The Eddie Bravo Invitational is back with EBI 21: The Absolutes on June 2nd, 2024 and the promotion has announced a fantastic lineup for the event. They will actually be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the very first EBI tournament and this stacked bracket is a fitting tribute to the birth of the promotion. This isn’t the only way that they’re celebrating 10 years of success either, as the very first EBI Open tournament will also be taking place on the previous day. Although that might signal the dawn of a whole new venture over the next few years, most of the attention will be on EBI 21: The Absolutes of course.
One of the early favorites to win the tournament will be Dan Manasoiu, as the top New Wave Jiu-Jitsu product has developed a fantastic skillset to complement the natural physical gifts that already make him a difficult opponent. One of the other top contenders is actually his teammate in fact, the reigning ADCC world champion at under 88kg; Giancarlo Bodoni. They aren’t the only John Danaher students competing in the tournament either, as Ramiro Leon won the Argentina qualifier to earn a spot at the tournament and Abraham La Montagne was invited based on the strength of his recent performances.
Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa is another ADCC medalist who has been invited to compete and he will be a very tough opponent for anyone, while his ATOS teammate Calon Sabino will be making a run at glory too. Ryan Aitken is another big name with a good chance of winning the whole tournament and he’ll be competing alongside his 10th Planet teammates Amir Allam and Fedor Nikolov; although they actually train at Atlanta, Salt Lake City, and Saint Petersburg respectively. There’s just one competitor representing B-Team Jiu-Jitsu in the EBI 21: The Absolutes lineup, elite Australian grappler Declan Moody.
Austin Baker and top Tristar grappler Franco Pana are two other men who could make it pretty far in the tournament if things go their way, although they will have some mountains to climb in order to do so. Gracie Barra is the only other major team with a presence at the tournament, and Romualdo Lucas will be the sole competitor representing them. The bracket for EBI 21: The Absolutes is rounded out by Josh Leduc, Adrian Nez, and Jesseray Childrey; all of whom will be tough opponents for anyone in the lineup.
As is customary for EBI events, the promotion has also booked some superfights to take place in between the later rounds of the tournament. The first of the two matches will see B-Team representative Musab Raza facing off against 10th Planet Austin’s Sean Magnus in what should be an entertaining clash of styles. The other superfight will be the only women’s match at the event and it’s another battle between B-Team and 10th Planet Austin, as Ally Wolski will be coming up against Lauren Sears.
The full lineup for EBI 21: The Absolutes was announced in a series of posts to the promotion’s official Instagram account:
