Pit Submission Series 4 results: Duarte suffers upset loss
View results and video highlights from Karate Combat’s Pit Submission Series 4, featuring Craig Jones and Kaynan Duarte.
Karate Combat’s Pit Submission Series 4 took place on April 20 in Dubai and featured a trio of high-level, submission-only matchups.
Zayed Alkatheeri vs. Osamah Almarwai
The evening’s first grappling contest saw two of the Middle East’s top talents, as 2022 IBJJF no-gi world champion Osamah Almarwai took on UAE star Zayed Alkatheeri.
Almarwai spent the vast majority of the 12-minute match attacking from his back, either looking to enter the legs via a k-guard or working from his closed guard. For his part, Alkatheeri stayed defensively sound from the top position and nearly achieved several guard passes.
The most notable moment of the bout came when Alkatheeri jumped on an armbar, forcing Almarwai to roll out to escape.
Ultimately, that near-armbar earned Alkatheeri the judges’ nod.
Pouya Rahmani vs. Kaynan Duarte
In one of the biggest upsets in recent memory, beach wrestling world champion Pouya Rahmani scored a decision victory over two-time ADCC world champion Kaynan Duarte.
Over the course of 12 relatively uneventful minutes, Duarte attempted to launch attacks from his guard but with little success. Rahmani, meanwhile, employed a largely defensive strategy, either bearing his weight down on Duarte or explosively backing out of the guard.
In the end, the judges sided with Rahmani for his efforts from the top position.
Craig Jones vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov
In the final grappling match of the evening, two-time ADCC silver medalist Craig Jones ran into some difficulty, but was ultimately able to secure the submission against UFC standout Rinat Fakhretdinov.
After some jockeying for position on the feet, Jones pulled guard and immediately went to work. While he found some success from his closed guard, even landing a clean sweep to the mount, the Russian proved to be defensively sound and savvy.
With less than a minute remaining, Jones locked onto a triangle choke. After several seconds in the choke, Fakhretdinov looked to be unconscious. The match was briefly stopped, then re-started when the referee deemed Fakhretdinov to be able to continue. Seconds later, though, Jones removed any doubt and put his opponent entirely out.
