Herby’s predictions: ADCC 2019 with Scramble Matt
The ADCC World Championship returned, the biggest no-gi tournament in the world and what many are calling ‘the best ADCC in decades’.
Herby / Gi are making predictions for all major submission only shows (main card / 8 matches total per event) in the next 12 months against a variety of guests, with the table for correct predictions being added up after Worlds Next year. This event is slightly different, but we’re covering because of the magnitude of the event we’ll have to do a points a little differently – 3 for division winner, 2 for silver, 1 for bronze – double points for absolute.
For the third event the guest our guest is affectionately known as ‘Scramble Matt’. Matt is one of the driving forces behind the well-loved Scramble BJJ brand, who have released a ‘Cali set’ centred around this year’s ADCC and also sponsor Polaris, who have an amazing card coming up in the next few months.
Hard to split between head and heart, I know some of these are wrong, but I can’t bring myself to predict the favourite, it’s too boring.
Scramble Matt
Old kings reigned supreme and a new batch of breakout stars emerged in ADCC 2019. In an event filled with upsets, let’s take a look at how Herby and Matt got on.
Herby correctly guessed the winner of 5 divisions and but for the fiasco that ensued between Cyborg and Buchecha would have guessed medalists correctly in every division. Dan played a riskier game and called out some underdogs whilst he didn’t predict any division winners he correctly boldly predicted some underdog medalists (Nicky Rod) in 4 divisions. – Herby won convincingly this week and scored 21 points, with Dan scoring 9 points.
Full previews and thoughts on match-ups below
2 years ago we saw Craig Jones have a breakout performance, which put him on the path to where he is today – one of the top no-gi grapplers in the world. This year pretty much every division is stacked with well-known names, but also has some dark horses such as Ross Nicholls, Ben Hodgkinson, our very own Alec Baulding and late-notice replacement Tye Ruotolo. We’ve also seen ADCC plagued by an eye infection epidemic which has forced fan favourite Keenan Cornelius to pull out with less than a week to go.
Men -66kg
Herby’s prediction: Paulo Miyao
Matt’s prediction: My heart wants to say Tom Halpin, but Paulo is so well rounded, able to win by both submission and positional dominance, and so experienced
Men -77kg
Herby’s prediction: JT Torres
Matt’s prediction:
I think Lachlan Giles has been working so hard and so consistently to fill any gaps in his game, that he has a good chance. Heart says Oliver Taza as he’s Team Scramble 😉
Men -88kg
Herby’s prediction: Matheus Diniz
Matt’s prediction: Craig Jones has improved so much since 2017. My heart says Ben Dyson because he is also team Scramble.
Men -99kg
Herby’s prediction: Gordon Ryan
Matt’s prediction: I think Gordon’s knee may hinder his progress through the tournament. Vinny is one of the rare people with a win over Gordon, and Vinny is so hard to finish.
Men +99kg
Herby’s prediction: Marcus Buchecha Almeida
Matt’s prediction: Always bet on NickyRod
Women -60kg
Herby’s prediction: Ffion Davies
Matt’s prediction: Got to go with our champ Ffion, although my heart again says team Scramble’s Elvira Karppinen
Women +60kg
Herby’s prediction: Gabi Garcia
Matt’s prediction: Ana Vieira – ADCC needs more womens categories
Superfight: Galvao v Pena
Herby’s prediction: Andre Galvao
Matt’s prediction: Pena
How did Herby do last time?
Last time we took on Daniel Strauss – BJJ Black belt, S&C savage and host of the Rasberry Ape Podcast.
Both Herby and Dan correctly guessed the result of 4 matches – Herby edged the overall score this week by correctly guessing the method for all 4 of his correct predictions, compared to 3 for Dan.
Scores have been added to the table(s) below.
Click here for more news on ADCC 2019. If you can’t watch the event live Grappling Insider will be doing live play-by-play throughout the event.
