Grapplefest 15 is due to take place on April 1st and the promotion has decided to put their vacant Lightweight title on the line in a four-man tournament as the main event. The title was originally held by Kade Ruotolo, but he has made the decision to vacate the title after moving up in weight recently. The last time that Ruotolo competed on the Grapplefest stage was back at Grapplefest 10 where he defeated Keith Krikorian by decision. Because there’s plenty of talent available in the Lightweight division, the promotion has been able to get four phenomenal grapplers to agree to battle it out for that belt.
Keith Krikorian must have impressed the matchmakers when he took on Ruotolo at Grapplefest 10 and in his other appearances for the promotion, because he’s been invited to compete in this tournament as well. The 10th Planet black belt and Combat Jiu-Jitsu featherweight world champion could be the favourite in any other tournament, but it’s impossible to pick one between him and the other three grapplers competing. Joining him from America is Gianni Grippo, an elite BJJ black belt who should need no introduction to fans of the sport as he’s one of the top competitors of his generation.
The third competitor in the Lightweight tournament at Grapplefest 15 is Jeremy Skinner, one of the best Australian competitors and a BJJ black belt under Lachlan Giles. Skinner has been a fan-favorite for quite some due to his exciting style and he put in a fantastic performance at the ADCC Asia and Oceania Trials 2022 to win the 66kg division. Rounding out the lineup is Sam McNally and while he might be the least-known out of the four men, he announced his arrival to the big leagues at ADCC 2022 when he managed to defeat one of the favourites at 66kg in Garry Tonon.
The news that Grapplefest 15 on April 1st is going to feature a tournament for the promotion’s Lightweight title was announced in a post to their official Instagram account:
