My experience competing in the finishers under 155 tournament

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11-17-2015, 12:22 PM
Matt Skaff

My experience competing in the finishers under 155 tournament

I'll start off by saying this was by far the best tournament I have competed in. Zach and JM ran a fantastic show for the competitors but more importantly for fans of fast paced and exciting grappling. I really believe in what those two are doing in Bethlehem and think that this tournament is the start of something huge. I feel very fortunate to have been invited to compete in a tournament that really did feature some of the best talent on the east coast. All of the matches were very exciting except mine...lol

In my first match I was paired up with Thiago Abud. Thiago is a brown belt from Sao Paolo who trains at unity with the Miyaos and Murillo Santana. Thiago is a great grappler and I was really excited for this match. It was kind of surreal fighting a dude that had murillo and miyao in his corner, but I was very confident in my preparation and was ready to go to war. However, that is not what happened. I believe I got schaubed, if that is what we are calling a grappler that runs from engagement. I remember after our second engagement, I thought to myself I'm going to beat this guy and that is when all engagement stopped. Its like he thought the same thing and he just stopped coming in. Every time I came forward he went backwards. He was literally backing up into the crowd and into walls, he was going everywhere except forward. Our match went into the ebi overtime rounds and we both escaped all three times, but he escaped fastest and won. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to drill the ebi deadzones like I needed to due to a broken finger and a torn UCL. So next time I will make this a priority regardless of injuries. My advice to anyone competing in an EBI like event or EBI itsself is to drill the shit out of those positions. Here is the match. If you make it all 15 minutes then you must be trying to sleep.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krxUbJBrm6c

All I can say is that it was a very odd match. I have had dudes not want to engage but not to that level. In the end, I am not sure exactly how to feel about my performance. I just wish I could have shown what my jiu jitsu is about. However, I know what I need to work on for next time and I will come back better from this experience. Really looking forward to competing again and putting on a show at the next tournament.
11-17-2015, 12:37 PM
William Schrimsher

I appreciate you posting this. The live feed got cut, and we missed the entire overtime. I think there's still stuff to take away from this, anyway, and I'd be happy to help you drill deadzones when I'm back from Knoxville.

You made a Unity Brown belt run away from you after 30 seconds of contact, I'd call that a psychological win, if nothing else. Proud of you, win, lose, or draw.
11-17-2015, 12:37 PM
Josh Yelverton

Wherever there are rules, there will be those who look to exploit them. You did great homie. You showed up to fight, that's more than what can be said for the other guy.
11-17-2015, 11:06 PM
Scott Philips

You got as Shaubed as can be. Very unfortunate. I'm sorry your guy didn't feel like grappling that day.
11-18-2015, 03:26 AM
Pat Campagnola

That was extremely frustrating just to watch. I cannot imagine how frustrating it must have been for you.
11-18-2015, 06:03 PM
Zach Maslany

Thanks for the shout out man, and im sorry he didnt go for it, def have you back again for the next one!
11-22-2015, 10:51 AM
Jarrell Garcia

All props in the world Matt for not getting to frustrated and allowing him to get position just to engage. After 2 minutes into the match, I was like is this guy really going to do this. Personally, I rather lose then win like that, but to each is own. Will look forward to seeing you compete again.
11-25-2015, 01:02 AM
Andrew Alexander

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jarrell Garcia

All props in the world Matt for not getting to frustrated and allowing him to get position just to engage. After 2 minutes into the match, I was like is this guy really going to do this. Personally, I rather lose then win like that, but to each is own. Will look forward to seeing you compete again.

Agree 100% Jarrell
love watching you matches matt come by GP one of these days!
11-26-2015, 05:59 AM
Matt Skaff

Thanks guys, I've analyzed this match a bunch of times now and I'll be ready next time for anyone trying to stall me out. I hope to get up there and train with you oregon guys again soon Andrew!
11-27-2015, 12:55 PM
Mike Nall

Damn I watched this entire event and this was the one match out of both the 155 and 170 bracket that annoyed the fuck out of me. Good job man, and the guy was definitely running from you the whole time.
11-27-2015, 07:24 PM
Brandon Mccaghren

Skaff, you're one of the most high level grapplers I've ever rolled with. It would have been a problem for him if he'd have engaged you. He probably felt that tension right away.
11-28-2015, 02:35 AM
Brian Debes

Great effort Matt, we have to train again soon buddy. Sorry that the guy channeled the spirit of Brendan Schaub.
11-28-2015, 09:51 AM
Mike Nall

The frustrating thing is why even sign up? That event was one of the most fun events I've watched in a long time from start to finish, and out of 2 16 man brackets that one guy just Schaub'd up the whole thing. I can even understand going in with a more defensive/counter attack strategy, but that guy completely ran the whole time. I don't know if his 2nd match is on youtube or not but he got obliterated pretty fast thankfully. He lost his next match quickly if I remember right.
11-28-2015, 01:00 PM
Matt Skaff

Haha yea it was very bizarre because I have seen his other matches and he didn't compete like that. But mike Padilla footlocked him pretty quick in the next round. There needs to be some type of card system or penalty that stops competitors from stalling. But I think at the end of the day the only thing that can be done is to not invite those guys back.
11-30-2015, 06:00 AM
Mike Nall

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Skaff

Haha yea it was very bizarre because I have seen his other matches and he didn't compete like that. But mike Padilla footlocked him pretty quick in the next round. There needs to be some type of card system or penalty that stops competitors from stalling. But I think at the end of the day the only thing that can be done is to not invite those guys back.

I think not inviting them back sends the strongest statement. Again I think you were part of an awesome tournament and one of the more fun ones I've seen this year. Shame more people didn't see it. It was really fun and I hope Eddie got to see it or has a copy of it. There are some people in there that would be great at EBI. As good as the event was, it's just a shame that you drew the shit end of the stick in terms of landing the one really bad match with the guy that wanted to run away. Great job though and I'm excited to watch you compete again. Good luck in anything you've got on the horizon.