Eddie Bravo Invitational 6 – Casual fan preview with Scroobius Pip

The highly-anticipated 6th installation of the Eddie Bravo Invitational goes down on Sunday night, at the Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles. While traditionally the EBI is streamed exclusively on pay-per-view this event is different, for the first time ever, the Eddie Bravo Invitational will also be shown on UFC Fight Pass.

To celebrate their new UFC berth, the good people behind the EBI have put together a stellar selection of the grappling world’s elite for an exciting open weight tournament. With EBI being on Fight Pass, this show will likely be the first grappling show a lot of casual fans will watch in full and all these new names may seem daunting, but we have got you covered. In this edition of the casual fan preview, spoken word savant Scroobius Pip and I will be giving you the low down on what to look out for at the Eddie Bravo Invitational.

The Gateway to Grappling

Roy Billington: Polaris and the Eddie Bravo Invitational have captivated the hearts and minds of grappling fans over the last few years and this is no fluke. While traditional tournaments will always have their place, the allure of the submission only rule-set is something special. There is no better way to display dominance over an adversary than to make him tap out. The emphasis on getting the submission finish at the Eddie Bravo Invitational is refreshing, it removes the benefit of stalling, it pushes athletes to try their hardest to finish and this makes for great viewing. If you have never watched an event before I implore you to watch this one, the EBI is the perfect gateway event, once you watch this show you will be hooked on submission grappling.

Scroobius Pip: I couldn’t agree more. EBI really is the perfect gateway to the world of grappling and, along with the emphasis on finishing, it’s the added excitement of their unique “over time” system. One of the most painful experiences as a BJJ fan trying to win friends over to this wonderful world of high risk, physical chess is excitedly putting on Metamoris or The Gracies or whatever else and getting a slow draw. Even an exciting draw (as we saw in both the main fights of the amazing recent Polaris card) can leave the casual fan, used to the conclusive nature of MMA, a little cold.

In EBI, there are no draws and, for me, the thought of over time has become as exciting as a finish when a contest is hotly contended. In brief, if the time limit is reached without a submission, three rounds of overtime begin. Fighter A get to go first and chose his start position which, basically, is either attacking a rear naked choke, or an armbar (probably the two subs most familiar to MMA fans). If they get the tap, they effectively “score”. If fighter B escapes, they don’t.Then Fighter B gets to choose their position. Like a sudden death penalty shoot out in football/soccer, if one gets a sub and the other doesn’t, we have a winner.If both or neither get subs, we have another round. This goes on for three rounds and, if there are still no winners we have the nail biting wait for the announcement of “ride time” (basically, the length of time the managed to survive when fighting off a submission). On paper that MAY sound complex, but as soon as you’ve watched one, it becomes as exciting as a submission with a second to go.

Wrestling Against the Odds

RB: When you think of the stereotypical submission grappler there is an inclination to imagine a gi clad Brazilian. After all jiu jitsu has been the dominant art in submission grappling for a long time, but the tides are changing. In the Eddie Bravo Invitational line up you will see a list of athletes with non-traditional backgrounds. When Mark Kerr dominated the field at ADCC in 1999 and …

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