EBI 21: The Absolutes is set to take place on June 2nd, 2024 and we’ve put together a full preview of the 16 elite grapplers who will be competing at the event. The promotion put together a very impressive lineup featuring some of the sport’s most entertaining and skilled competitors, and there’s several top contenders for the title. The event was arranged to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of EBI, as it’s one of the most important grappling promotions in the world. So many of the sport’s biggest stars have stepped on the mats at EBI and the unique ruleset has become incredibly popular, something that became apparent from the moment the very first event had finished.
EBI 21: The Absolutes Full Preview
The Favorites
Dan Manasoiu
Dan Manasoiu should really be considered the top contender in this preview of EBI 21: The Absolutes, and for very good reason. He’s had some tremendous physical advantages since the start of his BJJ career and that was able to make good use of them in his first forays into high-level competition. He’s developed on a technical level since then as well and even managed to fill out his tremendous frame more than he ever has before. Manasoiu is weighing in at over 300lbs at the moment and with the mind of John Danaher and Gordon Ryan behind him, it’ll be tough for anyone to stop him from winning this division.
Declan Moody
Although Declan Moody isn’t anywhere near the same size as Manasoiu, he’s still a very physical grappler and will likely outwork a lot of the competitors in this tournament. He’s also one of the top products to come out of Australia and he’s already proven that he belongs at the biggest tournaments in the world, most recently when he won the under 99kg division at ADCC Asia and Oceania Trials last year. He’s almost certainly going to make it past the first few rounds but there’s a huge challenge waiting for him at some point, as he was actually recently submitted by Manasoiu at Submission Hunter Pro 84. That rematch is very likely to happen here, and Moody will need to get be in good enough form to get revenge if he wants to win EBI 21.
Giancarlo Bodoni
Manasoiu isn’t the only New Wave Jiu-Jitsu competitor in this preview of EBI 21: The Absolutes, and one of his teammates is another favorite to walk away with the title. Giancarlo Bodoni is going to be one of the smaller competitors entering the tournament but he’s still going to be a force to be reckoned with. He won the under 88kg division at ADCC 2022 and although he hasn’t been particularly prolific since then, he really shouldn’t be under-estimated. He would beat the majority of this bracket in single matches but he may find that the biggest competitors are able to use their size advantage to shut him down.
Ryan Aitken
Ryan Aitken is one of the top 10th Planet representatives around right now and he’s very skilled at making the absolute most of the EBI ruleset. He’s a fantastic grappler anyway and probably won’t need to make use of EBI overtime in a lot of matches but if he does, he will play the perfect tactical game and execute it almost flawlessly. He won the Combat Jiu-Jitsu middleweight world title at the end of 2023 and he’ll be just as tough to beat in this tournament as well. The level of competition is a little bit higher though, so emerging with the title will be an even bigger challenge here than it was for him last year.
The Dark Horses
Fedor Nikolov
Fedor Nikolov has had some great performances recently across several of the biggest grappling promotions in the US, but so far he’s been just outside the final of a few major tournaments. He’s come very close though and it feels like he might be just on the edge of breaking through with a good performance here. He was submitted by Manasoiu at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 4 and while that rematch is going to be tough enough, there’s also several other elite competitors standing in his way here. How far he goes will likely depend on how soon he finds himself standing opposite the favorites in this preview of EBI 21: The Absolutes.
Calon Sabino
Calon Sabino is an entertaining competitor and the ATOS product is going to be one to watch over the next few years. He’s managed to get a ton of experience on the mats over the last year or so, including an appearance at the Combat Jiu-Jitsu middleweight world championship. That particular tournament didn’t go according to plan though, as he was on the receiving end of a surprising upset in the opening round. That has a habit of happening when EBI overtime is in play so he might not get too far in the bracket this time either, but he definitely has the skills to beat most of his potential opponents if he can put it together on the mats.
Abraham La Montagne
The third of four New Wave Jiu-Jitsu students competing at EBI 21: The Absolutes is another competitor that we’re picking out to keep an eye on in this preview. Abraham La Montagne is known for his master of ‘The Abe Lock’, a submission that he’s been popularizing recently that has even taken off at the highest levels of competition. This gives him a way to surprise some of the more established competitors but even outside of that, La Montagne is genuinely a solid grappler. He should get past the opening round and might even get a win over a big name, but winning the entire tournament will be very difficult.
Franco Pana
Franco Pana is another grappler who has history with Manasoiu, as he met him at the ADCC Canada Open 2023 and lost on points in the final most recently. Although he’s one of many competitors with an eye on beating Manasoiu, he’s also might just have the best chance of doing so. Pana is the man in this tournament who comes the closest to meeting Manasoiu as an equal physically, so keeping up with him technically will be his main concern. Unfortunately Pana might also struggle with some of the smaller competitors who will have the speed and cardio advantage, so he’ll have to play every match perfectly in order to win.
The Rest Of The Field
There are another 8 competitors to consider in this preview of EBI 21: The Absolutes, although they are unlikely to emerge as the champion. This isn’t to say they will all go out in the opening round either, as they are all skilled grapplers who are capable of beating anyone on the right day. They could spring some surprises and might end up matched against one another in the opening round as well but as the bracket thins out and the semi-finals begin, it’s unlikely that these 8 make it there. The remaining 8 competitors at EBI 21 are Austin Baker, Josh Leduc, Adrian Nez, Jesseray Childrey, Romualdo Lucas, Ramiro Leon, Amir Allam, and Brandon George.
The full EBI 21: The Absolutes event, including every competitor in the above preview, is available to watch live on June 2nd, 2024 on UFC Fight Pass.
