Grapplefest 16 took place on July 1st, 2023 and the elite grapplers competing at the event delivered a night full of excellent results for the fans. The main card featured plenty of great matches, including an under 60kg title-fight between ADCC veteran Adele Fornarino and Vanessa English. Both women threw everything they had at one another, but in the end it was Fornarino who was declared the winner by decision. There were a number of other fun matches on both the preliminary and main card, with the main and co-main event both featuring people who stepped on the mats at ADCC 2022 as well.
First up was William Tackett, who challenged one of the most successful competitors to come out of the UK; Bradley Hill. It was a great match on paper and Tackett managed to finish Hill with a crazy submission, locking up an Ezekiel choke from closed guard and holding onto it even though he was lifted into the air to get the win. The main event then saw a close battle between Gabriel Sousa and Damien Anderson, with both men gaining the upper hand at different points in the match. It was Sousa who was awarded the victory by the judges in the end, although this is likely not the last time these two men meet on the mats.
Grapplefest 16 Full Results
Gabriel Sousa defeats Damien Anderson via Decision – Unanimous
William Tackett defeats Bradley Hill via Submission – Ezekiel Choke
Adele Fornarino defeats Vanessa English via Decision – Unanimous
Fornarino becomes the Grapplefest under 60kg champion
Daniel Degroot defeats Tommy Yip via Decision – Unanimous
Nadine Tavares defeats Peyton Letcher via Decision – Unanimous
Mark Macqueen defeats James Thompson via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
Jack Grant defeats Taylor Pearman via Decision – Unanimous
Tom Bracher defeats Phillipe Geyer via Decision – Unanimous
Paul Lukowski defeats Dave Weston via Decision – Unanimous
Bart Dubbeldam defeats Kev Corkhill via Decision – Unanimous
Saul Rogers defeats Danny Hughes via Decision – Unanimous
Jack Cronin defeats Luke Johnson via Decision – Unanimous
Preliminary Card
Sean Stewart defeats Jordan Cooper via Submission – Heel Hook
Paul Webb defeats James Bland via Decision – Unanimous
Martin Wong defeats Gary Priestly via Decision – Unanimous
Joel Amador defeats Asher Mirsadeghi via Decision – Unanimous
Amy Derwanz defeats Bianca Rosca via Submission – D’arce Choke
Jordan Kirk defeats Andrew Heseltine via Submission – Triangle Armbar
Evan Reid defeats Lewis Pennie via Submission – Triangle Armbar
Ross Widdup defeats Jo Foy via Submission – Triangle Armbar
Mark Hibbard defeats Graham Mealand via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
Fraser Clarke defeats Matt Fitz-James via Submission – Kimura
Ashley Wagg defeats Adam Bennett via Submission – Armbar
Marco Bryden defeats Gary Morris via Decision – Unanimous
Christian Amador defeats Afif Khan via Submission – Heel Hook
Kieran Fletcher defeats Declan Williams via Decision – Unanimous
JJ Ekubia defeats Ryan Graham via Submission – Arm-triangle Choke
Lily Wayman defeats Lana Corina via Decision – Unanimous
Youssef Boukassem defeats Ali Khan-Murphy via Decision – Unanimous
Connor Edwards defeats Jamie Wright via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
Chris Jelf defeats Ryan Brady via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
Rob Lynskey defeats Barry Munro via Submission – Toehold
The full Grapplefest 16 event replay, including all of the above results, is available to watch on Glistrr.
