The fourth Emerald City Invitational (ECI) was filled with upsets. On Saturday, eight elite lightweights competed at ECI 4, and underdog qualifier Kieran Kichuk walked away with the tournament title and a $10,000 purse.
Kichuk defeated Josh Cisneros, ECI featherweight champion Gianni Grippo, and Adam Benayoun to capture gold.
Like all previous ECI events, matches were conducted under traditional EBI rules, with a 10-minute submission-only regulation period followed by three rounds of overtime as grapplers battle for the fastest submission or escape time.
In the first round of the tournament, Kichuk struggled in the regulation period against Cisneros, who was able to attack from his trademark kimura trap position. Kichuk survived to overtime, though, where his back control and finishing abilities shined, securing his first of three overtime submissions from the back.
While Kichuk’s win over Cisneros was an upset in its own right, his win over Grippo — an ECI and no-gi world world champion — was one of the biggest upsets of 2022 so far. Kichuk looked better in regulation against Grippo, attacking and entangling Grippo’s legs throughout. In overtime, Kichuk was able to secure an armbar to land himself in the final.
In the final, Kichuk squared off with Adam Benayoun, who had upset Gabriel Sousa in the first round. Yet again, Kichuk proved to be dangerous in the overtime rounds, securing a rear-naked choke and a tournament win.
Kichuk is the first ECI qualifier winner to win ECI gold.
