Grapplefest 16 Full Results and Highlights: Prelims and Main Card

Grapplefest 16, hosted at its home venue in Liverpool, Fusion Nightclub, was back with a bang on its latest show on July 1st. 32 superfights took place on the show’s 16th edition, with a title match between British IBJJF World Champion black belt medalist Vanessa English and Australian ADCC trials champ Adele Fornarino.

Grapplefest is a promotion whereby you get more than enough submission jiu jitsu matches to be worth your money; with explosive match ups from the prelims right up until the main card displaying grappling matches from blue belt up to black belt.

There was of course some standout matches on the card such as powerlifter Mark Macqueen choking MMA legend James Thompson unconscious, Nadine Tavares and Peyton Letcher’s skilled back and forth full of submission attempts and the U60kg title match between Vanessa English and Adele Fornarino; where the two black belts high skill-level really shone through, with English getting herself out of some crazy positions and sub attempts which the whole crowd thought would end the match. Fornarino’s forward aggression took the edge on English, giving her the title via a decision win.

The match between upcomer Bart Dubbledam and veteran Kev Corkhill was also a highlight of the show with the purple belt Dutch IBJJF No-Gi World Champion silver medalist getting the decision win on the black belt grappling veteran. From the same team, Haven BJJ, head coach Daniel Degroot also had a highly anticipated match against Grapplefest vet Tommy Yip; both black belts are super technical so it was a strategic back and forth in which Degroot took home the decision win back to the Netherlands.

Lastly, American prodigy William Tackett took on British veteran Bradley Hill and got the win via a standing closed guard ezekiel, a finish no one saw coming. Then the main event saw a nail-bitingly close battle between ADCC silver medalist Gabriel Sousa and B-Team’s Damien Anderson, where Sousa came out with the decision win.

Main Card Results:

  • Gabriel Sousa defeats Damien Anderson via Decision 
  • William Tackett defeats Bradley Hill via Ezekiel Choke
  • Adele Fornarino defeats Vanessa English via Decision becoming the under 60kg Grapplefest champion
  • Daniel Degroot defeats Tommy Yip via Decision 
  • Nadine Tavares defeats Peyton Letcher via Decision 
  • Mark Macqueen defeats James Thompson via Rear-Naked Choke
  • Jack Grant defeats Taylor Pearman via Decision 
  • Tom Bracher defeats Phillipe Geyer via Decision 
  • Paul Lukowski defeats Dave Weston via Decision 
  • Bart Dubbeldam defeats Kev Corkhill via Decision 
  • Saul Rogers defeats Danny Hughes via Decision 
  • Jack Cronin defeats Luke Johnson via Decision

Prelim Results:

  • Sean Stewart defeats Jordan Cooper via Heel Hook
  • Paul Webb defeats James Bland via Decision 
  • Martin Wong defeats Gary Priestly via Decision 
  • Joel Amador defeats Asher Mirsadeghi via Decision 
  • Amy Derwanz defeats Bianca Rosca via D’arce Choke
  • Jordan Kirk defeats Andrew Heseltine via Triangle Armbar
  • Evan Reid defeats Lewis Pennie via Triangle Armbar
  • Ross Widdup defeats Jo Foy via Triangle Armbar
  • Mark Hibbard defeats Graham Mealand via  Rear-Naked Choke
  • Fraser Clarke defeats Matt Fitz-James via  Kimura
  • Ashley Wagg defeats Adam Bennett via Armbar
  • Marco Bryden defeats Gary Morris via Decision 
  • Christian Amador defeats Afif Khan via Heel Hook
  • Kieran Fletcher defeats Declan Williams via Decision 
  • JJ Ekubia defeats Ryan Graham via Arm-Triangle Choke
  • Lily Wayman defeats Lana Corina via Decision 
  • Youssef Boukassem defeats Ali Khan-Murphy via Decision 
  • Connor Edwards defeats Jamie Wright via  Rear-Naked Choke
  • Chris Jelf defeats Ryan Brady via  Rear-Naked Choke
  • Rob Lynskey defeats Barry Munro via Toehold

The Grapplefest 16 replay is available to watch now on Glistrr.

Lucy Wynne

BJJ Purple Belt living in, London, England. I began training BJJ back in 2017, when I was at university, and have trained ever since. #OSS Instagram: @journowynne

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