Living MMA is back at it again.
The Slovenian-based martial arts media outlet has released a new highlight video featuring a variety of action clips from last weekend’s Grand Prix Zagreb Open in Croatia. The video, which runs a little over two minutes, is a wonderful promotional tool for Greco-Roman wrestling as it puts on full display the excitement and artistry associated with the sport. For an additional dramatic element, there is even modern orchestra music of some sort playing in the background. In short, it is absolutely worth checking out and sharing due to how effectively it captures the spirit of Greco for those who may be otherwise unaware.
Several of the US Marine Corps wrestlers who participated in the Zagreb Open, including bronze medalist Xavier Johnson (60 kg), can be seen throughout the video along with many of the other top stars who laced them up on Saturday. Johnson’s performance obviously stood out the most, beginning his day with a tech loss to 2017 World Champion Kerim Kamal (TUR) before he scored a 4-2 win over Bence Kovaks (HUN) to stay alive in Pool A competition. A loss in the 60-kilogram semifinal sent him to the bronze medal bout and a rematch with Kamal. Johnson then quickly washed away any remaining skepticism regarding his chances in that affair when he threw and pinned Kamal in :45 to sew up his first international medal.
German Diaz (67 kg, PUR/Marines) may not have reached the podium in Zagreb, but his first-round win against Ismael Lucio (ARG) saw him pile up some points, and as such, it was enough to catch the Living MMA cameraman’s eye, as two sequences of Diaz’s offense make an appearance just over a minute in. One big moment in particular that came courtesy of a wrestler not from the United States belonged to Turkey’s Dogus Ayaczi, who won the event at 55 kilograms. Ayaczi wails a pretty reverse lift for five on Sandro Frankol (CRO), and that pops up at the 1:30 mark.
This is not Living MMA’s first Greco highlight video from Zagreb. They also released one last year showcasing Alex Sancho‘s (67 kg, NYAC) win over Mate Nemes (SRB) and Kamal Bey‘s (77 kg, Sunkist) bronze-clinching fall against Michael Wagner (AUT).
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