By David Figueroa-Martinez
Courtesy of BishopBJJ.com

The Five Super League Light Heavyweight Pro Invitational goes down on Saturday, March 11, in San Diego. It's going to be an evening of action-packed grappling spanning the gamut of blue to black belts. 

Aside from the main tournament, the card itself is packed with 15 undercard bouts and five superfights with noticeable appearances by Baret Yoshida, Renato Canuto, Beatriz Mesquita, Richie Martinez, Jena Bishop, Tammi Musumeci, and Magid Hage (just to name a few). 

The highlight of the night is the eight-man tournament, consisting of some of the best light heavyweight black belts in the world. 

Watch the Five Super League Light Heavyweight Pro Invitational on March 11 LIVE or On Demand on FloGrappling!

Who's competing in the Five Grappling tournament?

Barring any last minute scratches due to injury or illness, the competitors are as follows:

• ​Lucas "Hulk" Babosa, Atos 
  
• Tanner Rice, Soul Fighters
  
• Joao Assis, Checkmat
  
• Eliot Kelly, Yemaso
  
• Nick Schrock, Riberio Jiu-Jitsu
  
• Ezra Lenon, Cavalo Team
  
• Tarsis Humphreys, Alliance Jiu-Jitsu
  
• Leandro Lo, NS Brotherhood

Lucas "Hulk" Barbosa

Barbosa is a relatively new black belt, being promoted by Andre Fabiano back in 2015. While Barbosa has yet to garner a world title at black belt in the gi, he was an Abu Dhabi World Pro Trials champion and Copa Podio superfight winner. At brown belt, he collected world championships in both gi and no-gi, respectively. It's going to be interesting to see how his pressure passing will measure up against the rest of the field.

He does have two losses against fellow tournament competitor Tanner Rice and two wins over Ezra Lenon on his record. I believe the layout of the brackets will be a factor for Barbosa's success. However, another pairing with Rice would make for an intriguing matchup. 

Tanner Rice

At brown belt, Rice won an IBJJF World Championship and also procured bronze at Pans. Most recently, he was the runner-up at the IBJJF European Open. As stated before, Rice has two wins over Lucas Barbosa but also has an armbar loss to Leandro Lo in the finals at Europeans.

There is no shame is losing to one of the greatest of our generation, but will Rice be able to find the needed adjustments for a possible rematch against Lo?

Joao Assis

Assis has fought the who's who of the jiu-jitsu world. He has notable wins over the likes of Saulo and Xande Ribeiro, Clark Gracie, Bernardo Faria, and Dean Lister.

His extensive grappling experience in jiu-jitsu (and what he picked up working with Team Quest MMA) make him a formidable opponent for anyone in this tournament. He is a veteran of this group and will be counting on his experience to carry him to victory.

Eliot Kelly

After receiving his black belt from Marcos "Yemosa" Torregrosa, Kelly has amassed three IBJJF World Masters medals over the years. As an avid wrestling competitor, Kelly has been able to successfully implement his freestyle techniques into his jiu-jitsu, cultivating a solid pressure-passing base.

I'm looking forward to seeing how his aggressive approach will play out against the field.

Nick Schrock

Schrock is more commonly referred to as "Moose." He is world champion in both gi and no gi at the lower belts. Most recently, Schrock captured weight and open weight titles at the Long Beach Open. Still new to black belt, he is the kind of guy who is developing on a weekly basis. He is a dark horse for the tournament if he brings his best. However, Schrock actually has some experience against the field in this tournament as well.

Schrock has a victory over Tanner Rice and past losses to Eliot Kelly, Lucas Barbosa, and Eliot Kelly. It will be an uphill battle for Moose, but as we saw with John Combs in the last Five tournament, the new, hungry black belts can often offer the greatest threat.

Ezra Lenon

Lenon is a no-gi Pan champion who boasts victories over notable figures such as Pablo Popovitch, Jeff Glover, Abmar Barbosa, and Jared Dopp. An often underrated figure in the grappling world, Lenon is a multiple-time ADCC veteran and is known for his half guard and effective leglock game.

Lenon may be quietly one of the most dangerous guys in the tournament, as he has very few holes in his grappling style and is one of the most veteran black belts of the group.

Tarsis Humphreys

The Fabio Gurgel black belt was the first man to receive all of his belt promotions under the famous coach. Humphreys himself has won the European Open, Brazilian National title (weight and absolute), and the Abu Dhabi World Pro (weight and absolute). His well-rounded game should play well against the other competitors.

Leandro Lo

Leandro Lo is probably the runaway favorite in this bracket. He's a four-time IBJJF World champion, multiple weight Copa Podio champion, and a multiple-time Abu Dhabi World Pro champion. Lo most recently was at the top of the podium at Europeans this year in both his weight class and in the absolute division.

With wins over JT Torres, DJ Jackson, Clark Gracie, Victor Estima, Keenan Cornelius, and Andre Galvao, it's extremely hard to bet against him.

Do you see any upsets brewing? Let us know in the comments!