Combat Jiu Jitsu is back again in 2021 and while we’re still gearing up for the Bantamweight World Championships on March 21st, Eddie Bravo has just revealed the date and a handful of key grapplers for the Welterweight edition on June 6th! The 10th Planet founder made the announcement on his official Instagram account, where he revealed four of the men that will be competing for the title of Combat Jiu Jitsu Welterweight World Champion.
One name that should come as no surprise to fans of Jiu-Jitsu with strikes involved is Kody Steele, who won the entire event the last time it was held in his weightclass, back in 2019. The experienced wrestler has had a solid run since then and has managed to beat a number of elite grapplers like Edwin Najmi back at Third Coast Grappling 5. An interesting addition to the lineup will be Tye Ruotolo, who’s brother Kade won the Lightweight edition with a shocking buggy choke finish against PJ Barch in the final. The really intriguing part however is that Tye Ruotolo and Kody Steele have met before at Who’s Number One, where Ruotolo managed to lock up a heelhook finish right at the end of an exhausting match.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Combat Jiu Jitsu without at least one 10th Planet representative and at Welterweight, who better to fill that place than Nathan Orchard? He also competed at the Lightweight edition late last year and managed to make it to the Semi-Final before he fell victim to another member of Eddie Bravo’s lineage, PJ Barch. The final of the four men to be announced for the CJJ Welterweight Worlds was Roberto Jimenez who, despite his relatively young age, has already put on a number of impressive displays against much more experienced elite competitors.
