Third Coast Grappling continue their highly acclaimed Kumite series this weekend with their second gi tournament. It's an openweight affair and features some of the very best jiu-jitsu fighters of the modern era; $10k is on the line – along with some serious bragging rights. 

The FloGrappling staff has prepared their picks and are ready to lay down their bets for the stacked affair. 

Watch 3CG Kumite II LIve June 20 On FloGrappling

Reid:  Dang! This tournament is crazy and it’s hard to know even where to start.

 Gustavo Batista won the last 3GC tournament and he looked great doing it, with his dominant passing game he has to be the favorite to repeat here

. I could see Fellipe Andrew giving him some trouble but with his experience and the way Gustavo has dominated his foes for years now I feel safe in picking him to at least make the finals. 

On the right side you've got two guys who are starting to pull away from the pack, brown belt Pedro Marinho and the #4 consensus P4P grappler Victor Hugo. 

You may have been hearing Pedro Marinho's name a lot recently and for good reason. After taking gold at the super tough JitsKing tournament he'll be riding a wave of momentum and while this tournament on paper has the bigger names, I still expect Pedro to do quite well here. 

Finally, we have to talk about Victor Hugo

. I'm not sure anyone has had a better 2020 than this Ribeiro jiu-jitsu black belt. Coming off a huge submission victory over Fellipe Andrew and a few high profile wins before that, Victor Hugo is coming into his own as the guy to beat.

 Victor vs Gustavo is the final and I can't wait to watch. I believe these guys have never faced off and there will be plenty of questions answered when this thing is over. 

Prediction: Victor Hugo def. Gustavo Batista via triangle

Riccardo: Third Coast is back with another stacked bracket. 

Very very tough to call and love the diverse weight classes between these 8 beats. I feel like after winning the first 3rd Coast event, Batista has some great momentum now.  I can see him winning that side of the bracket. 

Victor Hugo is my pick to win the other side f the bracket. I think we could end up seeing a Batista vs Victor Hugo finals. 

My pick is Victor Hugo, the next big thing, taking the whole thing. 

Ryan:  This bracket is stacked! 

On the left, I see Gustavo Batista and Felipe Andrew progressing into the semi-final. After watching the last Kumite, Gustavo looked incredible and I see him making his way into the final.

On the right side, I believe that Victor Hugo and Pedro Marinho are going to meet in the semis. 

Pedro had an incredible week last weeked and is on fire right now. However, the same can be said for Victor Hugo.

 In the end, I predict that we will see Victor Hugo face off against Gustavo Batista and Victor takes this one.

Chase: Third Coast Grappling is back with another incredible tournament. Shoutout to these guys for always pushing the envelope.

As my colleagues have mentioned above, two standout names rise to the top on the lefthand side of the bracket: Gustavo Batista and Fellipe Andrew: all signs point to them colliding in the semi-final.

Should that come to fruition, the advantage surely goes to Batista who has looked absolutely flawless in his recent performances.

The righthand side of the bracket has a few more twists and turns. 

 Victor Hugo versus Riccardo Evangelista is best described as a clash of titans – they the two biggest men in the tournament, and they have a history against one another: Victor Hugo currently has a better record with two wins to Evengalista's lone victory. 

Pedro Marinho and Jonnatas Gracie round out the bracket – and though Marinho has looked unstoppable of late, I'd argue that he's more of a no-gi player, and this format may play into Gracie's skillset.  

Jonnatas Gracie will likely meet Victor Hugo in the semi-final, a repeat of the 2018 and 2019 Purple & Brown belt Absolute World Title Matches.  Despite the size advantage for Hugo, the pair stand 1-1, though at this point in their careers I'd argue that Hugo's game is tighter than ever before, and he may simply be able to overhwlem the Atos competitor

The final: Batista vs Hugo is a fan's dream – we've got one oft he greatest passers today in Batista taking on possibly the best guard currently featured in the ultra-heavyweight division.  I wouldn't be surprised if these goes into the student death overtime period, and Batista's quickness may provide the edge in that scenario.

Batista via Golden Score. 

 Michael: I think Victor Hugo continues to roll at this one, it's not gonna be easy though. 

 I see him meeting Jonnatas Gracie second round, Jonnatas beat them in the world's open class when they were purple belts but I have Victor taking this one. 

The other side it's pretty easy to call a Batista vs Fellipe Andrew semi. I think Batista takes it to set up a final with Victor, where Victor's size will be too much for him. The combination of Victor Hugo, Gustavo Batista and Fellipe Andrew will be battling it out in open class finals for years to come.

Prediction: Victor Hugo defeats Gustavo Batista in overtime