The inaugural Ultimate Submission Challenge took place and considering the event was put on by the legendary Rorion Gracie, and had his two sons competing in the event, upsets were the name of the game. Neither Ryron or Rener Gracie were able to make it out of the second round with the younger of the two competitors Rener Gracie bowing out in the first round.

The inaugural Ultimate Submission Challenge took place and considering the event was put on by the legendary Rorion Gracie, and had his two sons competing in the event, upsets were the name of the game. Neither Ryron or Rener Gracie were able to make it out of the second round with the younger of the two competitors Rener Gracie bowing out in the first round.

It is interesting to note that neither Gracie was able to go on and win the tournament as many felt like the tournament on a whole was set up to have the two brothers compete in the final. Rener lost to David Avellan in the first round by a score of 12-7. The match format had the competitors fighting to be the first to 12 points with NO time limits; Rener losing so quickly was a shock to many who felt the tournament was the Gracie’s to lose. His older brother fared better defeating Jeff Monson in the first round but he did win a high cost. The fight went on for an amazing 68 minutes with no rest and no rounds to take a break. The two warriors duelled back and forth and in the end Ryron was able to take the victory after battling for over and hour by a score of 12-11. Ryron who weighed in at 199 pounds was much lighter then the 238 pound "Snowman" and with the weight disadvantage was given 2 points to start the bout. The two points proved to be the difference as he takes the closely contested bout in a war.

The event looked to be a success with the 500-seat theatre completely sold out. Considering it was a no striking submission grappling event the sold out event could be a surprise to some but a successful event here may set up future events. Celebrities were also on hand as Michael Clarke Duncan of "Daredevil" and "The Green Mile" fame and "Married with Children’s" Ed O’Neill were on hand to take in the action.

The 4 man alternate tournament was temporarily thrown into a state of flux as one member didn’t show up! Originally scheduled to be a 4 man tournament the group was then changed into a round robin format to compensate for the loss of one contestant. Here are the results:

Main Bracket:
Rener Gracie vs David Avellan [Avellan by pts 12 x 7]
Keigo Kunihara vs Peter Angerer [Angerer by Heel Hook]
Ryron Gracie vs Jeff Monson [Ryron by pts 12 x 11 after 68 minutes!]
Lance Campbell vs Travis Lutter [Lutter by sub Americana]

Alternate Bracket - 3-man Round Robin:
Marcio Corleta vs David Hagon
James Nilsen vs David Hagon
Marcio Corleta vs James Nilsen

[Quick results: Corleta and Nilsen submit Hagon. Corleta knee-bars Nilsen. Corleta wins the alternate bracket and automatically qualifies for the main bracket of the next Ultimate Submission Showdown] -MMARR-