Rogue Grand Prix Recap 2024
Watching the replay, adding my thoughts
Watch along with me.
I am watching a replay of the 2024 Rogue Grappling Grand Prix and adding my thoughts on the matches. All the matches are no time limit. We go until somebody taps out. 8 men. 8 women. Single elimination. Winners receive a big championship belt. The hardest tournament to win in the Maritimes.
I competed in the event (1 win, 1 loss). I am watching the replay on Smoothcomp.com. Watch along with me.
The replay is still available for $20 on Smoothcomp. Link below.
The first round is in the gi (kimono), second round is no gi, the finals are gi.
Opening round
Women’s bracket – 1st match
Morgan Milbury (Halifax BJJ) vs. Abbie Steele (Summerside MMA)
The first match of the event. I was in the first match last year. This time I was the last match of the first round (8 of 8). I would rather be first and get it over with instead of going last. How about you guys?
Morgan pulls guard. Almost gets a quick sweep but Abbie stays on top. This matchup has happened 6 times in the past with Abbie winning 4 (2 submissions), Morgan winning 2.
Morgan looked like she went inverted for a leg attack and Abbie passed into side control. Abbie locks up an Americana shoulder lock submission and get the tap. Strong win by Abbie.
Abbie wins by Americana in 2 minutes 8 seconds
Men’s bracket – 1st match
It’s mentioned by the MC Chris Jessault on the microphone that this is the largest men’s bracket in terms of body weight that they have ever had. Watching this replay and knowing the results, I feel like that meme of Ralph Wiggum from The Simpsons (I’m in danger).
Christian Phinney (Junglefowl Team) vs. Bryce McNeil (West Prince BJJ)
Where’s the beef? It’s right here in the opening match of the men’s bracket. Two of the biggest bodies and biggest personalities. They did a good job with the match making this year. These guys have competed against each other twice in the past and Bryce won both by points. Interesting.
The match started at exactly 24:00 minutes on the video and that made me feel good (I’m keeping track of the match times). Christian is a lobster fisherman. He looks like he would be the guy to jump in the water and wrestle a shark. He’d probably win.
Match stays standing for quite a while at the start. Bryce is like a tree, tough to move. Bryce goes for a collar drag but it is countered by Christian who ends up attacking from turtle position. Bryce is on bottom, but he establishes a half guard. Christian using a lot of pressure, grabs the collar and gets behind Bryce for a modified bow and arrow choke submission.
Christian Phinney wins by bow and arrow choke in 3 mins 25 seconds
Women’s bracket – 2nd match
Stella Giorgo (Junglefowl Team) vs. Tori Smith (MXT BJJ)
This was a wicked match. Tori Smith is a purple belt who competes in every tournament she can get her hands on. She has trained a few times at my gym Presley BJJ in Wellington, NS (come train with us). She is very tough, technical and is gonna be hard to beat in a no time limit ruleset. I have never seen Stella compete before. She is a BJJ brown belt. I have competed against Stella’s husband, Evan Brooks who is a good BJJ black belt and is the owner of the Junglefowl team in Port Elgin, New Brunswick.
Tori has 74 wins on Smoothcomp. That’s a lot. Stella goes for a collar drag early. Tori is looking for a strong belt grip. Tori is a brown belt in judo. Tori goes for a tomoe nage sweep but Stella defends it. Tori seems a little more relaxed on the feet. Over 5 minutes now still battling on the feet from stand up. Stella finally gets Tori down with a collar drag. In the ensuing scramble Tori almost gets an armbar, but instead Stella quickly escapes and passes to side control. Stella with heavy cross face pressure. She has a good top side control game.
Longest match so far. Almost 10 minutes in. Tori almost replaces her guard, but Stella passes again. Tori has been stuck under bottom side control for a long time. She doesn’t look bothered. I feel like most people would have quit by now. I would of. Stella moves into mount. Stella working an arm triangle choke, dismounts and Tori immediately escapes.
It’s funny because last night in evening class at Presley BJJ (Tuesday and Thursday no gi Presley BJJ 7:30pm-8:30pm) we went over the arm triangle from mount and I talked about how it is harder to finish the submission while you are still in mount. Once you dismount you can make the choke tighter, but the defender has a lot more ability to escape when they are no longer in mount. The situation just played out in this match.
