The Bellator promotion set up shop in the state of Louisiana, USA, to put on its 52nd event, and the two Brazilians on the card had polar-opposite experiences.

Making his MMA debut, Thai boxing world champion Cosmo Alexandre took on Josh Quayhagen but, even putting his striking skills to use, was unable to sway the judges, two of whom felt Quayhagen deserved the nod.

Now the other Brazilian, Junior PQD, made quick work of Brian Goldsby, sinking an arm-triangle for the finish while still in the first round.

In the heavyweight GP, Ron Spark, Eric Prindle, Blagoi Ivanov and Mike Hayes move through to the next stage of the tournament.

Bellator 52
Louisiana, USA
October 1, 2011

Heavyweight GP
Ron Sparks knocked out Mark Holata in R1;
Eric Prindle defeated Abe Wagner via unanimous judges’ decision;
Blagoi Ivanov submitted Zak Jensen via guillotine in R2;
Mike Hayes defeated Neil Grove via split decision.

Undercard
Matt Van Buren knocked out Nick Nichols in R2;
Justin Frazier knocked out Liron Wilson in R1;
Josh Quayhagen defeated Cosmo Alexandre via split decision;
Junior PQD submitted Brian Goldsby via arm triangle in R1.

Find out more by clicking www.bjjhome.com/reg_now or by calling (985) 605-3169.

As GB members competed in their matches and made new friends in between, the excitement of the day grew. It became clear to the organizers that this was going to have to be a yearly event. Rafael Ellwanger, who helped organize Compnet 6, was pleased with the results. “The turnout was so great, the Southeast will now have a Compnet event in New Orleans, a week before Halloween, every year,” he says.

During the tournament, Ambassador Diplomas were given to all Gracie Barra professors and instructors who supported the event:

Rafael Ellwanger – GB Louisiana

Fabio Costa _ GB Georgia

Marcio Feitosa – GB America

Brian Davis – GB Arkansas

Joshua Miller – GB South Carolina

Mathias Meister – GB New Orleans

Marco Macera – GB New Orleans

Nic Vanzee – GB Mississippi

Jim Davis – GB Mississippi

Trey Howard – GB Slidell

Matt Hord – GB Slidell

James Allen – GB Franklinton

Shawn Gayton – GB Mandeville

Rusty Edwards – GB Amite

Nathan Lott – GB Springfield

Chris Haley – GB Walker

Jason Galjour – GB Baton Rouge

Robbie Gautreaux – GB Baton Rouge

“A lot of people came to compete and support Compnet 6,” he said, “The tournament was a tremendous success. I’d like to thank everyone for their participation and support and I look forward to seeing everyone again at Compnet 7.”

Ellwanger with master Carlos Gracie Jr. Photo: Luca Atalla.

GB Louisiana’s Rafael Ellwenger is an excited man. He’s been pushing to have a big GB Tournament in the Southeast for a while, and the time has finally come. On October 23, 2010, the GB Competition Network 6 Southeast Tournament will be held in New Orleans, LA, at the University of New Orleans.

It’s the first GB Compnet event outside of California. Ellwenger thinks having the tournament in New Orleans is going to bring in a lot of people. “It’s central to all the southern schools and it’s a tourist city,” he says, “I think a lot of people will come – it’s a fun city to be in.”

The tournament targets all the GB schools in the Southeast and will draw in students from Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Texas. Ellwenger hopes that even some people from California might show up because of the great venue.

We’re not going to New Orleans to party,” Ellwenger says, “We’re going to compete, but it’s a fun place to visit and there’s lots to do once you get there. People need to come out and support this event. If it’s successful, we’ll have more in the future.”

Ellwenger wants a lot of students to register for the tournament to show how organized and united GB is in the Southeast. “That’s my main goal,” he says, “I threw the biggest Carlos Gracie, Jr. seminar ever two years ago and I’m expecting to do great things again with this competition.”

Ellwenger says that these internal GB tournaments make everyone better. “You have fun, make new friends, and break barriers between states,” he says, “The whole purpose is to show everyone that we are a team and a family. It’s not Louisiana against Florida. We all make up one big GB team. This tournament is about socializing, having fun, making new friends, and trading email addresses and FB names.”

Ellwanger says once you make new connections at these GB tournaments, whenever you go to other GB schools to train, you have friends there. “That’s how we did it in Brazil, and that’s how we want to do it here,” he says.

