in Frias’s guard and he drops to the legs. Frias scoots the back and falls off again. He gets a takedown against the wall and catches the back again on a stand up. He’s working on the neck but time expires. Close one.
- Roberto Dib-Frias vs. Alibi Orazbek ends in a draw
Mini-Tournament Finals
Looks like it is going to be Kit Dale and Uros Culic for the final spot in the round robin. Uros pulls early to hunt submissions. Kit trying to stay active and heavy here. He stacks and moves to leg drag but Uros pulls him into an entanglement, Kit clears. Kit passes to side control! Uros reguards. Late, they stand and Uros shoots but that’ll be time. Great job by the veteran Kit Dale.
- Kit Dale def. Uros Culic by decision
Mini-Tournament Semifinals
There will now be some super fight action before the semifinals. Kenta Iwamoto has had to withdraw, assumedly with the cut. I don’t know yet if Uros has advanced to the finals of the mini-tournament on a bye or they’ll get a replacement in there. Kit Dale and Anton Minenko up now. Both men committing to the wrestling. Some near takedowns but no man able to secure top position throughout the match. in the final twenty seconds, Dale is finally able to get his opponent down but is stuck in a guillotine. Time expires. Going to be a close decision.
- Uros Culic def. Kenta Iwamoto by walkover (injury)
- Kit Dale def. Anton Minenko by decision
Mini-Tournament Quarterfinals
Last quarter here, Kit Dale back out and he’s taking on Matthew Oxenham. Oxenham nearly takes down Dale but Kit reverses to top, then they scramble to top. Few more minutes of wrestling, now Kit drags his way to a deep takedown. Now he passes and mounts. Kit continues passing and mounting as Matthew reguards and escapes. Finally he grips and hits a kimura for a finishing touch.
- Kit Dale def. Matthew Oxenham by kimura
Anton Minenko is out to take on Tommy David. Tommy pulls, Anton jumps over the top and transitions rapidly to the back. He’s looked great so far. On an escape attempt, he gets an arm around the neck and uses a big squeeze to elicit the tap without hooks in. Powerful.
- Anton Minenko def. Thomas David by rear naked choke
Siraj Soufi is now taking on Kenta Iwamoto. Siraj pulls. On some guard play, Kenta catches a hit to the mouth and they need to stop and fix the bleeding. We’re back. They stand again and Kenta pulls. Another blood stoppage, looks like it’s on his chin. We’re back, now Kenta uses an inversion to get into the legs, he goes belly down on a straight ankle then when they roll back to belly up he gets a big tap. Brutal finish. Kenta needs to figure out that cut before it gets worse.
- Kenta Iwamoto def. Siraj Soufi by straight ankle lock
Tito Carle and Uros Culic will be our first match here in the quarters. They’ve had about an hour of rest. Tito is aggressive early and scores the takedown with a knee pick type of move. Tito manages to pass and Uros stands, Tito puts him back down. With time dwindling, Uros wrestles his way up and gets to turtle. He has to jump to the back, but he loses it. Tito reverses his way back to top. They go the distance, not sure which way it’ll go.
- Uros Culic def. Tito Carle by decision
Mini-Tournament Round 1
Kit Dale out for the last of the round of 16 matches, taking on Josh Schofield. Josh pulls, Kit being super heavy from the top of half guard. He passes, he takes the back. Josh escapes, Kit passes again. Kit adds one more cartwheel pass at the end to put a stamp on his victory in round one.
- Kit Dale def. Josh Schofield by decision
Matthew Oxenham out to take out Alex Hungahunga. Wow, Alex is enormous, 151kg/330lbs. Surprisingly, he pulls into the legs quick and sweeps up to top but Matthew escapes. On another pull, Matthew starts passing and nearly takes the back, now again he’s got another look at the back. He’s in a high ball ride, this is crazy considering the size disparity. He sinks it in and secures the tap! Upset, impressive.
