The Team Misfits Australasia Trials for CJI 2 took place on May 10th and 11th, 2025 amd the results saw two men claim their spot in the team in the under 99kg and over 99kg divisions. The event was devised and organised by the team’s head coach Lachlan Giles and he brought together 21 of the best grapplers in the continent for a two-stage tournament. The first day featured 16 men battling it out in a single-elimination knockout tournament, where the winner would move on to a round-robin tournament with 5 invited athletes on day 2. Even though it was just a qualifying round, the first day featured several ADCC veterans and produced some exciting results.
One side of the bracket saw the undersized Kenta Iwamoto making a superb run, as he submitted both of his first two opponents. Uros Culic submitted his first opponent and beat one of the top contenders in the quarter-final, but Iwamoto was injured in his second match and Culic progressed to the final automatically. Opposite him was Australian BJJ legend and late-replacement Kit Dale, who won one match by submission and two by decision. Dale then beat Culic by decision in the final and finished the day with a perfect 4-0 record, getting some hard-earned rest before moving on to the round-robin tournament on the second day.
Kit Dale then had 5 matches on the second day but the rules were slightly different and only wins by submission mattered here. Declan Moody ran away with it really, submitting three of his five opponents and guaranteeing himself a spot on Team Misfits Australasia for CJI 2 by winning the trials. The next spot would go to the man in second place but there were two men with equal records, as Belal Etiabari and Kaya Rudolph both had one submission win each. It was up to the judges to determine who had done best over all five matches and they went with Etiabari, awarding him the second spot on the team.
CJI 2 Australasia Team Trials Full Results
Qualifier Tournament
Tito Carle defeats Harry Cassar via Decision – Unanimous
Uros Culic defeats Harrison Everett via Submission – Fake D’arce Choke
Siraj Soufi defeats Harry Grech via Decision – Unanimous
Kenta Iwamoto defeats Duke Didier via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
Anton Minenko defeats Josh Shipton via Submission – Armbar
Thomas David defeats Adnan Larry via Decision – Unanimous
Mathew Oxenham defeats Alex Hungahunga via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
Kit Dale defeats Josh Schofield via Decision – Unanimous
Quarter-Finals
Uros Culic defeats Tito Carle via Decision – Unanimous
Kenta Iwamoto defeats Siraj Soufi via Submission – Footlock
Anton Minenko defeats Thomas David via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
Kit Dale defeats Mathew Oxenham via Submission – Kimura
Semi-Finals
Uros Culic advances to the final when Kenta Iwamoto withdraws due to injury
Kit Dale defeats Anton Minenko via Decision – Unanimous
Final
Kit Dale defeats Uros Culic via Decision – Unanimous
6-Man Round Robin
Roberto Frias vs Alibi Orazbek ends in a Draw – No Submission
Declan Moody vs Kaya Rudolph ends in a Draw – No Submission
Kit Dale vs Belal Etiabari ends in a Draw – No Submission
Declan Moody defeats Alibi Orazbek via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
Roberto Frias vs Belal Etiabari ends in a Draw – No Submission
Kit Dale vs Kaya Rudolph ends in a Draw – No Submission
Belal Etiabari defeats Alibi Orazbek via Submission – Footlock
Declan Moody defeats Kit Dale via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
Roberto Frias vs Kaya Rudolph ends in a Draw – No Submission
Kit Dale vs Alibi Orazbek ends in a Draw – No Submission
Belal Etiabari vs Kaya Rudolph ends in a Draw – No Submission
Declan Moody defeats Roberto Frias via Submission – Heel Hook
Kaya Rudolph defeats Alibi Orazbek via Submission – Heel Hook
Kit Dale vs Roberto Frias ends in a Draw – No Submission
Declan Moody vs Belal Etiabari ends in a Draw – No Submission
The full CJI 2 Team Misfits Australasia trials event replay, including all of the above results, is available to watch on the official B-Team Jiu-Jitsu YouTube channel:
