10th Planet Watch – 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Van Nuys Blog

10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Van Nuys sees it’s first MMA champion! Congtatulations to “Gorgeous” Georgie Garcia as he becomes the first ever, U of MMA, 145lbs champion. His victory was heralded by the promoters as, “the most exciting match the promotion has ever had in it’s history.” This was also the first time in the history of the sport, an MMA show had been held at the Nokia Theater, at L.A. Live, in downtown Los Angeles. The even was running side by side with the Kings and the Clippers playoff games. The atmosphere down there was electric.

The battle between Georgie, and his opponent, Chris Bonilla, was an epic back and forth battle. Bonilla came out strong, and went right after the 10th Planet Van Nuys and Saekson’s Muay Thai product. Bonilla, had no fear of the undefeated fighter. After some great exchanges on the feet, Georgie used his San Fernando wrestling pedigree to take his opponent to the mat. Bonilla, showed he had dangerous jiu jitsu off of his back, and was able to lock in, what might be a game ending triangle. It looked like Georgies perfect record, along with his aspirations for the title, were in jeopardy. Fighting through the fact that all the blood was being blocked from flowing to his brain, Georgie was able to find a way out. Just when it looked like he was out, Bonilla transitioned masterfully to an armbar. Georgies arm was stretched out completely straight, and again it looked like he could be finished. HIs mental fortitude and never say die attitude kicked in and he ripped his arm out of the submission. At this point, his opponent looked gassed. Going for the submission took everything he had. This was the turning point in the fight, although Bonilla would never quit, and would continue to come on strong, Georgie was just too much for him. Both fighters scrambled back to their feet where towards the end the round, where Georgie, feeding off the energy of the crowd, would grab a head and arm throw, and toss his adversary’s feet high into the sky. The round ended with Bonilla landing on his head upside down pinned against the cage with Garcia ground and pounding from a schoolyard headlock position. This was much to the delight of the huge crowd that had come out to see these men do battle in the main event.

At one point in the fight Georgie faked the shot, and came over the top with a monstrous overhand right that sent his opponent crashing to the canvas. He swarmed the dazed competitor, throwing brutal shots from the guard on the ground. Respecting Bonilla’s excellent ground game, Georgie was a bit tentative in going all out and trying to finish the fight. Bonilla, was able to recover from onslaught, mount a comeback, and would lock in what could be a game ending kimura. Yet again, Georgie was able to scramble out of it and land a WWE inspired double leg take down that dazzled the crowd. Georgie seemed to have an answer for everything Bonilla threw at him. George landed take down, after take down, and combination after combination, he controlled the ring like a true general. At the end of the fight it was clear to most people who one the fight, including “Big” John McCarthy and the other 2 judges, who in the end, had it scored for unanimously for the New 145lbs champ, “Gorgeous” Georgie Garcia!

In other notable fights on the card, 10th Planet Van Nuys’s Mike “Lobes” Frausto and Mike “Tipz” Venturella both were on the card and had exciting fights. Both fighters have made huge adjustments and improvements to their respective games. Both look fight and compete again soon. I’m extremely proud of those two, they’ve come a long way and constantly surprise me with how good they’ve become. Also on the card,10th Planet’s heavy weight freight train, Amir Allam fought to a draw, showing his durability, outstanding wrestling and superior ground skills. Erik “Compella” Cruz fought and won the inaugural Combat Jiu Jitsu fight by RNC with one second left in the first round. Combat Jiu Jitsu is Eddie Bravo’s brainchild which sees Jiu Jitsu with ground and pound. It has recently been sanctioned by CAMO in California, and this was the first one we’ve seen on a show. The idea seems to be to lure Jiu Jitsu players into MMA without having to learn striking ri ght off the bat, allowing MMA training wheels to be applied to their game.

Thanks again for reading our newsletter! If you’d like to come down to try out classes, please go to our website www.10thplanetvannuys.com. Thank you for your continued support, and we’ll see you on the mats.