This article and the accompanying footage of Manny Moreno v Mike John from Arte Suave Elite 24 is part of Free Fight Friday, our ongoing project to bring the best in professional Jiu-Jitsu competition to everyone. To avoid spoilers for the match, scroll directly to the footage below.
Arte Suave Elite are a promotion that stages regular events all across the West Coast of the USA, bringing together some of the best grapplers from around the area to compete against one another. This particular match between Manny Moreno and Mike John served as the main event matchup for Arte Suave Elite 24, and one of the promotion’s titles was on the line. John was the reigning lightweight champion coming into this match, although both men were determined to leave with the belt by the end of the match. Professional grappling is known as an incredibly unpredictable sport and prior to this match, none of the promotion’s champions had ever managed to defend their title.
John is a talented grappler and 10th Planet black belt who actually teaches at 10th Planet Orange County, while Moreno is a BJJ black belt representing Ares BJJ and is the head instructor at their Roseville location. The two grapplers were both experienced competitors coming into this match, both for Arte Suave Elite and for a wide range of promotions outside of them. It was a tough match with plenty of action that lasted almost 10 minutes, but in the end it was John who was able to find the finish as he became the first Arte Suave Elite champion to successfully defend his title.
Subscribe to the official JitsMagazine YouTube channel for more Free Fight Friday footage, and the full match between Manny Moreno and Mike John can be found below:
