Silver in British No gi Open black belt division
Lost my first match to Luiz Tosta by toe hold. We were at a series of stale mates while he figured me out then when he got on the legs it was literally black belt vs blue belt he was just like a tonne of bricks.
There was 3 of us so I re-entered the semi final on the other side, which I thought was a cool way of doing things!
Onto the next match, my second chance, against a different bjj black belt.. I hit a takedown busting my foot in the process but quickly latched onto an arm triangle. He defended and I won the match after 10 mins 13-2 after a succession of guard passes. It's the first time I have beaten a black belt in competition.
I was unable to enter the final due to injury; my foot had swollen up so badly and Luiz had already soundly beaten me by toe hold so common sense prevailed, my pride was weighing it up but I couldn't disrespect the man by hobbling onto the mat. Luiz arm was raised and I was awarded the silver.
I'm grateful to Mick for his support and just being able to roll with him all week long is a blessing. There's a bunch of killers on the 10th Planet Birmingham mats, every week I survive with these guys is another week closer to competing with the black belts of this world.
