Main Character Jiu-Jitsu 5 is scheduled for November 17th, 2024 and the promotion has just announced a superb main event match between Geo Martinez and Gianni Grippo. These two men will be battling it out to become the promotion’s inaugural lightweight champion as well. The rest of the card is yet to be confirmed but the promotion has a history of setting up solid events so it will no doubt feature several entertaining matches between elite grapplers. They’ve been known for great matchmaking at all levels too, so the build up to the main card will almost certainly highlight some of the top up-and-coming talent in the sport.
Both Geo Martinez and Gianni Grippo have been competing at the highest level of the sport for around a decade now and they have each found a ton of success. They’re generally known for competing under slightly different conditions though, as Martinez is exclusively a no gi grappler and the 10th Planet black belt has found the most success under EBI rules. He’s actually a three-time EBI champion across two different weight classes and has stepped on the mats for several other major promotions like Polaris, Quintet, and Who’s Number One over the years.
Grippo on the other hand is a far more prolific competitor and he has been a frequent face on the IBJJF major circuit. Grippo has won the IBJJF No Gi World Championship on three different occasions and has found plenty of success in the gi as well, as he is also a three-time IBJJF Pan Championship winner too. Even though Grippo hasn’t faced Martinez yet, the two men have come close in the past at more than one edition of ADCC. Both men competed in the under 66kg division at ADCC 2015 and 2019, but they didn’t end up crossing paths before they were eliminated from the tournament.
Gianni Grippo is known for his incredible ability to take the back and finish from there, while Geo Martinez is a fantastic leglocker. It will be undoubtedly be an interesting battle, as they have completely different styles of grappling that will clash well and should produce plenty of action. It’s some excellent matchmaking from Main Character Jiu-Jitsu to put these two together and if they’re able to keep up that same energy throughout the rest of the card then their 5th event should be a great one.
