We had several competitors participate in our most recent Pure FC event, with matches in pankration, submission grappling, and kickboxing, but oddly no MMA fights! Our first competitor was Wyatt Moxom in a pankration match. Pankration is a form of competition where you compete with amateur MMA rules, minus head strikes. So, no punches or kicks to the head. It is a nice way to get in the cage without the fear of taking head trauma, and we like it for our teenagers, and for our fight team members who want to try a cage fight before they jump into full MMA. Wyatt was 2-1 and took a step up in competition to fight a 4-0 opponent. He did well on the feet, and dominated the wrestling exchanges, but his opponent was a submission-savvy BJJ blue belt and was able to put Wyatt in some trouble with sub attempts, before ultimately winning via armbar. The next fighter to rock the Pura Vida black and gold was Hollis Nelson, in her debut fight. This was also a pankration match, and she was also fighting a blue belt in BJJ. Hollis had excellent control in her clinches and caused a lot of damage with knees to the body. She was in complete control on the ground and came away with a decision victory. We moved from pankration into submission grappling matches, where we had three competitors participate. Linzy Hudson grappled an animal from Primal named Josh Howard, and they had a back-and-forth wrestling heavy match. Linzy won via split decision, likely on the shoulders of a late guillotine attempt. Andrew Henschel took to the cage in style, rocking the All-American singlet and mullet for his match. Despite being put in several good leg submissions, Henschel won via split decision as well, likely due to his slams and aggressive top control. Our final submission grappling match was between Pura Vida BJJ & MMA blackbelt Omar Choudhury and Gonzalo Ponce. Two BJJ aces and they put on a great show, swapping sub attempts all night. Ponce came away as the winner of the match by decision, but Coach Omar will be right back soon. Our final three bouts were kickboxing matches. Shreya Patnaik made his debut and did an amazing job against a savage prospect out of Open Guard Jiu Jitsu. Shreya got rocked badly and dropped in the first round, and it looked like the fight might be over. He fought through adversity and, though he lost a decision, gave some good damage and walked out with his head high. Hayden “Bama” Frym accepted his kickboxing fight one less than 24 hours notice! He filled in for an injured teammate at weigh-ins against a 2-0 kickboxing opponent from Zero to 100. Bama won a close first round and really started pouring it on in the second and third. He scored multiple knockdowns en route to a 30-24 decision win. Big props to his dad for catching a flight up from Alabama for the fight! The last match we had was an awesome kickboxing fight between two serious MMA contenders in the state. Bryan Jordan from Pura Vida BJJ & MMA fought Sim Nelson from CWB Fight Team. Nelson competes at 170 and is on his way to 155, while Bryan fights at 145. They met at 165 and put on an excellent fight for the fans. Scorecards could have gone either way, and our own Bryan Jordan won the match by split decision, wrapping up our night! The Pura Vida BJJ & MMA Fight Team went 5-3 on the night, and we can’t wait to see them get back in there soon! These fights are available to any member of the gym, whether you have UFC aspirations, or just think it sounds cool. We will appropriately match you, no matter what! If any of you are interested in competing on a future show, please mention it to a coach!