A familiar face made a surprise appearance at a grappling tournament this weekend. Here's your essential Monday morning digest of all the grappling news you need to know.

Gabriel Arges Wins Gold In Las Vegas

Gabriel Arges cleaned up by winning the male adult black belt 85kg division at the UAEJJF Las Vegas Pro on October 15, one of the qualifying tournaments for athletes hoping to compete in the 2017 Abu Dhabi World Pro Jiu-Jitsu Cup.

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Results: 
1: Gabriel Sousa 
2: Nathan Mendelsohn 
3: Gottrell King 

A Gracie Barra black belt, Arges is a student of Romulo Barral and a training partner of Edwin Najmi. The win gives Arges 60 ranking points, which puts him in the No. 1 spot for the 2016-17 ranking season.

Black belts with the most ranking points at the end of the season stand to win $25,000 (or $10,000 for women). A table with how points are weighted for different UAEJJF competitions is below.



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UFC Interim Champ Jon Jones Grapples On A Whim

UFC light heavyweight fighter Jon Jones was in Phoenix, Arizona, last weekend, making an appearance at a fitness expo. It seems that while signing autographs the interim 205-pound champion was challenged by some MMA fans to enter into a NAGA tournament going on at the same time. 

Jones obliged and gave fans a display of his grappling skills, which you can see in the videos below:



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What do you think of Jones' no-gi grappling skills? Let us know in the comments...

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Rocha Injured, Khera To Focus On No-Gi Worlds 

Fresh from his recent bout with controversy, Vagner Rocha was due to meet Mansher "Munch" Khera of Marcelo Garcia's crew in a superfight on October 22, but the Florida-based Rocha has withdrawn with an injury. 

I am one week away from my match with Mansher, but unfortunately I have suffered an injury that has made me withdraw from our match. The fight in New York against Munch meant a lot to me, and I am super disappointed for the loss of this opportunity.

 
Khera has stated that instead of looking for a substitute opponent, he will focus on IBJJF No-Gi Worlds, where he won silver last year in his first major IBJJF tournament as a black belt.

 



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