Couldn’t that be said of almost 100% of the 66 invitees?
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Okay, Ill tell you this and you can either take me at face value, or double down on your assumptions, and we’ll revisit the thread after ADCC.
He grapples at that level daily, has at least trained with half of the announced division, and knows exactly where he stands in the modern field of competitive grappling.
Yes, he competed for third place as an injury-alternate, but also as a brown belt with roughly five years of training, and still beat the guys in front of him minus a dubiously-refereed match against Leozinho. He has spent the last decade plus getting much, much better.
Ignoring clout-chasing call outs because he’s dedicating his time to full-time MMA, and spending the majority of his layoffs injured (so he wouldn’t be able to grapple anyway) doesn’t really have any bearing on anything. I don’t really see what you meant by this.
We can agree to disagree about the “active killers” in the trials that would beat him. He would win the trials tomorrow, and if the game has progressed to such a degree that the “old guard” is obsolete, I am confused as to why only Cobrinha, Rafa and Tanquinho have won 66 in the last 13 years.
Even so, none of this means anything regarding an invite. Even if by ability, he didn’t deserve an invite (which is not true), as I said before, look at the history of the tournament. They have ALWAYS invited grappling-centric UFC fighters to add to the spectacle of the tournament, purposefully bracketed the tournament in such a way to increase entertainment value, etc. This is absolutely nothing new.
Finally, look at the 66 invitee list, and tell me with a straight face that Hall is somehow less deserving.
Like I said, we’ll bump this in September and compare notes.
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I’m with you that Hall deserves his spot, but I do think Crelinsten does as well. He’s wontrials twice and I think he got hurt before last adcc and couldn’t compete
I worded that poorly initially. I don’t think anyone on the invitee list is a bad choice per se, and all bring something unique or bring certain qualifications to the table. My point was more so relative to Hall being a waste of an invite. If you are clued in to grappling, you’ll see the inconsistency of singling that particular invite out.
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Yeah I’m with you on that.
Keith Krikorian should be invited before Hall. Kid has placed second at trials 3 times. Give him a shot.
But as far as the invite list, To me, hall is least “qualified” as far as the current crop of guys
Kennedy Maciel
Mikey Musumeci
Gabriel Sousa
Ethan Crelinsten
Geo Martinez
Pato
Ruan Alvarenga* Him I honestly don’t know
But I can think of atleast 2-3 guys id rather see in there instead of Hall
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In
I hear this Gordon Ryan kid could make a splash this year.
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Also I’m interested in seeing Meregali without the gi.
Mica Galvao is super impressive. How old is that kid?
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Me and you both , he’s an exciting gi player . We will see how that all transitions over to NoGi
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I believe hes 19
This is a little BJJ mathy but Sousa just got tapped by one of Hall’s students, that Pato barely squeaked by at No Gi Worlds on a questionable advantage. Ethan won the trials, which Hall also won, and is considerably less accomplished in grappling or combat sports as a whole. I don’t know what planet he would be considered more qualified. Krikorian literally has never won anything of note, he just competes more actively, and of course he is tough, but has no real results… You listed Ruan as being more qualified but don’t even know who he is? Huh? Geo Martinez? Man come on…
I think there is an argument that Ethan is more relevant since he won trials the last 2 cycles and it’s been a while since Ryan did.
Krikorian took second at that stacked East Coast Trials this year, beating a lot of good people, including tapping Gianni. He’s newer but I wouldn’t say he hasn’t done anything of note.
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EC trials was stacked, but all the top competitors were so spread out, they barely fought each other until day two. Aside from tapping Gianni, who else did Keith fight worth mentioning? In regard to deserving an invite? Only Cole, who beat him handily, much like the trial before where he was tapped by Nicky. Why would guys that already lost to guys that earned their spot in the tournament be somehow more deserving? Isn’t that a little backwards? Cole has to win to get his spot, but Keith gets a gifted spot… for losing to Cole?
Ethan is not terribly active (I know he’s been injured though) and you’re comparing trials from 14 years ago to ones 5 and 4 years ago, none of which are terribly relevant in the grand scheme.
Again, I’m not saying these guys suck or don’t deserve to be in the tournament. Quite the opposite. I think Ethan especially very much should be, esp considering he’s made it twice and never gotten to compete.
But the idea that based on credentials (to say nothing of skill level) the other invitees deserve it more than Hall is just not true. I think come September when we see the matches a lot of people are gonna go, “oh, so that’s why he was invited.”
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On a different note, I’ll be interested to see the odds for this one. Remember the first year Rafa won, they spelled Cobrinha’s name wrong and had him at something like +1300. I tried to put my life savings on him, but couldn’t get a betting account going I think because I live in Maryland IIRC. Glad it didn’t work out haha. I’m going to guess that they list Kennedy, Mikey or Cole as the favorites.
It’s a very weird year because gold is the most obtainable it’s been in over a decade with no real front runner (Cobrinha, Rafa and Tanquinho gone) but medaling is harder than it’s ever been because of the spread of talent and higher combined level of everyone involved.
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Honestly, ADCC spots aren’t really given to the most deserving guys really ever though. 2nd place at that EC trials is way more impressive than winning Asian or European trials. I think Keith’s recent activity level and accomplishments show that he’s one of the best 16 guys at his weight in the world, but I see your point.
Whole heartedly agree with that post
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When was the last time Hall won anything worth while in BJJ? 3rd place at ADCC over a decade ago?
When was the last time Hall even competed? Im sorry, I just don’t see how hes on the list out of all the active competitors out there today
Why would a guy who doesn’t compete get a spot?
Royler won a ton of ADCCs, should he also get the invite
Royler isn’t a current UFC competitor. That counts for a lot.
I would have loved to see Jacare mix it up in grappling some more ~5 years ago when he was closer to his prime.
It was a real treat when Roger stepped back on the mat against Buchecha. There’s a real “Does he still have it?” aspect to these things that makes it interesting.
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