On 22.11.2020 was held Submission Only Championships in Brisbane Australia. We participated with two athletes:
Samuel Benton – medalist MALE NOGI / WHITE / ADULT / -70 KG (FEATHER)
David Benton – vice-champion MALE NOGI / WHITE / ADULT / -82,3 KG (MIDDLE)
Unfortunately on this competition we had to experience some of the unpleasant aspects of the sport…
MALE NOGI / WHITE / ADULT / -70 KG (FEATHER)
Samuel started the comp but unfortunately in his first match attacked a leglock, that got him disqualified by the referee. I contested the result, and had extended argument with the main referee however, I had to admit that under IBJJF rules this was an illegal move:
Samuel Benton (FC Bully Team) VS Samuel Cybulski (Gamebred JJ) – DQ
However this is not an excuse for the poor judging of the mat referee, who apparently was not familiar with the competition rules as stated on the competition page in Smoothcomp:
and disqualified Sam without giving him any warning.
We remembered we already had poor experience with the same referee on previous issues of Submission Only Championships:
with Thomas Dang – when the same referee stopped the match while he was scrambling into an Armbar but wasn’t tapping
with Liam Benton – when the same referee stopped his match while he was scrambling into Triangle and also not tapping.
The bad experience with the same referee continued in the next Sam’s match as well, when he stopped the fight while the both athletes was scrambling:
Samuel Benton (FC Bully Team) VS Mykelti Klink (Arte Suave BJJ) – points
Samuel Benton (FC Bully Team) VS Stephen Peopall (Checkmat) – walkover
I don’t think any of those fouls was intentional against our team. I watched the same referee over the comp, and he was constantly making controversial fouls:
– restarting in standing athletes who fall in a position near the end of the mat without readjusting them in the position they ended up on the ground, with the athlete who managed to take advantageous position ended up having his opportunities taken away by the referee.
– constantly interrupting the match and restarting it in the middle even when fighters have two meters to the end of the mat, and again taking away position of the dominating athlete.
MALE NOGI / WHITE / ADULT / -82,3 KG (MIDDLE)
David washed away my frustration with his good performance in a crowded 12 man bracket:
David Benton (FC Bully Team) VS Joshua Steen (Nic Barker Academy of Excellence) – Head Scissors
David Benton (FC Bully Team) VS Lachlan Van Den Bergh (Sassom MMA) – walkover
David Benton (FC Bully Team) VS Logan O’Brien (PUMMA Burleigh) – decision
With this match David won his group and proceeded to the final. However there we had to experience another annoying part of the sport: when Dave ended up on top into the full guard of his opponent near the end of the mat, when the referee moved them in the center, his opponent cheated and grabbed him in Rubber Guard from where he managed to apply a choke.
Cahil Abraham (CBL) VS David Benton (FC Bully Team) – Collar Tie Choke
While it is clear any refereeing is not an excuse for anyone allowing to be caught in a bad position, such refereeing fouls definitely leave bad taste from the competition experience.
Here are my own mistakes related to this performance of the team:
– when I taught leglocks to the team, I was teaching from perspective of correct execution of the leglocks, not from the perspective of IBJJF rule set. IBJJF ruleset promotes bad habits and incorrect technique from perspective of the leglock game. However this approach leaded to confusion the performance under this ruleset.
– I got frustrated and let emotions to get better of me during my contestation on Sam’s disqualification. I based my argumentation over is there knee reaping in the situation or not. Allowing me to be emotional about this argument, shadowed my memories about the warning rule over the knee reaping situation, that came to my mind after the awarding of Sam’s brackets, and while this argument was accepted from the main referee, it was too late to change the outcome of the competition.
– I was raging and emotional because of that during David’s performance and missed to notice the cheat move of his opponent on the final (readjusting his position while moved), and despite Iliyana pointed it to me while happening, I didn’t react on time.
Despite the outside factors, I am very happy from the Samuel and David’s increasing knowledge and perception of the game. While with all my frustration I admit this was not my best performance from the corner, for my satisfaction I humbly admit that Sam and Dave’s competition performance outshine my coaching flaws for the day.
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