The match is back standing after a short break so both ladies can fix their hair. That must be annoying but I’m old and balding so I wouldn’t know. Over 17 minutes in, Tori tries another tomoe nage sweep. Tori pulls guard. Closed guard for Tori – Stella eats a pretty nasty push kick to the face. I’m sure that was an accident. That’s one thing about tournaments, there’s a big increase of those accidental strikes because the intensity in the match is so high. Tori is penalized and the match is reset standing.
The match is now over 20 minutes long. Stella trying to pass closed guard. Tori locks up a triangle, switches to an omaplata (shoulder lock using the legs) and gets on top for the first time in the match. Tori using heavy pressure moves into mount and finally gets an armbar submission.
Tori was on bottom side/mount for over 10 minutes at one point. What a display of heart from both athletes. Crazy match.
Tori Smith wins by armbar in 23 minutes 34 seconds
Men’s bracket – 2nd match
Sawyer King (Breakthrough BJJ) vs. Josh Hopkins (Kingdom MMA)
Josh Hopkins has the coolest poster of all the competitors. Sawyer King was a university athlete in football. The commentary said Sawyer King just finished his teaching degree. Josh Hopkins has been training BJJ since 2013 and is a youth pastor at his church. I love these backstories. Hard to pick a favorite I want both these guys to win.
Sawyer really looking to use his wrestling. Tries a few double legs, but Josh ends up on top after an uchi mata scramble. They are back up again, Sawyer shoots and Josh sprawls. Josh attacking turtle. Josh is moving around well. Sawyer looks like he’s going for a leg attack but they have to reset as they go out of bounds.
Josh in top side control. Sawyer starts coming back and now he is on top looking for back control. Sawyer ends up getting an armbar on Josh from the back.
Sawyer King wins by armbar in 8 minutes 3 seconds
Women’s bracket – 3rd match
Emmie Dauphinee (Halifax BJJ) vs. Vicky Pitre (Quantum BJJ)
Classic wrestler vs. Judoka matchup. Vicky is one of the youngest competitors in the Grand Prix. Emmie pulls guard. Vicky is a very accomplished judoka (judo player) as she is a two-time national champion in newaza (ground work).
Emmie working a lasso guard. I think lasso guard is one of those very specialized gi guards that really gives people problems if you are not used to it. Emmie tries to go for a triangle choke, but Vicky defends. Emmie looks to go for a leg lock. Looks like Vicky is a little unsure about this leg lock stuff which would make sense. Are leg locks legal in judo? I honestly don’t know. I would be going for a toe hold here if I was Emmie in this situation.
Emmie almost gets the back but ends up in top side control. Good pressure from Emmie and she gets the Canto choke for the win. The Canto choke is when you grip the collar of your opponent and throw your leg over their head to choke the neck. Nice submission that was probably the best one of the GP so far.
Emmie Dauphinee wins by Canto choke in 2 minutes 28 seconds
Men’s bracket – 3rd match
Nathan Douglas (Summerside MMA) vs. Patrick MacInnis (Supreme MMA)
PEI vs. Ontario. A classic battle. Nathan trains in PEI under Jason Saggo. I have competed against Nathan and trained with him. He’s a great guy. Patrick MacInnis trains at Supreme MMA in Ontario with Kyle Nelson, Mark Hominick, Sam Stout, and Jesse Ronson. Both guys look strong and athletic. Nathan Douglas’ Instagram handle is “PowerliftingRaw_365” so that tells you all you need to know. Pat MacInnis has a 6-2 MMA record with 5 wins by submission.
Nathan immediately pulls closed guard. They stay in closed guard for a while until Nathan hits a nice hook sweep to get on top. Nathan almost passes to side but now attacking turtle. Pat gets back to half guard nicely. Nathan passes and works from north south. Patrick defending well but Nathan is all over him so far.
“Rolling with Nathan is like being inside a washing machine”. Lol. True. But a very nice washing machine that compliments you while it spins you around. Nathan gets the back and has a bow and arrow choke on Patrick, it looks very tight. Hold on, Nathan lets go because he thought Patrick tapped out. Bit of a controversial moment here. They keep fighting but Nathan ends up with mount instead of back. Good sportsmanship for the guys to keep fighting. Nathan looked like he had that choke.
7 minutes into the match now and Patrick bridges Nathan over from mount and gets on top. Nathan tries a triangle choke but Patrick has very strong posture keeps his head away. Over 20 minutes in now. There’s been some big scrambles and it seems every time Nathan gets close to something Patrick is just able to explode out in time.
Patrick gets Nathan’s back just on the edge of bounds. They reset in the middle and Patrick submits Nathan with a collar choke from the back. What a war. That was a fun match to watch.
Patrick MacInnis wins by collar choke in 26 minutes 42 seconds
Women’s bracket – 4th match
Thalie Levesque (defending champion, Victory BJJ) vs. Katie Roy (Quantum BJJ)
Kate Roy is a former MMA fighter. Thalie is the two-time defending Rogue GP champion and has a perfect 26-0 record in Rogue competition. All wins by submission. She is a favorite in this bracket, but everyone wants to be able to say they beat the champ.
Lots of stand up early. Thalie has very strong judo and wants to be on top. Thalie gets Kate down using an inside trip style uchi mata throw. They are on the edge of bounds and get reset in the middle of the mat. Thalie passes into mount position. Thalie goes for an armbar but Katie defends and gets on top. Katie is tough.
Thalie hits a scissor sweep right into an armbar and gets the submission victory.
Thalie Levesque wins by armbar in 7 minutes 23 seconds
Men’s bracket – 4th match
Josh Presley (defending champion, Presley BJJ) vs. Brad Smith (Halifax BJJ)
Fun fact, Brad Smith took some of my beginner classes when he started training BJJ. That was when I was still training at Titans - maybe 2016-17? We know each other pretty well. I started the match by poking Brad in the eye. I had been training that attack for a few weeks. Just kidding, I felt bad about that.
Brad pulled guard. I figured his game plan would be to try and use his guard and lasso guard to try and create an opportunity to go for an armbar or triangle submission. He is very strong and explosive. I was able to get a guard pass into side control. I really wanted to take my time from there.
I was trying the “Jacare” gi choke from side control. I might make a video on that. Brad was able to replace his guard. I ate a pretty solid kick to the head. It happens. More scrambles. Brad shot a triangle, I rolled through, we ended up both attacking legs. I ended up getting on top and hitting a stack pass into a seatbelt from back control. I was able to slow the pace down a little bit and secure a double lapel choke from the back. I learned that choke from Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles during a training camp in Atlanta, Georgia. He called it the “Zipper choke” because the motion is like you are zipping up a big winter jacket.
Tough match.
Josh Presley wins by collar choke from back in 8 minutes 14 seconds
I didn’t have a recording of the original match. My wife recorded some of the match from the crowd. We estimated it was around 15 minutes. I guess it was only around 9 minutes. It felt a lot longer.
Second round – Semifinal matches
Women’s bracket – 5th match
Abbie Steele (Summerside MMA) vs. Tori Smith (MXT BJJ)
Abbie had a quick first round match over in 2 minutes. Tori had a 23-minute match. Tori quickly pulls guard right away. Tori hunting for a leg lock from a single leg X guard. She uses the position to get on top. Now Abbie is going for a leg lock, a knee bar. It looks tight. Tori defending well. Abbie is belly down, but she needs to get on her side to increase the pressure for the knee bar. Abbie switches to a toe hold but Tori is getting heavy and turns the position into a smashed half guard on top.
Tori has a lot of shoulder pressure on Abbie’s face. Tori passes to full mount. Looks like Tori is trying to smother tap Abbie from mount but Abbie isn’t having it. This match is like the total opposite of Tori’s first match where she was under pressure for most of the time. She still has Abbie under mount now 10 minutes into the match.
Tori secures back control and gets the win by rear-naked choke. Wicked battle. Two of the toughest people in the tournament, in my opinion. Tori is into the finals after 36 mins of mat time.
Tori Smith wins by rear-naked choke in 13 minutes 50 seconds
Men’s bracket – 5th match
Sawyer King (Breakthrough BJJ) vs. Christian Phinney (Junglefowl Team)
First semifinal match in the men’s bracket. Sawyer opens things up with a nice arm drag into a knee pick, but Christian bounces right back up. Sawyer’s wrestling looks strong. Christian looks much more relaxed this match. Sawyer shoots a double, Christian counters, Sawyer recounters and lands on top. Good scramble.
Sawyer is on top and falls back for a knee bar. It looks like it’s almost there but Christian keeps moving and they eventually get into a 50/50 position. Christian looks like he has a good bite on an ankle lock. Sawyer escapes but Christian is now on top in open guard. Christian forces his way into half guard but they get reset back in the middle, standing.
Sawyer shoots a double leg and puts Christian down. Sawyer working a kimura from top half, ends up on bottom. Christian uses the scramble to get into top mount position. Sawyer gets out. Sawyer passing open guard, hugs the knee and jumps over Christian’s head for the knee bar submission finish. He went for that a few mins earlier and nearly got it, made the adjustment and got the tap. Really nice. Sawyer is in the finals with just under 15 minutes of total mat time over his first two matches.
Sawyer King wins by knee bar in 5 minutes 26 seconds
Women’s bracket – 6th match
Thalie Levesque (defending champion, Victory MMA) vs. Emmie Dauphinee (Halifax BJJ)
It looked like Emmie went for an early foot sweep but slipped and lost her balance. Thalie took advantage landed with a very tight arm in guillotine choke. Thalie locked up a closed guard around Emmie and this looks like it’s gonna be over. Thalie submits Emmie with the arm in guillotine choke. Thalie is into the finals with just under 9 mins of mat time.
I have really been working on that arm in guillotine in training a lot the last year or two. People don’t realize how different the finishing mechanics are compared to a normal guillotine. It’s a great technique. John Danaher says you need a reliable strangle (choke) from the back (RNC) and a reliable strangle from the front (guillotine, darce, anaconda).
Thalie Levesque wins by arm in guillotine choke in 29 seconds
(I think that is a record for fastest submission in the Rogue GP)
Men’s bracket – 6th match
Josh Presley (defending champion, Presley BJJ) vs. Patrick MacInnis (Supreme MMA)
It’s cool Thalie won so quickly, but I wish her match was longer so I could have had a bit more of a break. The thing with no time limit tournament, it is hard to predict how long of a break you will have in between matches. Could be 10 minutes or 1 hour. I had about a 20-minute break between matches. Patrick had a much longer match than me in the first round (9 mins for me vs. Brad, 26 mins for Patrick vs. Nathan)
I have never met Patrick before, so this was a new matchup for me which is cool. It’s kind of a weird feeling watching this match knowing I lost. It’s like watching Braveheart for the second time. You already know the ending, so it makes you kinda sad. Anyways.
I pulled guard right away. Patrick had a decent size advantage over me. My strategy was to take my time, when I felt there was an opportunity try to get on top and finish with a choke from back or mount. This felt totally different pace than my first match where I was moving around a lot more.
I used a wrestle up to get on top. I went hard for an anaconda choke but he did a good job of grabbing my wrist so I couldn’t get it tight. Side control. Tried for the north south choke. I need to get better at finishing that. Mount. I thought about going for a triangle choke but I didn’t want to take the chance of losing mount.
Back control. I felt a few times I was close to getting the rear-naked choke, but he was able to grab my hand and escape. I attacked an ankle lock and used it to get back on top. I was trying to use a lot of pressure on top to make him uncomfortable. He was very tough and able to explode out of bad situations just in time.
Patrick locked up an omaplata on me, I used that to go for a leg lock but he got on top in half guard. He locked up a darce choke and that was all she wrote. I had nothing left. I puked on the mat immediately after. I had a few opportunities to get the job done with chokes but couldn’t finish. Well done by Patrick. He’s into the finals with just over 40 minutes of mat time.
I felt I did everything right training wise, pushing myself with long sparring rounds. Sometimes 20-30 minutes straight. But I think the pressure of competition combined with the long matches took its toll.
Patrick MacInnis wins by darce choke in 15 minutes 36 seconds
Women’s bracket – FINALS – 7th match
Thalie Levesque (defending champion, Victory MMA) vs. Tori Smith (MXT BJJ)
Rematch. Thalie starts it off with a nice collar drag. Thalie looking for the back but Tori defending. Thalie into ¾ mount and using her pressure to force Tori’s elbows above her head. She gets the tap with what look like a collar choke but it was hard to see. Dominant performance by Thalie.
People don’t realize how hard these tournaments are to win. Injuries, upsets, so many things can happen. For Thalie to win three in a row is a remarkable accomplishment. Congratulations to her. Total mat time for Thalie was 10 minutes.
Thalie Levesque wins by choke in 2 minutes 27 seconds
Thalie Levesque is the female 2024 Rogue Grand Prix Champion!
Men’s bracket – FINALS – 7th match
Sawyer King (Breakthrough BJJ) vs. Patrick MacInnis (Supreme MMA)
Patrick fought for a total of 41 mins compared to 15 mins for Sawyer.
Sawyer picks up a single leg and gets Patrick down. They are reset back in the middle. It’s interesting how many times the out of bounds comes into play. It’s been almost every match. I always wish the mat space was twice as big to avoid going out of bounds. CJI will be interesting with that pit wall. I wonder if that will catch on. Anyways.
Sawyer with some good pressure passes into side control. Patrick gets back into half guard, hits a strong bridge and gets on top. Patrick goes for the darce but Sawyer wrestles out and gets on top. Maybe that’s what I should have done. Heavy cross face from Sawyer on Patrick. Sawyer moves into full mount. Working for an arm triangle choke. Patrick escapes, Sawyer gets on his back. Sawyer back into the arm triangle but Patrick uses the same escape and back rolls out. Back standing and Sawyer hits a nice outside trip to put Patrick back down.
Sawyer trying to pass. Patrick locks up a sneaky triangle and Sawyer taps! Damn. Patrick got his ass kicked for the majority of all 3 of his matches but somehow managed to win every time. That takes a lot of heart. What a path to victory. New champion. Patrick got it done with 3 matches in a total time of 50 minutes.
Patrick MacInnis wins by triangle choke in 8 minutes 43 seconds
Patrick MacInnis is the male 2024 Rogue Grand Prix Champion!
Closing thoughts
Just as a viewer watching the broadcast was great. Video was crisp with multiple camera angles. As someone who watches a lot of BJJ events I will say - this broadcast was better than everything on FloGrappling outside of ADCC and WNO events. A lot of shows are just shot with one camera and it’s hard to see a lot of the action. Rogue GP had multiple camera angles and you could clearly see what was going on except for a few times in the gi matches. Shout out to whoever put that together. I know it’s not easy because sometimes I can barely make a decent Instagram reel.
The commentary adds so much more to the matches and the guys (Jake Harper and Patrick Foley) did a great job. I hope to train with those guys soon!
As for myself, trying to analyze my performance. I felt great technique wise, but my body felt pretty terrible as I went deeper into the tournament. I hate to even talk about it because it sounds like an excuse, but I felt like my body quit before my mind.
Honestly, I’ve been having a problem over the last few years after competing in BJJ. As soon as I am done with my match I throw up/dry heave for hours afterwards. Like 6-7 hours. It’s brutal. I can’t do anything.
I felt more back to my normal self, several hours later but had a very small appetite and couldn’t get back to normal eating until later the next day. I don’t have much of an appetite to eat the morning I do my competition, so I don’t eat very much but I make sure I stay well hydrated.
It’s happened to me a bunch of times now. It never happened to me when I was competing through my 20’s. It doesn’t happen every time but seems to when I am completely exhausted. One time I went to the hospital and they gave me and IV but said everything looked normal. It’s happened other times not as severe. This was one of the worst times.
It really sucks. I have seen my family Doctor but I am not sure who else to see or what else to do. I love competing and the challenges it brings but this feels like something I need to figure out before I compete again.
If anybody has any ideas or knows someone who could help let me know. Thanks.
I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on the Rogue Grand Prix 2024. If you want to support me buy some of my merch at presleybjj.com or follow me on social media @PresleyBJJ (YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook).
Great article! Thanks for the recaps and other thoughts.
Great article Josh! It was a fun event. One very minor correction is that Thalie Levesque had one match in Rogue previously that she won by points instead of submission against Katie Roy.
I'm just being annoying by pointing this out because I'm jealous that you wrote this article instead of me! Haha