B-Team’s Nick Rodriguez submitted everyone at the latest Eddie Bravo Invitational, winning the absolutes belt. Check out all Nicky Rod submissions from EBI 20, and how he set them up to work against elite opposition.
Analyzing All EBI 20 Nicky Rod Submissions
The Nicky Rod submissions bonanza at EBI 20: Absolutes was obviously something he planned for and worked on for some time. The ADCC 2022 silver medalist came int EBI 20 ready to demonstrate his progress and that he is not just a two-trick pony.
“It’s good to do jitz,” Rodriguez said at the start of his highlight video.
“Well, I just want to show diversity in my game, you know. Previously I am known for wrestling, and taking the back and rear-naked chokes, but here, today, I was just using different moves and it paid off.”
First Round – Reverse Triangle Choke
Kicking things off for Nicky Rod was a match with Ezekiel Zurita, which saw Nicky impose his usual top game, dominating takedowns and passes and eventually wrapping up a very tight reverse triangle choke from the Kimura trap, to get the tap in regular time.
Quarter Finals – Armbar (OT)
The quarter-finals saw Nicky Rod pushed into overtime (OT) by a very resilient former teammate Luke Griffith, who managed to survive the onslaught of submission attacks Nicky threw at him.
IN the overtime, though, the EBI rules favor Rodriguez, who is known for his rear-naked choke finishes. And despite him not being able to sink in his favorite submission, he got a very quick armbar off of a rear-naked choke threat, which saw him add variety to the Nicky Rod submissions count of the night.
Semi-Finals – Triangle Choke
Rodriguez met Ausitin Baker in the semi-finals, instead of an anticipated match with New Wave Jiu-Jitsu standout and ADCC champion Giancarlo Bodoni, who got injured in the first round.
Nicky crushed Baker throughout the round, throwing him around with takedowns, and taking out a couple of innocent photographers (again) in the process. Rodriguez started setting up a triangle-armbar attack from the mount, which went into a rolling armbar and ended up as a triangle choke finish in regulation time.
Final – RNC (OT)
In the finals, Rodriguez rounded off his display of submissions by forcing 10th PLanet Jiu-Jitsu black belt Kyle Boehm into overtime, where he yet again utilized the ruleset to his advantage, handing Bohem his first-ever EBI defeat via a rear-naked-choke.
All in all, a very impressive display of the Nicky Rod submissions arsenal, which looks much more diverse than anyone gave him credit for.
