Fight 2 Win brought us another night of non-stop action at F2W 182, with both the co-main event and main event ending with submissions. After Jackson Nagai and Edwin Najmi finished their battle on the stage, Davi Ramos and Dante Leon squared off for a match that avoided going to a decision by just one teeny tiny second.
Co-Main Event
Edwin Najmi vs. Jackson Nagai
Nagai pulled guard and climbed up to closed guard while Najmi tried to shake him off from standing. He tried to sweep Najmi, and both competitors ended back up on their feet. After some grip-fighting, Nagai pulled guard again and tried to work his way up to a triangle, and Najmi successfully defended and drove forward until Nagai was forged back to his feet. The next one to pull guard was Najmi, and as he wrapped himself around his opponent’s leg to apply a toehold, Nagai countered with a toehold of his own. Najmi then abandoned the attempt in favor of a straight ankle lock attempt, and Nagai came up to defend. Najmi was persistent in his attempts, but Nagai drove forward, forcing his opponent to let go. With just over three minutes to go, Najmi succeeded in tipping his opponent backward and latching onto the straight ankle lock again. Nagai broke free and managed to quickly pass Najmi’s guard, securing a lapel grip and transitioning to a mounted triangle. Najmi tried to unseat his opponent, but Nagai’s pressure was relentless, and Najmi tapped with two minutes and one second left in the match.
Jackson Nagai was declared the winner by submission and claimed the gi welterweight title.
Main Event
Davi Ramos vs. Dante Leon
Leon immediately shot for a takedown, switching to an Imanari roll when Ramos defended. Working from the bottom, Leon defended against Ramos’ heavy passing attempts. Ramos tried to leap over Leon’s legs for a submission, and Leon countered with a leg lock attempt before Ramos spun out of danger and returned to his passing attempts. Leon tried to work from his position beneath his opponent, keeping him at bay with solid frames and moving to attack Ramos’ shoulder. Ramos was able to create distance, however, and stepped away from Leon to then work back in and continue trying to pass.
The athletes continued this familiar battle until about the four-minute mark, at which point they both returned to their feet. Leon pulled guard, and Ramos again got low to try to pass, the competitors still evenly matched in this particular battle. The action was briefly paused as Ramos recovered from an accidental eye poke, and once it resumed, Leon got the takedown he’d been looking for, driving Ramos to the canvas. During his attempts to pass, though, Ramos was able to flip him over and reverse the position, ending up in Leon’s closed guard. After Leon’s guard opened, it looked like the match would go to a decision, but then, Ramos again tried to leap through Leon’s guard, this time to go for a kneebar. But Leon scrambled to his back, locked up a body triangle, and sunk in a rear naked choke. Ramos tried to defend, but the choke was tight, and Ramos tapped with just one second left.
Dante Leon was declared the winner by submission.
