Team Lloyd Irvin at Budweiser World Cup 2006!!!
In the purple belt welter-weight division, Seph Smith defeated Yamasaki
Academy’s Chris Dietzel on points to advance to the second
round,
where he would face a very tough Alliance fighter, Ian. After
nearly landing a flying triangle on his opponent in the opening minute
of the match, Seph would battle hard for six more minutes, going for
submission after submission. Down on points in the final
seconds
of the match, Seph attempted to turn Ian from his side, but was caught
in a quick and technical shoulder lock and was forced to tap.
In
the consolation match for 3rd place, Seph caught his opponent in a
tight triangle choke. When his opponent attempted to stand
and
defend, Seph coolly transitioned to an Ezekiel choke from within the
triangle, getting the tap for the victory and 3rd place.
In the blue belt lightweight (145-155) division, Ryan Hall had a rough
opening match, losing on points in the opening round. Never
one
to throw in the towel, though, Ryan would immediately jump into the
welter-weight class and submit all three of his opponents
there.
In the blue belt welter-weight division, Ryan Hall and Phil Weslow had
a total of five matches, with each of them being finished in the same
fashion—the triangle. Phil would choke both of his
opponents into submission with mounted triangles, while Ryan would win
his opening round match with a triangle in overtime, his second round
one with a flying triangle, and his third with a triangle from his
inverted guard. Having defeated all comers, Phil and Ryan
would
close out the division for Team Lloyd Irvin.
SUNDAY
Sunday’s professional no-gi competition featured a number of
top
competitors, such as Abu Dhabi veterans Jeff Monson and Rick Macauley,
as well as Alliance’s Chris Moriarty, BJJ
Revolution’s
Andrew Smith, Renzo’s Jo-Jo Guarin, and Team Lloyd
Irvin’s
own Seph Smith and Ryan Hall.
Professional Lightweight Division:
Ryan’s opening round opponent was Yamasaki purple belt, Chris
Dietzel. This would be an uncharacteristically slow-paced
match
for Ryan, as his extremely wary opponent stayed tight, avoiding
submission exchanges from the half and butterfly guards.
Chris
was able to pass at one point, but Ryan quickly recovered his guard and
began working again. Halfway through the match, stuck in half
guard with an extremely cautious opponent, Ryan allowed Chris to pass
to north/south so that he could attempt to take Chris’
back. The gambit nearly worked, but Chris was able to posture
out
in time to lose only the position. Now in his closed guard,
Ryan
hoped to go to work with his dangerous submission game, but Chris
stayed tight, electing not to move for the final minutes of the
match. Though he earned two warnings for stalling in the
process,
Chris was able to eek out the win on points and advance.
The star of the day for Team Lloyd Irvin was definitely Seph Smith, who
put on a gutsy performance, fighting five matches in spite of being
extremely sick with a cold. In his opening round match, Seph
faced off against one of Jacarè Calvalcante’s
fighters
from Atlanta, Georgia. When his opponent pulled guard, Seph
immediately cut his knee across and secured double underhooks, working
to pass. After finally freeing his foot and getting his three
points, Seph attempted to drive his knee across to mount, but was
trapped again in his opponent’s half guard during the
transition. After regaining half guard, Seph’s
opponent
quickly moved to sweep him, and he appeared to be
successful…but
Seph transitioned to a heel hook at lightning speed! Seph
locked
in his stop blocks during the transition to the bottom, secured his
grip, and rotated for the tap!
In the second round, Seph would defeat Chris Dietzel on points to
advance to face black belt, Diego Savaria, who had soundly defeated his
first two opponents. As the semi-final match started, Seph
worked
hard to stay on top, ready to shoot for his patented heel hook at any
opportunity. After opening Diego’s closed guard,
Seph saw
his chance and snapped into the heel hook! Diego, obviously
caught by surprise, struggled to get on top. Seph secured the
heel hook grip, but Diego was all over the mat, spinning as fast as
possible to escape. Just as it looked as if Diego was
finished,
he was able to free his leg and escape. From here, Seph
showed
the effects of his cold, but never stopped fighting for a second of the
eight minute match, tirelessly searching for submission
opportunities. The match would end with Diego comfortably
ahead
on points, but Seph certainly made an argument for himself as the
competitor with the most exciting matches of the day.
Advanced Divisions:
In the advanced lightweight division, Ryan would submit his only
opponent (Alex from Yamasaki) in a round robin division by toe hold in
the opening minute of their match to take the title. Alex
would
go on to defeat Mile High purple belt, Jeff Dickens, by straight ankle
lock, locking up the silver.
The advanced welter-weight division featured a good deal of up and
coming talent, as well as both Seph and Phil. In the opening
round, Seph hit his patented scissor kick to inverted heel hook on his
opponent to get the quick tap and move on. Phil drew a tough
first round opponent in Alliance’s Ian, who had fought in the
professional division earlier in the day, surviving Rick
Macauley’s ankle locks to take the Abu Dhabi veteran to a
decision. The match was fast and furious, with many
transitions
and submission attacks from both Phil and Ian. In the end,
though, it would be Ian advancing with the victory on points.
In the semi-finals, Seph and Ian would square off in what was arguably
the best match of the day. After a series of takedown
attempts
from both fighters and some back and forth submission flurries, the
score was tied 2-2. From here, Seph was able to sweep his
opponent to take the lead 4-2 with only two minutes
remaining.
Ian was able to sweep back to even the score at four apiece, and from
here, the match returned to the feet. From here, Ian was able
to
hit a takedown with less than a minute remaining, bringing the score to
6-4, which was where the match would end. Seph would finish
his
day by taking 3rd in this stacked division.
The trio of Phil, Seph, and Ryan has been traveling a lot of late, and
they are looking forward to their next competition coming up
soon. Check back for more news soon.
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Irvin's Martial
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