Every year the ladies make a bigger and bigger splash at the IBJJF tournaments. The matches become more even and exciting as the years go by and the ladies become more and more technical at the highest levels of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
It definitely shows the growth in the sport worldwide when a company like Budovideos is streaming all the matches live on the internet. It is rumored that 60,000 people logged in on Saturday to watch. They only show one or two matches at a time, but the commentators try to let you know what’s happening on the other mats. My only complaint is their lack of knowledge of the female fighters. It’s appalling to me that they didn’t really know who Hannette Staack was. SHE’S A THREE TIME ADCC GOLD MEDALIST… They have obviously not done their homework when it comes to the ladies. But, I am excited to report on the divisions that I was able to witness. To read more at the Grappling Girls Guild click here
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Great write-up! You don't seem to have comments enabled on the other site, so I'll ask on here:
ReplyDelete"Kay Stephenson (Renzo Gracie) didn’t show up for her match in the Meio-Pesado Division"
How come? Was she injured, or just didn't show? Seems very strange if it wasn't due to injury.
Also, do you know if there is any chance of 2009 Mundials champ Lana Stefanac competing in the future? I'd love to see her against Gabi Garcia.
However, you have to give them credit for at least making an improvement over last year. The first few live broadcasts included no women's divisions at all - there was a riot on the internet... notable posts by Georgette and also Slideyfoot.
ReplyDelete@Slideyfoot - I'm not sure why Kay didn't show, the commentators didn't know. But it would have been her only match as only 2 women were registered for that division. But knowing Kay, I'm sure she would have been there if she could have.
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard anything about Lana, but I agree that it would be good to see someone closer to Gabi's size take her on. But then Lana isn't on as many steroids so even being closer in size, she wouldn't be as strong.
@Elyse - I can't argue with that. It's just that of all the women they should have known, Hannette is one the most accomplished female BJJ practitioners in existence. That they didn't know who she was, is still disappointing to me.