We're so hyped for the Spyder Invitational Finals we couldn't wait to give you our thoughts. So we're bringing them to you live.

Tonight I'll be working the graveyard shift from the east coast, giving you real-time updates on the Spyder Invitational BJJ Championships Final going down in Korea.

SPYDER START TIMES pic.twitter.com/hpiYQc5Mmr

— FloGrappling (@FloGrappling) November 22, 2019

Spyder has nicknamed this event "King of Kings." And it's no wonder why. In the -100 kg division, six of the eight men registered are IBJJF Black Belt World Champions. In the -76 kg division, four of the eight are have Black Belt Worlds titles. In both groups, there are massive stakes. The winners will take home $100,000 and ultimate bragging rights.

Both of these divisions are stacked; any one of these matchups could be a superfight or a Worlds Finals. We'll see some of the hottest competitors this year: Nicholas Meregali, Kaynan Duarte, Matheus Gabriel, Gabriel Arges, Levi Jones-Leary.

Spyder has also blessed us with some major dark horses, including -76 kg brown belt Matheus Lutes and -100 kg brown belt Anderson Munis.

Then, there's the exciting wild card: the return of five time IBJJF World Champ Rodolfo Vieira.

With this roster, and with seven-minute time limits on matches, this is sure to be explosive. 

Here are the two brackets: 

Let's get things started... 

-76 kg Eliminator: Johnatha Alves vs. Jamil Hill-Taylor

Incredible start to the lightweight division! Johnatha Alves does what he does best, hitting a quick berimbolo-style back take on Jamil Hill Taylor and secures a rear naked choke in less than one minute. This is his first major tournament at black belt and he's already shown he can make short work of a world champ. With this victory, Alves is 2-0 against Hill-Taylor. Both have come in Spyder Invitational competitions.

-76 kg Eliminator: Edwin Najmi vs. Matheus Gabriel

Gabriel was the more active combatant early, using berimbolo and matrix-style attacks to try to get to Najmi's back. His closest attempt left him up by an advantage and earned him a two point sweep. Gabriel then dove for a kneebar, allowing Najmi to tie the points. But Najmi then sold out on an ankle lock attempt, giving Gabriel the space to sweep from the 50/50 position.

With a 4-2 victory, Gabriel will take on Alves in the semi-finals.

-76 kg Eliminator: Gabriel Arges vs. Levi Jones-Leary

This one ended 2-2 with one advantage each. Ref's decision makes Levi Jones-Leary the winner. Jones-Leary was more aggressive at the onset, alternating between back attacks and botinha-style leg attacks. He appeared to have the opportunity to score a sweep at several instances during the match, most notably with just a minute to spare when he opted to close his guard rather than taking the sweep.

Arges attempted an ill-advised ankle lock, allowing Leary to score; but he used his 50-50 mastery to sweep back, returning to the top position and tying the score.

Arges was late to turn on the switch. Too little, too late may have cost him the match.

-76 kg Eliminator: Matheus Lutes vs. Inseong Jang

The crowd got behind hometown hero Inseong Jang, but it wasn't enough to break down the rock-solid base of Matheus Lutes. Lutes scored two points early on a takedown and stayed on top for the victory. He tried to end it with a belly down foot lock, but abandoned it. Instead, he relied on base and pressure to secure a 2-0 victory.

He'll move on to face Jones-Leary in the semis.

The -76 kg Semi Finals will be:

Johnatha Alves vs. Matheus Gabriel

Levi Jones-Leary vs. Matheus Lutes

-100 kg Eliminator: Tim Spriggs vs. Nicholas Meregali

Both men look like they're trying to prove a point in this one, coming out with a high pace and quick transitions. Meregali attacks the omoplata and uses it to come up. He finds the right opportunity the jump to the back and goes right to the double label grip for the tap.

Textbook Meregali.

He looks so intense today. I don't know if anyone will be able to get in his way.

-100 kg Eliminator: Claudio Calasans vs. Erberth Santos

Calasans pulled guard and began a sequence of matrix back attacks and leg entanglements, which visibly furstrate Santos. Santos found the opportunity to come up with a pass attempt. But Calasans shows his experience and scrambles out of bounds. Calasans pulls guard again and sinks a toe-hold.

As they roll, Santos counters with a toe hold of his own and secures the submission.

Meregali and Santos will finally have a chance to settle things in the semi-finals. Both men have been trash talking each other on social media, and were scheduled to face off at Fight 2 Win.

Instead, it happens here.

-100 kg Eliminator: Kaynan Duarte vs. Leandro Lo

Reigning World Champ Kaynan Duarte berated Leandro Lo early. He might have tried 50 snap down attempts using Lo's lapel. The opening exchange earned Duarte a guillotine, securing an advantage. Lo found his way to the bottom, where Duarte's pressure was enough to hold Lo down and lock up a victory by advantages.

Duarte is having an unbelievable black belt debut year, now with two victories over Lo.

-100 kg Eliminator: Rodolfo Vieira vs. Anderson Munis

Vieira looked to apply his legendary top pressure early. Munis found the room to elevate Vieira for an overhead sweep, putting Vieira to his back, seucring the points before tumbling out of bounds. Vieira appeared to hurt his shoulder on the exchange.

Munis pulled to guard on the reset, and Vieira made short work of a walk-around pass to secure pass points. Munis was able to re-guard; but had to face the spirit-breaking pass pressure of Vieira. 

With 20 seconds to spare, Vieira locked up an arm triangle to tap the Alliance brown belt, Munis.

Stopping Vieira's pressure is a daunting task; and Duarte will be the next man to face it.

The -100 kg Semi Finals will be:

Nicholas Meregali vs. Erberth Santos

Kaynan Duarte vs. Rodolfo Vieira

-76 kg Semifinal: Johnatha Alves vs. Matheus Gabriel

Gabriel was largely passive through the middle of the match, locking Alves in closed guard for several minutes. Alves made concerted efforts to break the guard, and then to pass. In the closing seconds, Gabriel bridged into his De La Riva hook and game on top. There was not enough time on the clock to score points; but he earned an advantage, nonetheless, defeating Alves who would otherwise have likely won by decision.

-76 kg Semifinal: Levi Jones-Leary vs. Matheus Lutes

Jones-Leary swarmed Lutes early, shooting in with a guard pull and almost giving up an omoplata before nearly coming up to the back. Jones-Leary showed flower sweep attempts a number of times before coming up on one, diving right to back control on his way up. 

Down by six with two minutes to work, Lutes aggressively chained pass attempts together; but the crafty guard of Jones-Leary proved too much to overcome.

The -76 kg finalists:

Matheus Gabriel and Levi Jones-Leary

This matchup could be some degree of redemption for Jones-Leary, who was disqualified in at Worlds this year on penalties. 

-100 kg Semifinal: Nicholas Meregali vs. Erberth Santos

Meregali looks absolutely possessed. After a trying to force an omoplata cautiously fended off by Santos, Meregali came up on a De La Riva hook sweep. They exchanged sweeps after; and as Meregali came up, Santos snagged a toe-hold attempt.

Meregali escaped the lock but made contact with Santos' head in the transition.

Santos, frustrated by the blow, stopped fighting. Both competitors started arguing while Meregali remained across Santos' side. After warning from the referee, Meregali continued his attack. But Santos stopped defending. He tapped to a key lock before continuing the conversation on the side of the mat. 

Disappointing. This match began with high pace but culminated in bickering.

-100 kg Semifinal: Kaynan Duarte vs. Rodolfo Vieira

Viera fell victim to the high output of Duarte. Early on, Duarte elevated Vieira into an inside sankaku style sweep. Despite an onslaught of passing attempts, he was not able to get through the guard of Vieira. But the Atos black belt was clearly in control from the moment he got on top.

Viera has not competed in the gi since 2018. Duarte, meanwhile, has entered, and won, virtually every tournament of importance this year. That difference made itself clear in this match.

The -100 kg finalists are:

Nicholas Meregali and Kaynan Duarte

Are any two black belts having a more successful year in gi competition?

Duarte beat Meregali last year at World Series of Grappling, but lost to him earlier this year at the absolute semifinal of Brasileros. this rubber match feels somehow destined. Meregali seems unstoppable. But Duarte is here to prove a point.

-76 kg Final: Matheus Gabriel vs. Levi Jones-Leary

For the first half of the match, Levi Jones-Leary looked like he might not have learned his lesson from facing a double-disqualification at Worlds earlier this year. Both competitors faced three penalties for not coming up off the double guard pull. 

Gabriel was the first to come up on the fourth double guard pull, giving Jones-Leary an opportunity to attack. His crab ride sequence did not secure points. But it did put him in the position to crank on Gabriel's foot.

With the score tied and less than a minute to go, Gabriel made a tactical error, rolling for an attack. Jones-Leary sprung up to top position to secure points, and to guarantee his Spyder Invitational Championship title in his rookie year as a black belt.

-100 kg Final: Nicholas Meregali vs. Kaynan Duarte

Despite Meregali's best efforts, Duarte remained unsweepable today. Meregali attacked with a barrage of his highest-percentage techniques from the guard; but Duarte remained conservative, holding his opponent down and attempting a few loose, explosive passes. Duarte wins the scoreless match by decision.

With a victory of Meregali, Duarte put a stamp on his monster year.