EBI 20: The Absolutes is set to take place on the 23rd October and the full lineup has now been revealed. This will mark the return of the most intriguing aspect of the Eddie Bravo Invitational, as the absolute division has only been staged twice before in the promotion’s eight-year history and hasn’t been seen since 2017. Both of the previous EBI Absolute tournaments were won by Gordon Ryan, with him beating Rustam Chsiev in the final of EBI 6 and Craig Jones in a legendary match in the final of EBI 14. As Ryan will not be competing at EBI 20, this means that the promotion is set to crown a new champion of the absolute division this time around.
John Danaher will still be present however, as both Luke Griffith and ADCC world champion Giancarlo Bodoni will be representing New Wave Jiu-Jitsu at the event. There’s even the potential for some grudge matches as the tournament unfolds, due to the fact that both Izaak Michell and Nicky Rodriguez will be flying the B-Team flag. This tournament isn’t all about Austin of course, and there’s several other veterans of ADCC 2022 competing as well. ADCC South American trials winner Roosevelt Sousa and 99kg competitor Elder Cruz will both make an appearance, as will North American West Coast trials winner Kyle Boehm and Haisam Rida.
As with every EBI event, there will also be several competitors who have had to fight their way to the tournament to begin with. Three qualifying events were held in different countries with Angel Lugo emerging victorious in Mexico, Andre Porfirio winning his place in the US, and Ezequiel Zurita coming out on top in Argentina. Meanwhile, Pat Shahgholi won the in-house 10th Planet tournament in order to qualify as part of the lineup for EBI 20: The Absolutes.
Austin Baker made it all the way to the finals of the US qualifier and although he didn’t win, his fantastic performance coupled with a previous win over Giancarlo Bodoni earned him the invite. Peerless Jiu-Jitsu founder and head coach Stephen Martinez will be competing at the event, alongside yet another EBI veteran in Travis Moore. Rounding out the division for EBI 20 is Dan Martinez, the former Combat Jiu-Jitsu Middleweight world champion.
The full EBI 20: The Absolutes event, including each of the athletes making up the lineup detailed above, will be available to watch live on 23rd October on UFC FightPass, click here to subscribe and watch.
