Ashley Bendle Explained

Ashley Bendle
Birth Name:Ashley Louise Bendle
Nationality:Welsh
Birth Date:1997 3, df=yes
Occupation:BJJ instructor
Rank:black belt in BJJ
Weight Class:Featherweight -58.51NaN1
Team:Draig
Chris Rees Academy (CRA)
Style:Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Submission Grappling
Fighting Out Of:Swansea, Wales

Ashley Bendle (born 29 March 1997) is a Welsh submission grappler, Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner and competitor. 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

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. 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.[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

2021–2022

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

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

Main Achievements (black belt level):[25]

Main Achievements (coloured belt level):[27]

Instructor lineage

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

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ashley Bendle – Grappling . Awakening Fighters . 2022-10-03 .
  2. Web site: 2021-02-21 . Interview with Ashley Bendle, BJJ black belt at CRA – MMA UK . MMA UK.
  3. Web site: 2018-02-08 . Ashley Bendle spars with Brett Johns but hopes to make her name in Jiu Jitsu . BBC Sport.
  4. Web site: IBJJF EUROS 2015. IBJJF.
  5. Web site: 2022-11-14 . Ashley Bendle – Fighter profile . UAE Jiu Jitsu Federation.
  6. Web site: 2018-01-17 . UKBJJA Sponsored Athlete Ashley Bendle . Mynewsdesk.
  7. Web site: 2023-01-31 . Ashley Bendle – Fighter profile . Smoothcomp.
  8. Web site: 2020-02-07 . 1st ADCC EUROPEAN, MIDDLE EAST & AFRICAN TRIAL 2021 • ADCC NEWS . adcombat.com.
  9. Web site: 2021-11-11 . Ashley Bendle vs. Kate Bacik, Polaris 18 – Grappling Bout . Tapology.
  10. Web site: Lindsey . Alex . 2022-09-23 . Ashley Bendle steps in to face Michelle Nicolini on short notice – Polaris Pro Grappling . Polaris Pro Grappling.
  11. Web site: enyo grappling 2. jitsmagazine.com.
  12. Web site: 2022 IBJJF London International Open results . IBJJF .
  13. Web site: IBJJF Euros 2023 . International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation.
  14. Web site: Burne . Kathrine . A Title-Fight And Two More Elite Matches Added To Polaris 19 . Jitsmagazine.com . 2022-02-12 .
  15. Web site: Burne . Kathrine . Enyo Grappling 2 Sees Promotion’s First Title Fight . JitsMagazine . 26 February 2023.
  16. Web site: Burne . Kathrine . Ashley Bendle Becomes First Champion At Enyo Grappling 2 . JitsMagazine . 26 February 2023.
  17. Web site: Burne . Kathrine . Kairos Pro Jiu-Jitsu Announces Superb Lineup For First Event . JitsMagazine . 9 May 2023.
  18. Web site: Kairos Pro Jiu-Jitsu 1 Full Results And Review . JitsMagazine . 9 May 2023.
  19. Web site: Elite European Grapplers Compete At IBJJF London Fall Open 2023 . Jitsmagazine . 17 October 2023.
  20. Web site: IBJJF No Gi European Championship 2023 Full Results And Review . Jitsmagazine . 30 October 2023.
  21. Web site: de Souza . Diogo . Grapplefest 17 Full Lineup Announced . Jitsmagazine . 21 November 2023.
  22. Web site: Grapplefest 17 Full Results And Review . Jitsmagazine . 21 November 2023.
  23. Web site: ADCC European, Middle-Eastern, And African Trials 2024 Full Preview . Jitsmagazine . 18 February 2024.
  24. Web site: ADCC European, Middle-Eastern, And African Trials 2024 Full Results And Review . Jitsmagazine . 18 February 2024.
  25. Web site: 1999-02-22 . Athlete Results Ashley Bendle . IBJJF.
  26. Web site: IBJJF. International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation .
  27. Web site: 2017-05-28 . Team UK Athlete Profile: Ashley Bendle . UKBJJA.
  28. Web site: IBJJF British National Championship 2015 . International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation.
  29. Web site: IBJJF EUROS 2019 . IBJJF.
  30. Web site: IBJJF EUROS 2018 . IBJJF.
  31. Web site: Canaria . Kitt . 2016-01-23 . The IBJJF Europeans 2016 Days 1-2 results . Jiu-Jitsu Times.
  32. Web site: IBJJF British National Championship 2018 . IBJJF.

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