Neil Preedy (pictured above left) and Bram Roberts of The Combat Academy travelled to London to compete in the London Open Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Championships. The event attracted over 200 competitors including strong Hungarian, Italian, American and Brazilian teams.
Neil was looking to improve on his performance in last years event where he was defeated in the first round. In his first fight of the lightweight category, Neil dominated the fight from the off and after scoring with a variety of pinning holds, submitted his opponent with a choke. In his second fight Neil faced a tough Hungarian opponent and in a very tactical fight not a single point was scored. With seconds of the fight left Neil secured a choke hold and although unable to submit his opponent, the referee awarded an advantage to Neil for the submission attempt which was enough for Neil to progress to the final
In the final Neil was caught in a pin early on in the fight from which his opponent secured a choke hold. Initially Neil managed to resist the choke but was eventually forced to submit and so collected a very hard earned silver medal.
Bram Roberts did not have the luck of the draw as he was pitted against the eventual gold medallist in his first fight. In the first half of the fight Bram was under intense pressure and quickly found himself 15 points down. However in the second half of the fight Bram racked up 7 points and seemed to be getting back into the fight, but unfortunately Bram was caught in an arm-lock and despite a desperate attempt to escape had to submit to the lock.
Neil with Braulio Estima
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