Gravity Grappling Championships Returns To Portland This Saturday

This Saturday, August 15^th, the Pacific Northwest’s premier female grappling promotion, Gravity Grappling Championships (GGC), makes its return to Portland, Oregon. This action-packed card is being held in SE Portland at Rose City FC, home of 10^th Planet Jiu Jitsu Portland. The card starts early, with doors opening at 9:00 am and the competition starting at 10:00 am. The day will feature tournaments in three different weight classes, as well as a super fight to finish off the morning. While this marks only the second event for GGC, the young promotion has garnered much fanfare from the grappling community, and it seems that GGC can only go up from here.

The card features the following:

• 180 lb Super Fight: Kola Willingham VS Jen Whetsell

• 140 lb Championship Tournament: Seeding TBD

– Amanda Diggins

– Misty Davidson

– Ashleigh Force

– Cheyanne Alcaraz

• 130 lb Championship Bout: Tess Velo VS Cheyanne Alcaraz

• 150lb Round Robin Intermediate Sectionals: Open Registration

I had a chance to speak with GGC President, Jihun Han, over the weekend to talk about Saturday’s card, and see what else is on the horizon for the young promotion. When I looked at the lineup for the 140 lb tournament, one name stood out to me, and that was Amanda Diggins. She is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) black belt and she is very highly regarded in BJJ circles. With Diggins being the odds on favorite, I asked Han who he thought might be a sleeper pick who could pull off the upset.

“Amanda Diggins is a great competitor. She is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt, one of the first female black belts in the state. She’s great. But Cheyanne Alcaraz is in that tournament as well and she is someone to keep an eye on. She’s coming up from California and she competes in a lot of tournaments. She competed in Sub League and did well … Really anyone in the tournament could pull it off; we believe it’s going to be very competitive.”

Cheyanne Alcaraz will be double dipping at this event, competing in both the 140 lb tournament and facing off with Tess Velo for the 130 lb title. While Alcaraz may have the skills to pull of the upset in the 140 lb tournament, the added pressure of facing off with Tess Velo earlier in the night could be cause for concern. Tess Velo has a very active and sound defensive guard. Her flexibility and control will certainly be on the mind of Alcaraz. If Alcaraz can secure even one title at this event, it would be a solid showing for her. With this being just the second event for GGC it is very impressive to see that fighters like Alcaraz are already traveling in from out of state to compete for the young promotion. GGC seems poised to expand, and soon. I asked Han about how he thought expansion would go as the company begins to gain some traction.

“We definitely see working with Rose City FC and 10^th Planet as a great partnership that we hope to continue. CEO Kevin Phuong and I want to continue to give back to the community…we are going to focus solely on the Northwest for now and eventually move into other areas and territories. For now our home is here.”

With the rich grappling community in the Pacific Northwest it makes perfect sense for GGC to focus on this region. However, going forward, GGC does have bigger plans. When people talk about jiu jitsu shows, there is one promotion that is leading the pack, Metamoris. Metamoris has become the must see jiu jitsu promotion in the country. By bringing in many of the sport’s top athletes and creating super fights featuring some huge names from the world of MMA, Metamoris has managed to pull in some MMA fans to watch a sport that is usually reserved for the “jiu jitsu nerd.” When I mentioned Metamoris to Han, he immediately seemed excited.

“We definitely hope to grow to the same level that Metamoris has. We want to bring in top name athletes and provide a platform for them. Metamoris has really inspired us. I remember watching the last Metamoris event, and Bas Rutten was commentating and he mentioned that it would be cool to see female athletes out there competing. That’s what we are trying to provide and we hope to reach that level in the future.”

In a way I think Han was being a little modest. To this point, GGC has already had a veteran of Invicta FC compete for them, and they have had commitments from others Invicta fighters. If the women of Invicta FC begin competing for GGC on a regular basis, don’t be surprised if BJJ clubs around the country are getting together to order a live stream of the latest GGC card. Before too long, maybe the casual fan will strap in to catch the action. If you want take in some high level grappling and get in the ground floor, you won’t want to miss this event. With tickets costing just $10.00, it’s a steal, and you will be helping to support a growing segment of our amazing Northwest community. Tickets are available the day of the event. For more information, please visit GGC on their Facebook page.