The Johnny Hernandez Invitational 1 took place on June 15th, 2024 and the promotion managed to put on some fantastic matches for their very first event. The tournament took a whole new approach to grappling by mandating that all competitors emulate the classic Eddie Bravo style of no gi attire. That means that they all had to wear gi pants and a rashguard, something that hasn’t been done anywhere else and wouldn’t even be allowed in the majority of rulesets. There was also a $2,000 grand prize available for the winner, so there was plenty of high-level grappling to watch in the new format.
The standard belief about wearing gi pants is that it makes attacking leglocks easier as it provides greater grip, and it seemed like that might actually be the case as the majority of the matches were finished with leglocks. Although EBI overtime was in play, it was only used once in the whole tournament as there was plenty of quick finishes. Sebastian Guevara was impressive in his run to the final, submitting all 3 of his opponents with a wide range of attacks. Top 10th Planet competitor Kyle Chambers stormed through the other side of the bracket and beat Guevara in the final, winning the tournament with 4 submission wins all coming from a variety of different leglocks.
Johnny Hernandez Invitational 1 Full Results
Alberto Flores defeats Bruno Antoinetta via Submission – Rear-naked Choke in EBI overtime
Opening Round
Sebastian Guevara defeats Alberto Pasos via Submission – Armbar
Angel Menchaca defeats Carlo Mansi via Submission – Heel Hook
Jorge Tax defeats Will Kelly via Submission – Heel Hook
Mauricio Rios defeats Sheniell Perez via Submission – Heel Hook
Kyle Chambers defeats Raul Peniche via Submission – Kneebar
Ramon Maldonado defeats Diego San Sebastian via Submission – Rear-naked Choke in EBI Overtime
Alberto Flores defeats Mateo Avelar via Submission – Heel Hook
Chuy Magana defeats Osvaldo Canamarvia Submission – Arm-in Guillotine
Quarter-Finals
Sebastian Guevara defeats Angel Menchaca via Submission – Kneebar
Mauricio Rios defeats Jorge Tax via Submission – Heel Hook
Kyle Chambers defeats Ramon Maldonado via Submission – Heel Hook
Chuy Magana defeats Alberto Flores via Submission – Heel Hook
Semi-Finals
Sebastian Guevara defeats Mauricio Rios via Submission – Arm-triangle Choke
Kyle Chambers defeats Chuy Magana via Submission – Calf-slicer
Final
Kyle Chambers defeats Sebastian Guevara via Submission – Heel Hook
The full Johnny Hernandez Invitational 1 event replay, including all of the above results, is available to watch on the official YouTube channel of Brandon McCaghren:
