Ashley Bendle

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Ashley Bendle
BornAshley Louise Bendle
(1997-03-29) 29 March 1997 (age 27)
NationalityWelsh
DivisionFeatherweight -58.5 kg (129.0 lb)
StyleBrazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Submission Grappling
Fighting out ofSwansea, Wales
TeamDraig
Chris Rees Academy (CRA)
Rankblack belt in BJJ[a]
OccupationBJJ instructor
Medal record
Representing  Wales
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
World No-Gi Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Long Beach, California -56.5 kg
European Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Paris, France -58.5 kg
European No-Gi Championship
Silver medal – second place 2022 Rome, Italy -56.5 kg

Ashley Bendle (born 29 March 1997) is a Welsh submission grappler, Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner and competitor.[a] A British and European No-Gi champion in coloured belts, Bendle is a black belt No-Gi World, European Open and ADCC trials medalist.[1]

Early career[edit]

Ashley Louise Bendle was born on 29 march 1997, she started training Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) at the age of five.[2] After completing all the youth belts, she received her blue belt at age 16 and started competing in the adult division.[3] Bendle trained in Swansea under Chris Rees, the first Welsh BJJ black belt.[b] At 17 she won silver at the 2015 IBJJF European Open Championship, competing in the light feather (-53.5 kg) division.[4]

After receiving her purple belt from Rees in 2015, Bendle became British featherweight champion and then won bronze at the European championship.[3][5] In 2016 she won gold at the European No-Gi Championship. In 2018 she was one of six athletes to be sponsored by the UKBJJA to compete at the IBJJF European Championship in Lisbon where she won bronze.[6] Bendle was promoted to black belt by Rees in 2019.[7]

Black belt career[edit]

2021–2022[edit]

In September 2021, Bendle fought in the first edition of the ADCC Submission Fighting Championship European Trials taking place in Poland where she arrived second in the -60 kg category.[8]

Competing at Polaris 18 on 27 November 2021, she defeated Kate Bacik via 1 Round Decision.[9] At Polaris 21 on 24 September 2022, Bendle was asked, on just a week's notice, to replace Ffion Davies in a fight for the inaugural under 60 kg title, against multiple-time World and ADCC champion Michelle Nicolini.[10] Bendle lost the fight by split decision but her performance in the match won praises.[11]

At the 2022 IBJJF London International Open, she won two Openweight gold medals, defeating Raquel Ferreira da Silvain in the Gi final and Joanna Dineva in the No-Gi final.[12] In 2022 she won silver at the European No-Gi Championship and bronze at the IBJJF World No-Gi Championship.

2023 onwards[edit]

In January she won Silver at the 2023 European Championship, after defeating Rafaela Rosa of Checkmat, competing in the featherweight division.[13] Bendle trains alongside Polaris triple champion Ashley Williams.[14]

On 25 February 2023 Bendle fought for the inaugural Enyo Grappling under 55kgs title against Sophia Cassella.[15] She won the match by decision and became the promotion's first champion.[16]

Bendle was invited to compete at the first Kairos Pro Jiu-Jitsu event on 7 May 2023.[17] She won 2 matches out of her 4 matches and was unable to make it out of her round-robin group to compete in the final.[18] She then won a silver medal in the featherweight no gi division of the IBJJF London Fall Open 2023 on October 15, 2023.[19]

Bendle won a silver medal in the featherweight division at the IBJJF No Gi European Championship 2023 on October 28, 2023.[20]

Bendle competed against Mara Kelly for the vacant under 55kg title at Grapplefest 17 on November 18, 2023.[21] Se won the match by decision.[22]

Bendle competed in the under 55kg division of the ADCC European, Middle-Eastern, and African Trials 2024.[23] She finished with a silver medal after losing the final to Margot Ciccarelli.[24]

Championships and accomplishments[edit]

Main Achievements (black belt level):[25]

  • IBJJF London International Open Champion (2022[c])
  • IBJJF London International Open No-Gi Champion (2022)
  • IBJJF London Fall International Open Champion (2022[d])
  • IBJJF London Fall International Open No-Gi Champion (2022[d])
  • IBJJF Paris International Open Champion (2022)
  • IBJJF Paris Fall International Open Champion (2022)
  • 2nd place ADCC European Trial (2021)
  • 2nd place IBJJF European No-Gi Championship (2022)
  • 2nd place IBJJF London International Open (2022)
  • 2nd place IBJJF London International Open No-Gi (2022)
  • 3rd place IBJJF World No-Gi Championship (2022)
  • 3rd place IBJJF European Championship (2022 / 2023)
  • 3rd place IBJJF London International Open (2023[26])

Main Achievements (coloured belt level):[27]

  • IBJJF European No-Gi Champion (2016 purple)
  • Naga Elite Gi champion (2017)
  • British champion (2017 purple)
  • 2nd place IBJJF European Championship (2015 blue[4])
  • 2nd place IBJJF British National Championship (2015 purple[28])
  • 3rd place IBJJF European Championship (2019 brown[29])
  • 3rd place IBJJF European Championship (2018 purple[30])
  • 3rd place IBJJF European Championship (2016 purple[31])
  • 3rd place IBJJF British National Championship (2018 purple[32])

Instructor lineage[edit]

Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Carlos Gracie Jr > Braulio Estima > Chris Rees > Ashley Bendle

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b under Chris Rees
  2. ^ under Braulio Estima
  3. ^ Absolute
  4. ^ a b Weight and absolute

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Ashley Bendle – Grappling". Awakening Fighters. 3 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Interview with Ashley Bendle, BJJ black belt at CRA – MMA UK". MMA UK. 21 February 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Ashley Bendle spars with Brett Johns but hopes to make her name in Jiu Jitsu". BBC Sport. 8 February 2018.
  4. ^ a b "IBJJF EUROS 2015". IBJJF.
  5. ^ "Ashley Bendle – Fighter profile". UAE Jiu Jitsu Federation. 14 November 2022.
  6. ^ "UKBJJA Sponsored Athlete Ashley Bendle". Mynewsdesk. 17 January 2018.
  7. ^ "Ashley Bendle – Fighter profile". Smoothcomp. 31 January 2023.
  8. ^ "1st ADCC EUROPEAN, MIDDLE EAST & AFRICAN TRIAL 2021 • ADCC NEWS". adcombat.com. 7 February 2020.
  9. ^ "Ashley Bendle vs. Kate Bacik, Polaris 18 – Grappling Bout". Tapology. 11 November 2021.
  10. ^ Lindsey, Alex (23 September 2022). "Ashley Bendle steps in to face Michelle Nicolini on short notice – Polaris Pro Grappling". Polaris Pro Grappling.
  11. ^ "enyo grappling 2". jitsmagazine.com.
  12. ^ "2022 IBJJF London International Open results". IBJJF.
  13. ^ "IBJJF Euros 2023". International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation.
  14. ^ Burne, Kathrine (12 February 2022). "A Title-Fight And Two More Elite Matches Added To Polaris 19". Jitsmagazine.com.
  15. ^ Burne, Kathrine. "Enyo Grappling 2 Sees Promotion's First Title Fight". JitsMagazine. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  16. ^ Burne, Kathrine. "Ashley Bendle Becomes First Champion At Enyo Grappling 2". JitsMagazine. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  17. ^ Burne, Kathrine. "Kairos Pro Jiu-Jitsu Announces Superb Lineup For First Event". JitsMagazine. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  18. ^ "Kairos Pro Jiu-Jitsu 1 Full Results And Review". JitsMagazine. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  19. ^ "Elite European Grapplers Compete At IBJJF London Fall Open 2023". Jitsmagazine. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  20. ^ "IBJJF No Gi European Championship 2023 Full Results And Review". Jitsmagazine. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  21. ^ de Souza, Diogo. "Grapplefest 17 Full Lineup Announced". Jitsmagazine. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  22. ^ "Grapplefest 17 Full Results And Review". Jitsmagazine. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  23. ^ "ADCC European, Middle-Eastern, And African Trials 2024 Full Preview". Jitsmagazine. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  24. ^ "ADCC European, Middle-Eastern, And African Trials 2024 Full Results And Review". Jitsmagazine. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  25. ^ "Athlete Results Ashley Bendle". IBJJF. 22 February 1999.
  26. ^ "IBJJF". International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation.
  27. ^ "Team UK Athlete Profile: Ashley Bendle". UKBJJA. 28 May 2017.
  28. ^ "IBJJF British National Championship 2015". International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation.
  29. ^ "IBJJF EUROS 2019". IBJJF.
  30. ^ "IBJJF EUROS 2018". IBJJF.
  31. ^ Canaria, Kitt (23 January 2016). "The IBJJF Europeans 2016 Days 1-2 results". Jiu-Jitsu Times.
  32. ^ "IBJJF British National Championship 2018". IBJJF.

External links[edit]

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