Gavin Corbe has just joined his older brother Deandre Corbe as a member of the Team Misfits Americas lineup at CJI 2. This means that the team is almost completely confirmed, as the only space in the roster now lies in the heaviest weight class at over 99kg. Deandre Corbe was actually one of the first Misfits competitors announced and he was originally announced as the under 66kg representative for the Americas, but this has now changed. With his brother joining the team, Deandre has now moved up to under 77kg instead so that can Gavin can occupy the lighter weight class.
This also means that the team’s head coach, Greg Souders, will have both of his top male students from Standard Jiu-Jitsu competing under him. This will obviously give him the benefit of having a close relationship with almost half the team, but it also makes it undeniably easier for him to structure a training camp. It’s unclear how involved he’s going to be with the other grapplers competing for Team Misfits Americas and their preparation, particularly with Taylor Pearman being their wildcard at under 88kg. Seeing as Pearman lives and trains in the UK, it will be logistically difficult for him to relocate to the US on a temporary basis.
The fourth member of the team at under 99kg is veteran wrestler Pat Downey, who is so far also the only one with CJI experience. Downey has moved around a fair bit during his grappling career but is originally from Baltimore, Maryland, which is just an hour away from Standard Jiu-Jitsu. There’s an interesting competitor available for the last spot at over 99kg too, as Fellipe Andrew made it to the final of the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational last year. There’s quite a few other options too and two elite competitors who made short runs in that weight class at ADCC 2024 are also eligible; Roosevelt Sousa and Damon Ramos.
Gavin and Deandre Corbe were both confirmed for Team Misfits Americas at CJI 2 in a recent post to the promotion’s official Instagram account:
