Welcome to ‘The Open GuardCast Jiu-Jitsu Podcast’, which is a project dedicated to promoting jiu-jitsu pros. Tune in each week, for interviews, current events, & analysis of everything going on in the world of jiu-jitsu & submission grappling! Your host is Danny O’Donnell. In addition to hosting this podcast, he’s an MMA journalist contributing here at BE, as well as at Black Belt Mag. O’Donnell himself is a BJJ black belt who trains at the Marcio Andre Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Phoenix, AZ. Last week we introduced a jiu-jitsu current events portion of the show. This week we discussed current events in the jiu-jitsu world and the AJP Tour Orlando event that is coming up on April 16th. ______________________________________________ Our guest interview this week was with Carlos Diaz, he joined right in to cover all the current events, and more! Carlos is a third degree black belt under Rafael Rebello and one of the organizers of this year’s AJP Tour - Orlando. Enjoy the show! Q1: Do you have any thoughts on the breaking news in the BJJ scene that Nicholas Meregali is set for his no-gi debut at this month’s WNO against Arnaldo Maidana? — At 1:18 Q2: What are your thoughts on the match up between Galvao and De Ridder coming up at ONE-X from ONE Championship this month? — At 6:31 Q3: At that same ONE Championship ‘ONE-X’ ten year anniversary event, is an Atomweight Submission Grappling match between Yamaguchi and Kelly, what are your thoughts on that match? — At 11:10 Q4: What do you think about Danielle Kelly’s game? Have you paid attention to some of her WNO matches, other no-gi and superfight matches in other promotions like Fury FC? — At 12:49 Q5: What do you think about ONE signing Mikey Musumeci and what it could mean for a potential grappling circuit to evolve for ONE FC? — At 14:29 Q6: What are your thoughts on Andy Murasaki being able to compete and win at Middleweight, at a lighter weight, recently? — At 21:09 Q7: What are your thoughts on ‘Mica’ and what he has been able to do lately? — At 25:39 Q8: Did you happen to see Mica’s bout with Pedro Marinho at the Third Coast Grappling middleweight tournament? — At 36:09 Q9: Did you have any thoughts on that match Mica lost to Mauricio Oliveira at a Brazilian no-gi match on a BJJ Bet card? — At 37:08 Q10: Did you have any thoughts on Mica’s match with Tye Ruotolo at WNO? — At 38:34 Q11: What advice would you give to someone who wants to be a Professional Grappler, doesn’t want that full time job, and they’re competing at all the events they need to and they’re competing on the mat... what advice would you give someone like that, for what they can do off the mat to help them further their career? — At 46:11 Q12: Can you share some insight into the upcoming AJP Orlando Tour and let people know how they can get signed up? — At 50:12 Q13: Do you have any insight into future events in the US, or coming up on the horizon to share with us? — At 53:39 You can follow Danny on twitter — @DannyOD_BJJ, or insta — @dannyod_bjj. The show’s insta is @openguardcast, or on Fb. This week’s guest, Carlos Diaz at @losdiaz2531 and the AJP Tour at @ajp_usa and @ajptour. Be sure to tune in for next week’s show & learn more about the world of jiu-jitsu, on Wed, Mar 16th., at 2PM CST, for Episode 128. We will have another fascinating BJJ interview; our guest will be Tom DeBlass, as well as current events, and analysis of everything going on in the world of jiu-jitsu and submission grappling! If you enjoy our shows, "heart" us here on SC, or "like" & share over on whichever BE Presents Podcast Channel happens to be your listening platform of choice.