Kemer, Turkiye was the destination of the first qualifier event for Season 3 of the AIGA Champions League. 8 teams from 8 different countries met at the Orange County Hotel for what turned out to be an absolutely incredible event. The teams included:
- Euro Trash – England
- Dagestan Combat Club – Dagestan
- French Team – France
- Presion y Diamantes – Mexico
- Team Italy – Italy
- Honey Badgers – Azerbaijan
- Knights Martial Arts – Jordan
- Fight Scout – Bulgaria
*Note – These teams did not include athletes representing the named nationalities exclusively. Though the flags of these listed countries were used in the promotion of the event, athletes like Davis Asare (A member of Presion y Diamantes who is actually Norweigan) and Ashley Williams (A member of Euro Trash from Wales rather than England) were allowed to compete based on the choice of the team managers.
Euro Trash, Presion y Diamantes, French Team and the Dagestan Combat Club moved on to the semifinals on Day 1, with the English and Mexican teams largely dominating their first round opponents. Euro Trash would clean sweep Knights Martial Arts with a score of 7-0 and Presion y Diamantes won every match by submission save the final match which they would actually lose by points against Fight Scout.
The French Team, though absolutely stacked with talent, was handicapped due to Sasha Marguerite, their -60kgs representative missing weight by more than 2 kilograms. This led to him being subsequently DQ’d from the tournament, and thus the French Team essentially started every round already down 0-1. However, they managed to edge out a hotly contested battle against Honey Badgers to secure their opportunity against Euro Trash in the semis.
Presion y Diamantes came out to this tournament guns ablaze, lighting up Fight Scout with brutal precision and killer instinct. Manager Cesar Borrayo spoke on the commentary about the different lengths the team went through in preparing a gameplan for each round, and it really showed in their preparation for the Bulgarians.
Finally, the Dagestan Combat Club showcased what really could best be described (and I seldom use this term) as anti-jiujitsu. Now, there were some standout submissions and aggressive displays of passing and back takes, but largely the Dagestan competitors played it safe and played the long game in their matches. This proved to be a very tough nut to crack for both their first opponents in Team Italy and Presion y Diamantes in the semifinals.
In the semi-finals, Euro Trash would display a performance that nearly mirrored their first round, almost completely sweeping the French Team save the effort of Anthony de Oliveira who beat Sam McNally by points. Ashley Willliams, Mateusz Szczecinski and Eoghan O’Flanagan would stand out as competitors who won by submission on both days.
The final was thus set in a matchup a lot of people predicted for this event. Euro Trash vs. Dagestan Combat Club in the final. As a commentator, I was gearing up for a back-and-forth war, but what I actually saw was Euro Trash once again nearly sweeping their opponent. I HIGHLY recommend, if you have a FloGrappling subscription go watch the final series between these two teams. Some of the key elements that led to the Euro Trash victory included:
- Jed Hue wrestling up for 2 in a clutch moment (especially impressive considering the wrestling prowess shown by DCC
- Ashley Williams pulling the trigger where it mattered most
- Eoghan O’Flanagan is a solid anchor. I don’t believe he struggled through a single matchup this event, as he breezed through the final match of the tournament
The final series didn’t come without a little bit of drama, however. One thing that was blatant to me from the desk was the Dagestan Combat Club’s high emotional volatility. Pretty much every awkward circumstance that caused the judges to behold the instant replay, meet to discuss the proper execution of the rules, or break up almost-brawls involved the DCC in some way.
For example, in the final series, Guseinov Kamil squared off against Marcin Jan Maciulewicz. This was a highly tense match from get-go both in terms of skill and attitude. Marcin was certainly providing his share of the antics, but Kamil quickly became frustrated by them. Marcin would send Kamil over the edge by turning away from the Dagestan fighter on his knees as a taunt.
Kamil almost immediately slaps Maciulewicz on the rear and follows it with a push kick in the same place, much to the disapproval of the very pro-Euro Trash crowd (and especially the corner of Marcin). Maciulewicz reacted by coming forward with more aggression, which only heightened the already bubblig conflict. One thing led to another, and Kamil would be disqualified from the match for pushing Marcin on the forehead with enough force to whip his head back.
All in all, what an amazing event. Euro Trash really impressed me with how they performed on the day, and more than just that, they let their personalities show and that made the road to the final and through to the Group Stage that much more special. A 7-0 victory to start, 6-1 against French Team and 6-1 against DCC is pretty impressive considering the stacked lineup of talent represented across the world.
Stay tuned for the next article, I feel compelled to write about my full experience in Turkiye and what it was like working for AIGA. Spoiler: It was freaking awesome. Enjoy!
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