Professor Marcio Feitosa, Professor Draculino, Professor Patrick Head, Professor Fabio Costa, Professor Rafael Ellwanger, Professor Mathias Meister, Professor Marco Macera, Professor Eddie Lirette, Professor Joe Hurst, Professor Joshua Miller, Professor Brian Davis, Professor Eder Persiliano, Professor Fabio Vilella, Professor Marcelo Ribeiro, and Professor Marcelo Souza are all confirmed and will be attending the event.

For registration information for the GB Competition Network 6 Southeast Tournament, please contact Gbcompnet.com.

If that isn’t enough, Ellwanger also created 10 schools in Louisiana, which his students own. For a long time he wanted to officially pass along to these 10 schools the flag he has represented for so long: Gracie Barra. In January 2010 that became a reality when Carlos Gracie Jr. came to Louisiana for a seminar and blessed all the school owners and their instructors, “I still take personal responsibility for all 10 schools because my relationships with my students are based on mutual respect and admiration.”

Ellwanger (above, with family and master Carlos) takes pride in more than just his relationships with his students. He also takes a lot of satisfaction from his BJJ background. He lived in Brasilia, in 1995. In 1996, a GB Black Belt named Ailson “Jucao” Brites moved to town.

Ellwanger became one of his 1st students and he trained under Brites for 6 years, until he received his purple belt. Over that time period he was a multiple-time state and regional champion (white, blue and purple belt) and came in 3rd place at the Pan Ams in Hawaii in 1997 as a blue belt. When he finished college in 2001, he decided to move to the U.S. to study English for a year.

He went back to Rio in 2002 and started to train with Master Carlos Gracie Jr. and Professor Marcio Feitosa, “I got my black belt in 2006, two days after I won the Pan Ams as a brown belt. 2006 was a great year for me. I won the European Championship in my weight class and in the open; the Pan Ams and the US Nationals as a black belt in my division and 2nd in the open. Then in 2007, I won the Pan Ams and came in 3rd place in the 1st No Gi Worlds in my weight class and in the open.”

Nowadays, Ellwanger is GB Regional Director and Instructor of Louisiana and Mississippi and also the President of the Louisiana Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation (LBJJF), “In my role as President of the LBJJF, I organize every BJJ competition in the State. I can tell all the schools in Louisiana are run by good people. We help each other out and compete against each other, but it’s all under the flag of BJJ, so we all work together for the common good.”

Ellwanger has worked really hard to improve BJJ tournaments in Louisiana, “Competitions here now have everything the same as the Worlds. It cost me a bunch, but I order shirts to give out for free at the tournaments, I bought all new mats, medals, and score cards – the same as the Worlds. BJJ students are now fighting in high-level competitions. When they go to the Worlds, they say to me, ‘Rafael, your competitions look the same as the Worlds.’ I like that because I really try to provide great competitions for people.”

Ellwanger hopes that people will talk about them and bring more students in from around the United States to compete, “I try to do things right. I like the IBJJF because I know how Master Carlos runs it and takes care of it, and I’ve done the same with the LBJJF. Like the IBJJF, it’s organized, rule–oriented, high quality, and you can count on it always being consistent with the same rules at every tournament.”

Most recently, Ellwanger held the biggest Carlos Gracie seminar ever, “I rented a big venue and brought in mats from all 10 gyms for the seminar. The entire floor of the venue was covered with mats and we had 165 GB school members at the seminar on a Tuesday night! I actually had to stop taking registrations because we were so full. Master Carlos, Marcio Fetosa and Marco Joca came out and talked to the students about the history of BJJ, the Gracie family, and the GB Association. I thought it was more important for them to hear about Master Carlos and his life rather than just learn techniques. It’s so funny listening to him talk about his brothers and himself and his stories about his dad. That’s an experience no other black belt can provide. Master Carlos Gracie lived and saw it all happen. He made history himself.”

Ellwanger says he never imagined so many people would turn up at the seminar, “It showed how strong we are in Louisiana and Mississippi. It was, for sure, one of the best moments of my life. I promoted Marco Macera to Black Belt that day.”

Ellwanger is happy in his life these days. He really loves his life and family. He had his first baby girl in 2009 and his other “family” – his BJJ family is ready to stand up and be noticed in 2010, “We are looking good. We have a lot of people training and our focus is on BJJ. We don’t have a lot of distractions around here, besides hurricanes, so we train a lot. I am GB for life and I am ready to bring my soldiers to represent GB at the Pan Ams and Worlds.”