Combat Sports Coverage 29 took place on September 29th, 2024 and the event was able to shine on a light on some amazing up-and-coming grapplers. The lineups for both tournaments were filled with talented youngsters and the main event of the evening was a battle between two top purple belts. Kiersten Oliver from ETF Academy won the 120lbs blue belt and under tournament in impressive fashion, taking out 3 high-level competitors along the way. She won all of her matches by submission and even managed to avenge a previous loss in the semi finals, showing that it’s never wise to count someone out even if they’re not a favorite coming into the event.
All the children’s BJJ matches were fantastic and they collectively proved that the sport has a very bright future, but there were even bigger highlights elsewhere on the card. Ruben Alaniz stood out by hitting a slick armbar to win his match, while Dylan Melton got one of the fastest finishes of the night when he locked up a lightning-quick straight ankle-lock in around 20 seconds. That all led into the main event of the evening, where Ally Wolski was proved that she’s one of the top purple belts around by submitting Mona Bailey with an armbar and claiming the under 135lbs title.
The event wasn’t without controversy though, as the co-main event teen match ended in unusual fashion. Kai McKinney and James Ortiz were going at it when the referee called an end to the match, as he believed that Ortiz had passed out while he was defending a choke. Ortiz hadn’t passed out or tapped but as the referee had already stopped the action, McKinney was declared the winner. It always pays to err on the side of the caution when children and teens are competing of course, and the promotion has already agreed to run the match on their next event on November 23rd, 2024 if both competitors agree to it.
