Ashley Bendle has just defeated Sophia Cassella at Enyo Grappling 2 on February 25th, 2023 to become the promotion’s very first champion. Bendle has been on the verge of great things for quite a while now, and she’s managed to reach the podium of several at the world’s most prestigious grappling events over the last two years. Bendle has come away with a silver medal at the IBJJF no gi European championship and a bronze medal in the gi edition, along with a bronze medal at the IBJJF no gi world championship in that time. She trains alongside ADCC veteran Ashley Williams at Draig but has been flying under the radar since being promoted to black belt back in 2019.
Enyo Grappling is a female-only BJJ promotion based in the UK, so naturally Bendle was an obvious choice to headline one of their events. Matchmakers booked her against Matt Serra brown belt, Sophia Cassella, in what was sure to be an excellent match. Cassella was no easy match of course, as she became the inaugural strawweight EBI champion at Medusa 2 last year and has already faced plenty of the world’s top female grapplers. Bendle put in an excellent performance in the main event though, and she won a hard-fought decision in order to take home the promotion’s inaugural 55kg title.
Bendle will certainly be a permanent fixture on the European circuit over the next few years of her career and has already fought for a Polaris title in the past as well. It should only be a matter of time before she manages to reach the top of the podium at a major IBJJF event, or book her place at an ADCC world championship by winning the European ADCC trial. It’ll be exciting to see her growth in that time, and who she gets scheduled to defend her title against in future Enyo Grappling events.
Ashley Bendle shared her feelings on defeating Sophia Cassella to become the first champion at Enyo Grappling 2 in a post to her official Instagram account:
