New Mexico is a state full of talented athletes ranging in all sports from football to basketball, and from boxing to mixed martial arts; the state is also home to some of the best grapplers in the entire world. One of those talented grappling wizards is Rich Chavez of Judgement MMA in Rio Rancho and today is competing in a very renowned tournament being held in Hollywood, California.
Rich “The Switch” was invited to take part in an invite-only tournament hosted by Eddie Bravo, “The Eddie Bravo Invitational” is noted for being a no-Gi, submission only tournament and today’s event will feature some of the vest best grapplers in the world today. Denny Prokopos, Baret Yoshida, Russ Miura, and UFC veteran Ulysses Gomez will all step on the mats in their attempts to win the prestigious tournament.
Eddie Bravo is notorious for his no-Gi Jiu Jitsu system, the 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu style is one of the more innovative and controversial systems currently in the grappling world. Bravo is also well-known for his two matches against the legendary Royler Gracie, the second match-up earlier this year in a Metamoris event that will go down in history as one of the greatest grappling matches of all-time.
Chavez, the Jiu Jitsu coach at Judgement MMA, is no stranger to prestigious tournaments as this will be yet another opportunity to win at the highest level of competition. Chavez has won at the Abu Dhabi qualifiers several times and his career includes a victory over Sonny Nohara, at the time one of sport Jiu Jitsu’s best competitors. A leg-lock specialist, Chavez was also selected to be part of the inaugural U.S.A. Jiu Jitsu team prepping for the Olympics, unfortunately however, the sport wasn’t adopted to be part of the Olympic games.
The invitation to the tournament shows that Chavez is one of the best no-Gi grapplers in the world and recognized as such by Bravo and the team that coordinates the tournament. One of New Mexico’s gems and an athlete that often flies below the radar, Chavez will have an opportunity today to score two huge tournament wins in one year. This past July, Chavez won the ADCC Regional tournament in North Carolina. Already qualified for the national qualifier, Chavez is poised to make a run for the ADCC World Championship expected to take place in 2015 but first could bring home some well-deserved recognition by conquering the field at the Eddie Bravo Invitational.
