The first ever StreetXAD 16-Man Challenge took place on July 5th, 2025 and the brand put together an excellent bracket featuring many of the best grapplers in Australia. There was plenty of fireworks as the bracket unfolded and with $5,000 on the line, everyone was willing to leave it all on the mat in order to win. One of the early favorites coming in to the tournament was Kaya Rudolph and although he might not be as well-known as some of Australia’s most famous competitors, he’s every bit as talented. He only narrowly missed out on an invite to at the CJI 2 Australasian Trials earlier this year so he was coming into this with a lot of momentum too.
Rudolph immediately proved why he was one of the top contenders in his opening round match with Nick Bilton, as he locked up a tight armbar to get the finish against a very tough opponent. His quarter-final match ended just as decisively, as he was able to take Melih Haktan’s back and sink in the rear-naked choke almost immediately after. As with any tournament, the semi-finals are generally when things start to get even more challenging and that was the case here too. Rudolph was matched up against another one of the pre-event favorites and a veteran of the Australian Jiu-Jitsu circuit, CJ Heske.
That proved to be one of the most entertaining matches of the night, as Heske and Rudolph battled it out all the way to the end of regulation time. Heske had his moments of success too but ultimately Rudolph was able to maintain the edge through his continued offense from all angles and he won the decision. He then met Bobby Sandhu in the final and it was another convincing performance, as Rudolph worked his way to mount and started setting up an arm-triangle choke early. He got the finish by applying a ton of smothering pressure from the head-and-arm control, finishing an epic run and reminding everyone that he’s one of the best that Australia has to offer.
The full StreetXAD 16-Man Challenge, including every match that Kaya Rudolph won, was uploaded to the brand’s official YouTube channel:
