#67 - Announcing The FloGrappling Award Winners

Speaker 1: What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the Flow Grappling Show, aka the worst show on the internet. And today is a very special day. The official 2025 Flow Grappling Awards is going down right now. As always, I'm Trey Robinson. We got Joey Gilps right there, Big Uncle Reed right there. And we're calling in to this show from an undisclosed location in the office, you know? Speaker 2: Every week we're going to do it somewhere new. Speaker 1: Yeah, should we? A traveling podcast? Well, we, you know, they had this set built over there, but we weren't about to use that one because we might disturb people in the office. So we moved this 20 ft west and now, you know, now we're not going to disturb anybody over here. So we're all safe and sound over in our little corner. Speaker 2: We should do it at the Alamo. That'd be a good idea. Speaker 1: No, no, no. Get that episode. Speaker 2: Yeah. I do like the idea of it always moving around. Never be known. Speaker 1: Yeah. All right. Maybe we'll keep moving it around. But on today's show, we're going to dive into the winners of the Flow Grappling Awards, you know? To Reed, tell us, what does it mean to be a Flow Grappling Award winner, huh? Speaker 2: Well, it's 2026, Trey. It is officially 2026, and that means 2025 is behind us. It's it's it's in the rearview mirror. Everything that happened in 2025 is now just a a distant memory, and we're on to 2026. The uh the great plains of 2026 that that are ahead of us. Speaker 1: The great plains of North America. Used to be able to pay a guy to stomp you on the head with your horse. Speaker 2: I don't know about that, but Speaker 1: Yeah. It's a Viagra Boy song, but Speaker 2: There you go. He here's definitely something that shows how much this meant this year. Three times the number of votes compared to what we had in 2024. Speaker 1: Hell yeah. Speaker 2: So thank you guys. Thank you guys. Uh these are fan-decided votes, uh fan-decided awards. Uh it's been up on our Instagram, on all our uh sites, social medias, trying to get as many people to vote as possible. You guys responded. You guys made your voices heard. And uh today we're finding out the winners. Super exciting. And so clearly, you saw the athletes post a bunch about it. It meant a lot to them to be able to be recognized as somebody who has not just had a great year, but had the year, had a year that's going to be remembered as as standing that much ahead of everybody else. Speaker 1: Yeah, you're you're quick to forget 2025, Reed, it sounds like. That little diatribe you were going on. But you know, this is our last day of talking 2025, and then we're putting it behind us and it's just all gas, no brakes going into 2026. But we got to, you know, recap one final time. Speaker 2: Yeah, I was going to say, but it it it, you know, it behooves us to kind of take a moment here on January 5th to just reflect on the yeah, the incredible accomplishments, the incredible jiu-jitsu that we saw in 2025 before we really, you know, lock in and and and and take uh 2026 by storm here. We got ADCC, plenty of crazy stuff going to go down, so. Speaker 1: Yeah. Joe, what was the most voted for category? Speaker 2: Most voted for category was Juvenile of the Year. Coming in uh with almost double the number of votes as the next category. Speaker 1: Okay, nice. Speaker 2: People absolutely showed up. And then I think it was breakthrough was also super, super high on that list. Speaker 1: Okay, well, let's let's kick it off. Let's get into some of the winners. And let's kick it off with those two categories. First, let's talk about the 2025 Breakthrough Grappler of the Year. Just to, I guess, give people some context, Joe, what does it really mean to be a breakthrough grappler? How do you get the breakthrough grappler award? Speaker 2: Absolutely. This is one of my favorite awards that we give out every year, looking back and trying to figure out who is someone who has broken out on the scene. Who is somebody who went from an unknown to a known? Somebody who put in the performances that made them an overnight uh one of those 10-year overnight successes like we hear about, right? Uh and there was a lot of people that made this award really great. A lot of people who received a ton of votes. Nolan Stewart was on that list, Declan Moody was on that list. Uh uh you know, I don't want to give away anything away, but this uh you know, was a a super stacked uh uh category this year with everybody receiving a high number of votes. Speaker 1: Yeah, and so I guess without further ado, you know, the votes are in and the 2025 Breakthrough Grappler of the Year is Sarah Galvao. You know, what a year from Sarah Galvao. I think obviously a lot of people knew she was probably one of the favorites to win this one. But yeah, I mean, people absolutely came through in droves to vote for Sarah Galvao for Breakthrough Grappler of the Year. So congratulations to her. I mean, what a great just kickstart to her black belt career. Um the later half of this year has been, so. Speaker 2: Oh. Absolutely. Sarah had an incredible year and you know, just to put it in perspective, she got uh so many votes as well. She was top two in I think three different categories including uh uh a grappler of the year award that we're going to talk about later and a match of the year uh award that we're going to talk about later. She had an incredible breakthrough year. She's looking in 2026 to do a super grand slam, become the first woman to do it, become the youngest person to ever do it. Uh which would be absolutely incredible. But in terms of her breakout year, uh you know, just to think about where she was a year ago and all the ups and the downs that we've tracked with her over the years. I mean, you guys went to her wedding this year, you know what I mean? It was a pretty crazy year uh in 2025 for Sarah. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: It's so crazy to think like how much kind of has been packed into this year, you know? And even because we we we've been following Sarah for a long time, but she wasn't really into jiu-jitsu, she wasn't really, you know, taking it seriously, she wasn't really trying to to make it her thing, you know? And then all of a sudden, you know, she she kind of really rededicates to the sport and just has one of the most incredible years and and she's clearly a fan favorite. I think that's one of the biggest parts about about Sarah Galvao. Yes, she's got great jiu-jitsu, but uh she's just got such a great way to connect with the fans and everything like that and has a great team behind her there and and uh the dream team and they they did some great accomplishments as well. So uh yeah, I think very, very well deserved for Sarah Galvao. You know, I love that this is kind of like a mixed men and women category and it kind of just goes to show how much the women are are really showing up here in in uh uh the sport of jiu-jitsu here in 2025 for someone like Sarah Galvao can beat out the Declan Moodys and uh the the Pablo Lavoriskis and stuff like that. Speaker 1: For sure. I I think one of the craziest things, kind of like what you mentioned, is that like we have obviously known of and followed Sarah for a very long time, obviously because she's, you know, Andre's daughter and, oh, look, it's Andre's daughter over there, like playing around with the medicine ball, stuff like that. But like her actual career of her saying like, I'm going to go all in on this, is very short. Like, what was it like 2023, I think, whenever I feel like I was actually like watching and filming Sarah like going for like purple belt, Brazileros, or whatever it was, you know. Like I feel like it was 2023 when it was like really she was like actually going all in. So that was just like two years now and not only is she like one of the best athletes in the sport, she wins the crown, rookie year black belt, just gets her black belt in June or whatever, you know, already goes on to win IBJJF's biggest invite-only event, wins that, and now she still has her rookie year of black belt ahead of her for the IBJJF G season. So, I mean, pretty incredible whenever you start thinking about like the timelines of her career and everything. So, shout out Sarah Galvao, 2025 Breakthrough Grappler of the Year. Speaker 2: Yeah. Makes sense. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: Do you guys have like one moment from her year that kind of stands out for you guys? I have one that I could put out there for me, the the match at Pans with Helena. Uh and just the way the entire auditorium gymnasium like stopped and paid attention to this brown belt absolute match for the women that never happens, you know what I mean? That division a lot of times can kind of come and go without crazy, crazy fanfare, but this felt like the biggest match of the entire tournament. Uh and I I felt like it was like a uh uh the the writing of another chapter of a long uh rivalry that I hope we continue to see. Speaker 1: Yeah, I think number one moment for me would be at her wedding whenever her and Andre did a synchronized, you know, perfectly choreographed father-daughter dance. And I was just like, wow, what an incredible thing that I'm here witnessing that. So, I know it's not a jiu-jitsu one, but that was like a wild thing. Speaker 2: That's crazy. That counts too. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: Yeah, day one of CGI, I think really cemented Sarah Galvao as kind of like a star in the sport. Like I said, we've talked about this before, but you know, a lot of chatter, a lot of drama just kind of talking about day one of CGI and it seemed like Sarah really won kind of that day one CGI. Everybody was talking about her. But uh we also had some some good times with her out in uh in Japan and stuff like that as well. So um yeah, it's been a great year for for Sarah Galvao. So congratulations to her. 2025 Breakthrough Grappler of the Year. I have a a good feeling that 2026 is going to be a huge year for her as well. Speaker 1: Definitely. And so now moving on to our most voted category, like Joe mentioned earlier, the 2025 Juvenile of the Year. Um it was definitely cool to see like Flow Grappling has done this award before, but then we brought it back. And it's obviously cool to see, you know, how much this award kind of blew up and how many people did vote on it and stuff. I was a little like, I don't know, are we really going into the juvenile thing? And it's like, yeah, can't really deny that the the the juvenile aspect of the sport is one of the biggest parts right now. It's kind of blowing up whether it be in IBJJF circuits or ADCC. So, just kind of getting bigger and bigger. And so, it was cool to see this one, but definitely a good category overall, right? Speaker 2: Definitely. There was a lot of people that uh could have been on this list and would have gotten a lot of votes if we did put them on this list. Uh don't need to like get into name and names, but like this was a category that easily could have turned into like 10 people pretty quickly because there's just so much uh incredible uh stuff happening at the youth level. So many people who are doing really well that to narrow it down to just six was really, really difficult. To put somebody in would have meant taking somebody away. Uh but uh uh yeah, just so many people that have been so impressive to us uh including whatever we found for the winner. Speaker 1: Yeah, so I guess just without further ado, the 2025 Juvenile Grappler of the Year is Icaro Moreno. Who else could it be besides Icaro, you know? Icaro, I don't this dude must have enacted every person who's ever thought about AOJ to vote on him. I mean, just like this dude was not, you know, and I I saw him playing nice in the comments. He was like, my boy JP Tran deserves. I know a lot of people say we missed out on JP Tran, sorry, you know. Speaker 2: Legend. Speaker 1: But but Icaro knew what he was doing. He was like, well, since JP's not in there, you know, vote for your boy. Speaker 2: JP Tran and Zach Lima, there was been a bunch. While while you're here, guys. Yeah. Uh yeah. Speaker 1: Icaro's obviously one of the best juveniles out there in the sport, you know, so glad for him to win it. What do you what do you think about uh Icaro's year this year, Joe? Speaker 2: Crazy good year for Icaro. Icaro became the first kid to win on a WNO, which was definitely super cool. Uh he is the youngest male to win. I don't know him versus uh uh Jocelyn with the ages. He's younger than Jocelyn, right? I think so. Uh so the youngest person to win on WNO, done it twice, crazy cool. Uh four-time Kids Pan champion, uh really, really cool. I know he likes being able to put up the four like uh like his professor G uh put up the four for his four four world titles. Uh yeah, I mean, Icaro is uh uh everybody has super high hopes for him and and what he's going to be able to accomplish in the sport. He's got the goal of becoming a lightweight black belt world champion. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: We'll see. We'll see. Icaro, congratulations. What a great year. Speaker 1: Yeah, obviously it's like with anyone in this category, they have so much of a career ahead of them, you know? They're going to be someone to watch for, I mean, who knows how long, 20, 30 years, you know? So, pretty pretty cool for Icaro to get that uh that accolade early on and excited to see what he keeps doing, but also what everyone else in the category does. Speaker 2: Yeah, and I just want to say about Icaro, you know, I think there's a lot of great representatives of of jiu-jitsu there in that uh juvenile um nominee list, you know, but really when you think about kind of someone who who is just like kind of like the like the picture perfect kind of role model for children. And he's only 10 years old. Speaker 1: The prototype. Speaker 2: Yeah, the prototype. But but um, you know, I think that's one of the things that that's a little underrated about Icaro is that yes, he has like kind of incredible jiu-jitsu and he's super fun to watch and and explosive guy, but uh also is just one of the best representatives out there of the sport, no matter no matter what the age is. He's he's a professional. He's a guy who who genuinely loves the sport and uh is trying to kind of like, you know, Speaker 1: Be a pro. Speaker 2: Yeah, be a pro, just make sure that that the world knows about jiu-jitsu and the world knows that good things are happening over here. Um so, yeah, I just wanted to give a shout out to Icaro for just not only doing it on the mats, but kind of taking care of business off the mats as well. You know, we could all strive to be a little bit more like Icaro Moreno, I think. Speaker 1: For sure. All right, let's keep it moving. You guys want to do match of the year next or submission? Speaker 2: Let's do match of the year. Speaker 1: Match of the year. Let's do it. Okay. All right, match of the year, you know? What what uh what does it take to be a match of the year nominee, Reed? What are you looking for out there in the mean streets of the jiu-jitsu world when you're looking for a match of the year? Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you know, obviously you got to have um some some fun scrambles, you know, and it doesn't have to end in submission or anything like that. I think you just got to have to kind of see uh fun scrambles, a back and forth match. But beyond that, I think that the the stakes are important, have it having the the moment be important, it'd be a big moment, it'd be a uh a lot of things on the line, you know, I think there's there's a lot of different kind of criteria for for match of the year, but, you know, I think probably number one is got to be entertainment, you know, just it's got to be a fun jiu-jitsu match that you can send to your buddies who don't don't do jiu-jitsu or anything like that. This is my personal criteria, by the way. I'm sure maybe you have all your your own personal criteria, but that's what I'm looking for, you know, just a fun entertaining match that I can send to to anybody and say, hey, this is pretty sick, you got to watch this. Speaker 1: Yeah, I love a good back and forth, you know, maybe a maybe a turning of the tides at some point in the match, something like that. Um but, you know, this year we obviously had a lot of great nominees, but just to get right into the winner here, the 2025 Match of the Year is Adam Wardzinski versus Roberto Jimenez at the IBJJF Pan Championship. You were out there for this one, right, Joe? You missed this one? Or was it just Slack? Speaker 2: Crazy. Speaker 1: Uh Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I was there. Me and Zach were both there. And uh yeah, this is an incredible fight. Uh Adam was still keeping his grand slam hopes alive, right? Trying to become the first European male to win an IBJJF Grand Slam. Uh and he had gone through so much of it, but then Roberto was looking like a firecracker coming off of uh you know, a crazy good submission win on WNO and getting it done in the Gi and beating people who are much bigger than him. He was in the absolute finals too. And now here he is facing uh uh Adam. And they went back and forth. Both guys were really able to show the best parts of their jiu-jitsu and show why they're two of the biggest fan favorites that we've had over the last 10 years in Flow Grappling's era. You know, Adam and Roberto are two of the the biggest, most popular guys there. It's because of the style and if you want to see their style at its best against a super tough guy, you can put on this match and see it from both guys. Uh just a really incredible match that uh uh really pushed both guys to their limit. Speaker 1: Yeah, I think for me, one thing that makes this match uh kind of so awesome is partly kind of what you were talking about, like the stakes and everything, you know, there's got to be some stakes at play. Speaker 2: Some context. Speaker 1: Yeah. And so for Adam, this is him, you know, still on his run at kind of becoming a the first uh European to grand slam, you know? But also just like Adam was just riding this crazy wave of momentum where he kind of seemed unstoppable since winning the world championship and just kind of kept going and going. And it was like, oh, he teased retirement after winning the first worlds, but then now it's like, you know, this dude can't stop. So, he's just going to keep going until he finally does. Then he meets Roberto. And Roberto kind of immediately looks like he might have solved the butterfly problem, you know? It's like no one had really been solving the butterfly problem until Roberto went up against him and it was like, oh shoot, actually, does he know something? Has he found like a little chink in Adam's armor? Is he going to be able to like navigate this and and put a stop to all of this? And ultimately, it was Adam who ended up coming back and on top of this. But I thought that aspect of where it was like in live time, it was trying to figure out like, oh, wow, did Roberto actually figure out how to like kind of defeat Adam's A-game? And uh made it for a super interesting fun match, but definitely two dope dudes, you know, two great representatives of the sport. So, glad that both of these guys could get could get this award here. Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, like Joe was saying, I like that that it's kind of like these two guys who have really been uh instrumental in the kind of like last 10 years of jiu-jitsu and and when Flow Grappling's been here, you know, Roberto, of course, as a colored belt all those times and then Adam's been a black belt now for a long time, but has become a big star. So, uh I think it's apropos, you know, takes two to tango, of course, you know, Adam ended up winning the match, but you couldn't have done it without, you know, the kind of furious pace and relentless um attacks that that Roberto has. So, so that, you know, I think just goes to show that it it it really does kind of take two to tango. But um, yeah, I'm I'm a little surprised though, to be honest, like that Speaker 1: A Gi match? Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, right? In a world of of Nogi that that the Gi is dead and and that the Nogi is the thing. And which, you know, I'm I'm not necessarily like disagreeing with that take, to be honest, but um to to see that, you know, that the fans went out and and voted for a Gi match, you know, in 2025 to be the match of the year. I'm I'm definitely like a little surprised um by that, but I just think, you know, it goes to show that Roberto and Adam are big stars. There was big stakes at Pans, you know, it's a it genuinely is a fun match and there might not have been a funner match of the year, but but still, color me a little little surprised. I don't know what you guys think. Speaker 1: No, I mean, I definitely think it's it's interesting for a Gi match to win, you know? Um I think obviously now with CGI filling like the downtime of ADCC years, I feel like there's a little bit of like a uh a cycle, you know, where it's like every non-ADCC year, there's kind of like a much higher chance that a Gi match kind of squeaks into whether it be nominated or winning, probably still not as likely. But then ADCC years, it probably gets dominated by ADCC matches and stuff. But yeah, definitely cool to see a Gi match uh get the win, you know? Gi Gi's not dead, I guess, if you ask Adam. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 1: I guess so. I tried he was uh he posted a video of him wrestling with Renato Canuto. And I tried to slide in there and did a little like, oh, Adam and ADCC 2026. And he said, I see myself more at ACDC 2026. Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. He definitely sees himself there. Speaker 1: I was like, all right. Speaker 2: It's it's so funny that Adam genuinely is like the most like uh uh high energy Polish guy. Like to them, he's like basically like a a clown, you know what I mean? In terms of like joking around and like all this stuff. Like you talk to any other Polish person and they're so far away from that. And he just like kind of jokes around like a normal person. By scale, he's basically like Stevo or something, you know what I mean? Just like completely ridiculous persona for them. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: Yeah, I never thought about that. Speaker 1: Yeah, but congratulations to both of them for uh taking home Match of the Year. So, now Speaker 2: Can we can we take a second to just uh appreciate Roberto real quick? Roberto did have a crazy year. Didn't end up getting a nomination for for Grappler of the Year. Maybe that was a miss on our part. But uh uh just had an awesome year full of great performances. Uh uh you know, so many memorable moments and so many times where he just put all of himself out there on the mat for the fans. Really appreciate Roberto. One of the best in the world. Uh uh can't wait to have him back. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: Yeah, man. Jiu-jitsu is better with Roberto Jimenez in it. We are like we we, you know, the sport wouldn't be where it is today, I don't think, without Roberto, you know, just one of the most exciting, electric, authentic grapplers that the sport has ever seen. Um, you know, he he's he's done the damn thing for for a long time now and uh yeah, just can't say enough good things about Roberto. He's really been like I said earlier, instrumental, um instrumental in the kind of development and and where Flow Grappling is right now. We we've followed his journey for this whole time. So, yeah, incredible year from Roberto as well. Speaker 1: Definitely. But to keep it moving along, let's go into now our 2025 Submission of the Year. You know, I know you guys like them high flying. You like a quick flashy one, you know? But, you know, sometimes I like one where the guy kind of, you know, he stays true to the sub. He keeps fight, he keeps going for it over and over, you know? And like they're turning every way, they're trying to get out, but they just keep, you know, layering on relentlessly. That's the type of submission I like. What kind of what kind of stuff are you guys looking for in Sub of the Year? Speaker 2: Relentless. I like a highly tactical checkmate style submission, if I'm being honest, you know, something where, you know, yeah, they go a little back and forth, but it kind of, you know, progresses through until just finally gets to a place where a guy has no choice, he has to tap. Uh uh, you know, it might not be as uh uh much of a a kill, might not be as dynamic, but it's a little bit more satisfying in my opinion. Speaker 1: Yeah. And I know you kind of heard of submissions and never really seen one firsthand. But it's like whenever you get somebody and they have to tap. Speaker 2: Yeah, no. I like when they just grab him by the neck and choke him. Speaker 1: Yeah. That is pretty sweet too. That is pretty sweet too. Speaker 2: That's nice. Speaker 1: All right, so for the 2025 Submission of the Year, it's going to be Mika Galvao's armbar at BJJ Stars 15 against Roberto Jimenez. So a little bit of a bummer there for Roberto. Like we said, all nice stuff for Roberto. But but he is a guy that allows, you know, he allows there to be incredible things. You know, he was also nominated for this category. I very much think, you know, the votes could have went for him submitting Elder Cruz. But it ended up being Mika's uh armbar against Roberto at BJJ Stars 15, the uh final of that Grand Prix. And I mean, this submission is just nuts. When you watch it back, like how long kind of Mika is on the sub and Roberto just keeps like escaping enough and buying time, but like Mika's just able to like layer on top of that like more and more deep attacks and basically on the same armbar, but like just never lets Roberto get fully out of it. Finally able to submit it. So this was a sick one. The atmosphere was absolutely electric there. I was lucky enough to be there for that one and or no, wait, was this yeah, yeah, this is the one I was there for. Yeah, this one was uh pretty incredible, you know, BJJ Stars always an electric environment. And so, this was I thought this was a sick one, but get your thoughts. Speaker 2: Armbar. He's a gunslinger. Yeah, you're right. Yeah. I think this I think this is pretty kind of um worthy. Yeah, yeah. This is this this makes sense to me as as the submission of the year. You know, I feel like we spent a lot of time taking a look at this submission, breaking it down and and just kind of rewatching it over the years because it happened kind of like what, like July-ish maybe? Kind of kind of mid mid through midway through the year. Um we hadn't seen a whole lot of Mika yet, you know, so it was great to see Mika in kind of a um a tournament setting at BJJ Stars, especially with big names like Roberto in there and everything like that. Elijah. Um and uh yeah, I mean, just a relentless submission that Mika, you know, you think he's going to get three or four times. Uh Roberto, you know, has incredible defense, but Mika able to solve that puzzle, you know, at the very, very end. And uh one of the best Mika performances we got to see in 2025 as well. Uh, you know, we didn't see a whole whole bunch of of Mika, but we did get to see one of the greatest submissions uh of the year from him, so. Speaker 1: For sure. Speaker 2: Absolutely. Yeah, uh like you said, we've done some breakdown stuff on it. I did a breakdown video of this armbar specifically. You can find that on our YouTube. Uh yeah, congratulations to Mika. We're looking forward to a great 2026. Come coming back to defend his ADCC title. Who knows, we'll see him in the Gi. That would be incredible if we could. Uh WNO, obviously, we can't wait to have him back. Look forward to a big year for Mika Galvao. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: To be honest, I was partial to Biznaga's um heel hook. To be honest, but two Gi Gi match and submission. Speaker 1: That's pretty high. That's a little too much. That's not crazy. Speaker 2: That's not crazy. Speaker 1: No, I kind of I like the Kyle Terra lock too. But I also just think like listening to Kyle Terra go nuts during it. Like it added more to it, you know? But all right, so shout out Mika, Sub of the Year. And now we just have our final two categories left. We got male and female grapplers of the year. Let's kick it off with the 2025 Female Grappler of the Year. You know, obviously this is a Yeah, we can do a drum roll. This is like someone who kind of is helping elevate the sport, pushing things forward. And the 2025 Female Grappler of the Year is going to be Helena Crevar. Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. It's like a special moment. Speaker 1: Drum roll. Speaker 2: Who else could it be? Speaker 1: Who else? Speaker 2: What a what a great year. Speaker 1: 100%. You want to talk some about about the year she's had, Joe? Speaker 2: Sure. Awesome year from Helena, who was able to win uh major championships in every competition that she was a part of. She won a Gi World Championship at brown belt, got her black belt, won the CGI $100,000 championship, the uh uh highest paid women's tournament of all time. That was incredible. Finished her year with an all submissions run through the Nogi World Championships, won her first black belt Nogi World Championship. It was uh uh yeah, just an incredible year from an 18-year-old talent. Somebody who has already established themselves as the number one pound-for-pound youngest rank, number one pound-for-pound athlete in Flow Grappling history. Uh Helena, what a 2025. This is a really historic year from somebody so young, somebody so talented, somebody who's like you said, helping to push things forward. Can't wait to see what's coming for in 2026. We're going to see Helena try to take her next crack at the one tournament that's kind of eluded her to this point, which is ADCC Worlds. Got a silver last time, coming back for that gold medal this time. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a big storyline. And um yeah, can't can't say enough great things about Helena Crevar. I think for me it was really um CGI, you know, too. I think that that just felt like such a big deal and it was such a so many eyes on that and there was we were just just buzzing about it when it was happening and everything like that. And it kind of stealing the show and even now as we are a couple months removed and there was so much drama that happened between B Team and New Wave and and everything that happened there and and and stuff like that. But it still feels like to me the biggest storyline coming out of that is is Helena. Even, you know, just just to come some months removed for it where a lot of that that drama has kind of dissipated and and just kind of gone to the wayside. I feel like the thing that stands the test of time is that Helena won $100,000, beat Sarah Galvao with via submission in the finals there, beat Adele earlier. Um so, Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: That's like the thing we learned. You know what I mean? Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. Speaker 2: That's like what we tangibly took away from the event, I feel like. And it just really, you know, I think we've been high on Helena for a long, long time, but uh, you know, she is the girl to beat now. Speaker 1: For sure, you know, incredible 2025 from Helena and I think 2026 is going to be. Speaker 2: Oh, won a WNO championship also. Got to put that out there. Speaker 1: WNO championship and defended it as well. So, incredible year from her. I think 2026 is probably going to even be more electric from Helena, to be honest. And I will also say, like, you know, Breakthrough Grappler of the Year, Sarah Galvao, probably going to have. Speaker 2: And defended it. This this was actually This was decided by less than uh one and a half percent. Her her between Helena and uh second place, which was Sarah. I you know, I I feel like we can say that. Uh it was a very, very close uh uh vote there uh between the two that separated them. Uh like we said earlier, this is a rivalry that's just kind of budding and brewing now that they're both black belts. And uh definitely haven't seen the end of it. Can't imagine that we've seen the end of it. This could be the kind of thing where they meet like two or three more times. This could be the kind of thing where they meet like 10 or 12 more times, you know what I mean? Uh they're just so talented that when they get in a bracket, it seems like the only person who's really going to beat the other one is the other one. You know? So, I can't wait. Speaker 1: This this was coming for a crazy 2026, you know? Yeah, for sure. All right, we got one category left. The 2025 Male Grappler of the Year. Is there anything you want to say before we dive into this one? Oh, we're we're boring Reed. This dude's yawning on the freaking awards show. What the heck? But Speaker 2: Sorry. Call me out. Speaker 1: All right, all right. Speaker 2: We're going to cut that part. So this this this is what Speaker 1: No, go ahead. Speaker 2: No. This is because uh there's there's a change in your your habits for the podcast. You're suddenly you're suddenly down. Speaker 1: True. No, Reed's always been a yawner on the podcast. He's normally we hide it. Speaker 2: He's calling me out. Speaker 1: Are you or are you not a podcast yawn type of guy? Speaker 2: I I don't have any specific Speaker 1: Turn the turn the lights up. Turn the lights up. What were you doing Saturday? Speaker 2: I went to the movies. Speaker 1: Okay. All right. All right, so without further ado, the 2025 Male Grappler of the Year is I mean, who else could it be? Besides It's your boy. Adam Wardzinski. Adam Wardzinski. Obviously an insane 2025. Just an electric guy. I'm honestly stoked that Adam ended up winning this one. He's kind of, you know, Speaker 2: Got to be our boy. Adam Wardzinski. Adam Wardzinski. Speaker 1: He was super close last year too. Yeah, and now he's like, you know, he's kind of retired, even though no jiu-jitsu guy's ever fully retired. So it's like, how many more years is Adam going to have a shot at becoming the male grappler of the year? And so I'm stoked that, you know, he was able to get that title kind of here whenever, you know, who knows how much more Adam we're going to see in the future. But Adam Wardzinski, 2025 Male Grappler of the Year. Now we got some dudes making lattes behind us here. But Yeah, sick. But uh Speaker 2: Yeah, no, uh Adam had an incredible year. I think like you said it last time there or whatever that like we were tuning in to watch Adam Wardzinski in 2025. Pans, Euros, Brazileros, Worlds. You know, when it came down to it, you know, I was there to watch um to watch Adam Wardzinski to kind of do his thing this year. So, so um yeah, incredibly did his thing. He ended up kind of losing there at the end, you know, to to Nolan Stewart, but uh won Euros, Pans, Brazileros, Worlds, did the whole thing. Speaker 1: Hey, John Cena tapped out in his last match too. Speaker 2: True, true, true, true. There you go. That is a good uh analogy there. Speaker 1: Still the greatest. Speaker 2: Yeah. Uh uh yeah, Adam had uh what a 2025. Uh became the first European to ever grand slam and then won his second world title on top of that. I believe it's a Hall of Fame worthy career. Time will tell. Uh but uh uh just an incredible, incredible campaign from Adam. Undefeated up through uh the final up to the finals of the crown there. Uh, you know, beat all the toughest guys, beat everybody you could put in front of him, had crazy matches, had crazy submissions, showed the ability to come back. I mean, Adam's just somebody who has delivered on legendary moments time and time again. That, you know, if this truly was a way for him to go out, I think it's proper that he goes out uh with the grappler of the year award. I know that pound-for-pound number one is something he was chasing earlier in the year. He wasn't able to accomplish that. Uh but I I hope that uh this is uh something that uh lets him know that, no, you were the man, you were number one. We all know it. Uh and, you know, we're super supportive of him. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: And luckily we were following Adam through through all this year as well. You know, we we were out in uh in uh Lisbon for his Euros run. We're out in in in Pans and Brazileros. We went and visited him in Poland. Uh went down to to uh to Brazil and hung out with him. Went to Japan and hung out with him. So we got a uh a great Adam Wardzinski movie on the way here. So definitely guys keep an eye out for that. That's coming in 2026 as well. Just kind of the the incredible year that Adam Wardzinski had and put put himself on the map. So. Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I'm stoked to watch that one. I like helped film a lot of it, but I'm still like, damn, dude, I can't wait to watch this. It's going to be sick. But, you know? So, shout out Adam. Pretty stoked for him. Stoked for everybody who uh took a home a Flow Grappling Award this year. You know, obviously, it's uh it's cool to recognize that everyone who's kind of helping, you know, grow the sport, helping propel the sport, getting more people watching and everything. So, yeah, good crop of award winners this year. You guys have any closing thoughts? Anything you want to say before we know? Speaker 2: It's going to be epic. Let us know if we got it right, if we got it wrong, if we if we got some uh some better ideas and uh, you know, we'll try to incorporate them in 2026. Let's go. Speaker 1: Yeah, true. Sound off in the comments. What we did right, what we did wrong. And also tell us what location we should film from next. Speaker 2: Your New Year's resolution. Speaker 1: Yeah, New Year's resolutions. Um but Speaker 2: Drop an FMK in the comments. Let us know. Speaker 1: Yeah. All right, well, thank you all for tuning into this episode. You know, it was nice chatting with everybody here at this undisclosed location. We'll be coming to you live from a new one next week. Not sure where yet. But thanks for tuning in. We'll see you guys in the next episode.