- Matthew Oxenham def. Alex Hungahunga by rear naked choke
Adnan Larry taking on Tommy “Gun” David now. Adnan gets the takedown early and is parking himself on top in closed guard. Tommy trying some to open up but not much success. Not much really happened here.
- Thomas David def. Larry Adnan by decision
Josh Shipton taking on Anton Minenko. Both guys pushing early. BIg uchi mata for Shipton, Minenko transitions into the choi bar then the full armbar and gets the tap! That was the quickest match yet, nice advantage for later rounds.
- Anton Minenko def. Josh Shipton by armbar
Kenta is out now against Duke Didier. Kenta is comically smaller, but also much more technically acclaimed than much of this field. Kenta goes for the takedown, Duke reverses to get on top. Kenta does manage to get out using the wall, now he stays aggressive and uses a body lock and the pit to drag down Duke. He does manage to find the back now! He secures a choke across the face and gets the tap. Super scrappy.
- Kenta Iwamoto def. Duke Didier by rear naked choke
Suraj Soufi out to take on Harry Grech. Siraj pulls. Eventually after a lot of non-action he stands, pulls again, then sweeps to top. That will be the deciding moment of the match, Siraj wins. Not much happened, not Siraj’s fault.
- Siraj Soufi def. Harry Grech by decision
Harrison Everett, who was originally an alternate, is taking on transplanted Serbian Uros Culic. Uros was able to get the takedown and eventually secures what looks like a Ruotolotine, but may have just been a really tight arm triangle.
- Uros Culic def. Harrison Everett by arm triangle
Our first match is up, Tito Carle taking on Harry Cassar. Solid scrap both ways but time will end and we go to the judge’s table. Interestingly, in an effort to keep people focused on submissions, the scores are not public and only being tallied privately by the judges. Tito Carle will take the decision and advance to the quarters.
- Tito Carle def. Harry Cassar by decision
We are off with the first Trials of its kind, the Giles Trials, from Melbourne, Australia. Ceremonies begin with a minute of silence for Luke Marko, 21, who was a rising Australian grappler who tragically recently passed away in a car accident heading home from training.
CJI Giles Trials Results6-Man Round Robin Tournament
- Round One
- Roberto Dib Frias vs Alibi Orazbek
16-Man Elimination Mini-Tournament
- Round One
- Tito Carle def. Harry Cassar by decision
- Uros Culic def. Harrison Everett by arm triangle
- Siraj Soufi def. Harry Grech by decision
- Kenta Iwamoto def. Duke Didier by rear naked choke
- Anton Minenko def. Josh Shipton by armbar
- Thomas David def. Larry Adnan by decision
- Matthew Oxenham def. Alex Hungahunga by rear naked choke
- Kit Dale def. Josh Schofield by decision
- Quarterfinals
- Uros Culic def. Tito Carle by decision
- Kenta Iwamoto def. Siraj Soufi by straight ankle lock
- Anton Minenko def. Thomas David by rear naked choke
- Kit Dale def. Matthew Oxenham by kimura
- Semifinals
- Uros Culic def. Kenta Iwamoto by walkover (injury)
- Kit Dale def. Anton Minenko by decision
- Finals
- Kit Dale def. Uros Culic by decision
Six Man Round Robin Tournament Scores
- Declan Moody, ADCC trials winner & #13 ranked at 220lbs
- Roberto Frias, ADCC trials winner
- Alibi Orazbek
- Kaya Rudolph
- Belal Etaibari
- Kit Dale, 16-man bracket winner
CJI Giles Trials Live Stream
You can of course watch this live & free on YouTube, we will include the stream below for anyone who wants an easy way to find it.
Submission Count
We’ll be keeping a running list of whoever scores the most submissions and wins the $5000 bonus.
- Kenta Iwamoto – 2
- Anton Minenko – 2
- Kit Dale – 1
- Matthew Oxenham – 1
- Uros Culic – 1
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