The 3 Tough Matches Between Keenan and a Title at IBJJF Euros 2020
Keenan Cornelius now registered under his own affiliation of Legion American Jiu-Jitsu will make his return to the IBJJF Europeans after his absence from the 2019 event.
The Adult Black Belt Heavy Division Bracket for 2020 IBJJF European Championship
Keenan Looks to Repeat 2018 Success at Euros
After Submitting his way through everyone at weight and closing absolute in 2018 with then teammate Lucas Hulk Barbosa Keenan did not compete at Euros in 2019. Since then Keenan has left Atos and formed his own academy and team affiliation Legion American Jiu-Jitsu, also located out of the San Diego area. We look at the ranking in Keenan’s division and some possible outcomes and opponents that may stand between Keenan and another gold performance at the IBJJF European Championships in 2020.
Keenan Overall Points Going into Euros 2020
Keenan at the time of bracketing for the 2020 Euros had 393 IBJJF ranking points placing him as the number one seed in the Adult Black Belt Heavy division. In second place we see Dimitrius Soares Souza with 302 points placing him on the opposite side of the bracket the 2013 Euros champion, and two time IBJJF Worlds Bronze medalist and 4 time Brazilian Nationals champ looks to also take gold at euros. The two have never faced each other before so it is possible that the two may meet in the finals. Dimitrius holds a win over number three ranked Adam Wardzinski the Polish grappler who has 418 points more than both Keenan and Dimi . For this event ranking is determined by Grand Slam points that are listed in the following section.
Keenan ranked as number 1 seed while being second in overall point.
Keenan Cornelius is Top Seed in Black Belt Heavy Division
The IBJJF seeds major events based on Grand Slam points. These points can only be earned at Major IBJJF events with 201 Grand Slam points Keenan has 97 more grand slam points than the next closest competitor in the division Dimitri Soares, and 141 more than Adam Wardzinski. Keenan’s nearly doubling of Dimi grand slam points speaks to his activity and recent placement at IBJJF majors and make him a strong frontrunner for the division, although having never faced Dimi before this is somewhat of an X factor. Given their seeding they can only meet in the finals of the Heavy division.
Keenan With Most Grand Slam Points in the Division
Possible Matchup With Former Teammate Dom Bell
Keenan is possibly scheduled to face newly promoted Atos Black Belt Dom Bell in his first match of the Quarterfinals. The two athletes were teammates until 2019 when Keenan split from Atos and formed his own team. This will be Dom Bells first IBJJF European at black belt since his promotion in 2019. The two trained together as recently as July 2019 in a Judo Randori sessions, and likely after this as well. Both Keenan and Dom have been promoted in Judo since this footage was released on Dom’s Instagram page.
Possible Rematch with Adam Wardzinski
The two met have only met one time at black belt in the Semi-finals of the 94kg bracket for Euros 2018. This match saw Keenan win via armbar against the Polish Black Belt. Adam was in the semi finals of the 2019 Euros against Gustavo Batista who is not registered for the division this year. This matchup might see the butterfly guard work of Wardzinski or could see Keenan implementing his worm and lapel guard depending on which player ends up on bottom position. Both players have shown extreme dynamism of game, and both have added new tools and names to their resume in recent years. The two were both scheduled to participate in ADCC 2019 but Keenan had to pull out due to an eye infection. If these two meet it will be in the finals of the Heavy division.
Possible Quarter Finals Match with Jackson Sousa or Pedro Henrique, and Final Thoughts
By the numbers 4th and 5th ranked grapplers and Jackson Sousa or Pedro Henrique are most likely to meet Keenan in the quarter finals. Keenan has four wins over Jackson Sousa to Sousa zero victories over Keenan, but two of these wins came in 2013 and 2 in 2014 with more than 5 years between their last matchup it is possible that much has changed. Both grapplers will likely approach the matchup differently than in 2014. Neither Jackson or Keenan has faced Pedro Henrique at the time of this event.
The finals Matchup could also see Keenan face Dimitrius Soares Souza, or possibly Wardzinski as discussed above. This matchup based on the rankings will see these two meet in the semi finals of the right side of the bracket. Dimitrius currently holds a 6 to 4 points win over Wardzinski from the Quarter finals of the 2017 IBJJF World Championships, this is the only time that these two grapplers have faced each other. With how close the match was in 2017 and the changes Wardzinski has made to his game since then this is a possibly a very interesting semi-finals matchup.
Although Keenan is the top seed and the favorite to take the 2020 IBJJF Euros Heavy Division he has significant opposition also looking to take gold at the event. At the time of this article it is unknown if Keenan will register for the Absolute division, (edit: Keenan has now registered for the open class) where he could possibly face Mikey Musumeci at Light Feather is the lightest current registration in the open class.
Check out our video show where we discuss the 2020 IBJJF European Championship Brackets below. Preview starts at 28:30.
Written By: Maine Miller