FINISHERS 13
Our next event will go down tentatively Feb 2021. Absolute division filled with a mix of veterans and up and comers. This event will also feature 3-5 high level superfights. Date and Location still unknown.
The Finishers Submission Only Tournament
The Finishers Submission Only Tournament was created to bring the excitement of sub-only jiu-Jitsu featuring EBI rules to the East Coast. The event strives to get the most talented up and comers along with seasoned veterans to compete for cash prizes and submission bonuses. We want to Show the Art of jiu-jitsu to the masses.
The Finishers Open 5 was the first ever tournament held at the new state of the art Finishers HQ in Bethlehem, PA. We had around 60 competitors, and we live stream. We also had another room for wrestle backs and got most all competitors multiple matches.
The Finishers open 4 was held in Frederick Maryland at an indoor sports arena. We set it up in Maryland because the restrictions at the time were too bad everywhere near our hometown. We took a gamble and took the show on the road. The show was almost canceled multiple times due to more restrictions but we were able to make it happen. Working with a skeleton crew we had 176 people compete and ran two hours ahead of schedule. Thank you to the competitors and staff.
The Finishers 12 was dubbed the lockdown edition due to obvious reasons. The event was held at a undisclosed location July 12th. We featured twenty plus superfights headlined by black belts Frank Rosenthal (veteran of Finishers 1) vs Andrew Alexander. The superfight show was a success with great performances by many former finishers competitors. Match of the night was for sure Jack Stapleton vs Anthony Molina Valdes. We also featured an 8 man 155lbs EBI OT Shoot out 1 week before the official Jiu-Jitsu OT show in El, Paso. David Weintraub would take the $500 sponsored by Phalanx showing great defense, back control and RNC.
The Finishers 11 was the named the Survivor Series because we decided to run a team event with an EBI Rules twist. New location Matryx Performance in Allentown PA. The show started with an undercard of super fights and was highlighted but some epic subs by Wil Gracia and a last second armbar bar by Michael Carpenter. The team battles had teams come from Florida, Montreal, Pennsylvania and NYC. The finals pitted rivals Renzo Gracie vs 10th Planet Finishers. The matchup was back and forth with both teams scoring taps and stall outs. It came down to EBI Overtimes and it ended with tournament owner Zach Maslany finishing an arm triangle to give 10th planet finishers the win
We had to go all out with the Finishers 10 and we decided to call on Fuji for some new mats along with a new venue in Allentown, PA. Over 120 people competed in our 3rd open event which took place during the day . The night pro event featured 15 superfights along with a 185lbs mens bracket won by an epic performance from 10th Planet San Mateo’s Alan Sanchez and a 105lbs women’s bracket won by the Silent Assassin herself Grace Gundrum. Grace went 3 for 3 finishing all her oppenents in regulation. The main event superfights saw Kevin Berbrich, Zach Green and Devin Vogel all pick up wins.
The Finishers 9 went down May 26th at Pure Mixed Martial Arts in Rockaway NJ and was our first ever all female card. It featured a bracket of 16 women and at 115lbs all looking to take the $2500 cash prize. The finals was a heated matchup between EBI vet Danielle Kelly and Katya Leontyeva fron Renzo Gracie. Leontyeva ended up taking it by escape time in overtime. Young Mona Bailey from Houston Texas was the stand out with a superfight win and some exciting matches within the pro bracket as well.
Back to Pure MMA. 18 plus superfights and the return on the 145lbs division. Killers in the division Frank Rosenthal, JM Holland, Sheridan Moran and more. Keith Krikorian became the second athlete to win Finishers titles in two different weight classes. We also featured 3 main event superfights highlighted by John Battle getting a quick arm bar to submit Rey Deleon.
For this event we decided to feature the 125lbs weight class which is often neglected on bigger shows. We also moved the event to 10th Planet Bethlehem and featured only the 16 man division and only 3 superfights. $1600 was on the line and also a plane ticket and entrance fee to the Ultimate Mat Warriors ran by Boogeyman and Geo Martinez in San Diego, California. Austin Daffron won all his matches in regulation and also went on to win the Mat Warriors effectively winning coast to coast.
This event we moved locations to Subforce BJJ in Lyndhurst NJ. We also ran our first Open tournament open to the public. The two day event was a success with the pro superfights and 155lbs division wrapping up on Sunday. Keith Krikorian took the cash in the pro division and made a successful come back after getting tapped first round at the Finishers 3 adding to an insane year he had with over 100 wins in sub only competition across the country. The main event superfight was John Battle and Ashley Williams.
Format change for this event. We started the show with a superfights and only featured one EBI Rules division. We also had a main event superfight as Marcel Goncalves defeated Jason Rau in an unprecedented 4 overtime round after 3 rounds ended in a tie. The 170lbs division was taken by storm by an undersized Ethan Crelinsten who became the first two division weighing only around 150lbs.
We added our first ever women’s division for this event and the ladies did not disappoint. Amanda Leve took the under 150lbs title by finishing all opponents by submission in regulation. Second place went to Jess Feliciano with a strong performance. We also had our first Absolute division and the finals was decided by Dan Martinez holding out on an armbar by Jesseray Childrey in overtime. Highlight of the event was a match between Grace Gundrum and Jasmine Johnson in a special teen match.
The third event had the standard two divisions and added some special matches featuring Grace Gundrum, Cora Sek and Randi Miley. The 135lbs division forced several guys to cut the weight for a chance at cash. Jon Calestine leg locked his way to victory in all four matches and over John Battle in the finals. Matt Serra black belt and pro mma fighter James Gonzales stepped up on a days notice and took the title in the 170lbs division. Event Highlight JM Holland defeats Ethan Crelinsten by dead orchard armbar.
The second event was held at our main location for events Pure Mixed Martial Arts in Rockaway, NJ. With both the 135lbs and 155lbs divisions up for grabs we saw two break out stars emerge. At 135lbs Tristar’s Ethan Crelinsten defeated Frank Rosenthal in the finals and in possibly the greatest finals in our short history, 10th Planet San Diego’s PJ Barch defeated Pat Sabatini in overtime by 3 seconds.
The inaugural finishers event was held at Maxiumum Athletics in Dunellen, New Jersey and was billed as the east coast EBI – The tournament was stacked with some of the world’s best grapplers. John Danaher black belt Gordon Ryan won the 170lbs Division with all submissions and Marcelo Garcia black belt Mike Davila took the 155lbs division in a similair fashion.
