Spyder Invitational BJJ Championship Qualifier 2018

Spyder Brings In Top Prospects For 2018

The Spyder BJJ Championship will start its 2018 season with its last qualifier event on Feb. 11 in Seoul, South Korea.

Jan 29, 2018 by Reid Connell

The Spyder BJJ Championship is only a few events deep, but it is already becoming one of the largest grappling competitions in Asia.

The powerhouse South Korean tournament is making a worldwide push in 2018 and has attracted some of the biggest names in the sport: Keenan Cornelius, DJ Jackson, Rafael Domingos, and more have all made the trek to the Korean peninsula. With the promotion's sleek look and ability to attract top prospects from all over the globe, it's not a surprise that the Spyder BJJ Championship is on an upswing.

Qualifying Rounds

Howon Jung and Chae Wanki won the first-ever qualifier in 2016. In the second qualifier last April, Spyder brought in some high-level talent from outside of Korea, with both Jamil Hill and Matheus Godoy moving through their brackets and claiming gold in their divisions.

With preliminary rounds through, the Spyder BJJ Championship is coming upon its last round of qualifiers, which takes place Feb. 11 in Seoul, South Korea. The winners from the event will advance to meet those already qualified for the Spyder BJJ Championships quarterfinals on July 21.

The final qualifier event will feature standout Brazilian purple and brown belts as well as local black belts, all competing in the same bracket for a chance to represent in the final championships later this year.

The brackets are as follows:

-76kg

SangHyun Lee (black) vs. Hugo Marques (black)

Junyong Cho (brown) vs. Jonnatas Gracie (brown)

Inseong Jang (brown) vs. Edson Oliveira (black)

Andy Murasaki (purple) vs. Victor Nithael (purple)

+76kg

Donghwa Choi (black) vs. Victor Hugo (brown)

Gunwoo Kim (black) vs. Vinicius Ferreira (brown)

Kaynan Duarte (brown) vs. Erich Munis (purple)

Sanghyeon Lee (brown) vs. Du Yunlai (black)

Bright Prospects coming to SPYDER Championship

It's time to pay attention to some of these lower belts — they could all potentially be future Mundial champs!

In the -76kg class, Jonnatas Gracie may be a brown belt, but last year he showed his potential in the PanAm Championship, the World Championship, and the World No-Gi Championship by winning all three.

Entered in the +76kg class, Kaynan Duarte from ATOS is also a blue-chip brown belt prospect, who won PanAm, world championship, and no-gi world titles in 2017.

Out Of Frying Pan, Into The Fire

The top three fighters in each bracket will move on to the main championship quarterfinal and will fight seeded fighters in July.

At +76kg, reigning Spyder champion Matheus Godoy (black), Rudson Mateus (black), and Cornelius (black), a double gold 2018 Europeans champion, have already booked their spots in the quarterfinal.

And for the -76kg division, 2016 Spyder champion Wanki Chae (black), 2017 Spyder division and absolute champion Shane Hill-Taylor (black), and Joao Miyao are in the championship bracket.