The UK’s first all-female grappling promotion, Enyo Grappling, are about to stage their second event and Enyo Grappling 2 will feature their first title fight. The event will take place on February 25th, 2023 in Southampton, England and the headline match will see two elite female grapplers battling it out for the under 55kg belt. Ashley Bendle will be facing off with Sophia Cassella in the main event, and both women will no doubt be eager to add a brand new belt to their ever-increasing medal collection.
Ashley Bendle is a BJJ black belt representing Draig, one of the biggest competition teams in the UK. She recently had the biggest match of her career at Polaris 21 when she challenged Michelle Nicolini for the bantamweight title and although she didn’t win, she put in a fantastic performance that served as a signal that she was more than capable of competing at the highest level.
Her opponent is coming a much longer way to compete at the event, as Sophia Cassella is a fantastic young brown belt who trains under Matt Serra. Cassella reached the highest point of her career so far last year, when she won the strawweight EBI title at Medusa 2. Not only did she take home the belt, but Cassella submitted two out of three of her opponents in doing so. She came off that tournament and used that amazing form in her next match at Who’s Number One, where she submitted Jessica Crane with an incredibly quick heelhook.
Enyo Grappling have already done fantastic work to help develop women’s BJJ in the UK and putting together a title fight to headline Enyo Grappling 2 is another huge step forward. Before this match takes place, Enyo Grappling have also put together a stacked card full of fantastic female grapplers from all across the UK. With a commentary team that includes Dan Strauss, Vanessa English, and Samantha Cook as well; the event is set to be a resounding success.
The news of the first title fight at Enyo Grappling 2 was announced in a post to the promotion’s official Instagram account:
