Category: News

The lineup for Polaris 27 has now been finalized after a few minor changes and the last preliminary card matchups have been booked. The final two preliminary matches will feature some top prospects from around the UK, including a battle between two exciting Welsh grapplers in Tom Tovey and Finn Carey. Kane Darcy is another young competitor who will be eager to make an impression as he faces Polaris veteran Tassanai Soniak. Two changes have also taken place on the preliminary card as Max Armstrong and Kristie Raby have both stepped in on short notice to compete against Will Nicholls and Robyn Lucas respectively. Two more competitors have stepped in on short notice in the Polaris 27 superfights too, with one of them getting the opportunity to compete for the vacant featherweight title. ADCC Trials silver medalist Cammy Donnelly has will replace Owen Jones in the title-fight against Keith Krikorian, as he looks to make a big statement with a win over a top competitor. In the other superfight, top-ranked UFC featherweight Alex Caceres has replaced Mason Jones in the match against fellow UFC veteran Nathaniel Wood. There's a new face in the welterweight grand prix too, as Max Hanson...

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All 8 spots in the welterweight grand prix at Polaris 27 have now been filled as the final invite has been handed out and the Contenders tournament has come to an end. Harrison Woods managed to emerge victorious in the Contenders tournament, despite facing a field of incredibly tough competitors like Julian Espinosa and Ollie Webb. It was a dominant performance from start to finish for Woods and not only did he earn the opportunity to compete for the $20,000 grand prize but he also made a statement in doing so. Woods might not be as established as the other 7 men in the bracket, but his qualifying performance demonstrated that he's more than capable of taking home the title. The final invite was given to Luiz Paulo, who is coming in fresh off a fantastic performance at the ADCC South American Trials that saw him win gold in the under 77kg division. Paulo is no stranger to the Polaris stage either though, as he was a member of the no gi Brazilian team that won Polaris Squads 4. He registered 4 draws at that event, going toe-to-toe with two top American competitors in Jon 'Thor' Blank and Nathan Orchard.

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The welterweight grand prix at Polaris 27 is now three-quarters of the way full, as the next two competitors have joined the lineup. First up is one of the top 10th Planet representatives around right now, PJ Barch. Not only is Barch an ADCC veteran, but he also holds wins over some of the best grapplers in the division like JT Torres and Dante Leon. Barch has been a fantastic competitor for several years now but he had his breakthrough performance at ADCC 2022, where he managed to finish in fourth place in one of the most stacked 77kg divisions the promotion has ever seen. The next entrant to the Polaris welterweight grand prix is top New Wave Jiu-Jitsu prospect Davis Asare, who recently broke through to the highest level of competition with an incredible performance at ADCC European Trials. Asare took silver in the 77kg division by beating both Oliver Taza and the Polaris welterweight champion Mateusz Szczecinski. It was a fantastic performance that Asare will be looking to build off by beating some of the huge names competing at Polaris 27.

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Another incredible superfight has been added to the lineup for Polaris 27 and this one will feature two top UK MMA fighters with a ton of UFC experience between them. Nathaniel Wood still competes in the UFC in fact, and he's been a constant presence in the bantamweight and featherweight divisions for more than the last five years. He holds a 20-6 professional MMA record and is a former Cage Warriors bantamweight world champion, with experience in the cage dating all the way back to 2012. He was originally supposed to face off with Aljamain Sterling back at Polaris 25 but had to withdraw from the match, so now he's back to test himself against a different competitor. His opponent will be Mason Jones, one of the top Welsh MMA fighters of his generation and a former Cage Warriors double champion. Jones won both the lightweight and welterweight titles in 2020 before being called up to the UFC. After a four-fight stint for the promotion he returned to Cage Warriors in 2023 and has gone on an absolute tear since then. Finishing all three of his fights, Jones has improved his professional MMA record to 14-2 (1) over the last...

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There's been a change to the lineup for Polaris 27 as the vacant featherweight title will now have a different man competing for it. Owen Jones is still able to make the date and will be competing for the belt, but he will now be facing a different opponent. Gabriel Sousa has had to withdraw from the match and one of the top 10th Planet competitors on the planet will be taking his place. Keith Krikorian is an ADCC veteran who has beaten several of the biggest names in the sport over the years, along with winning a Combat Jiu-Jitsu World Championship in the past as well. This will be just as much of an important test for Jones as his match with Sousa would have been, as both men represent a level of competition that Jones hasn't been able to face before. Since his phenomenal ADCC Trials performance that saw him earn an invite to ADCC 2024, Jones has earned the right to challenge some of the best around. A win here not only gives Jones his first major title but also shows that he might be able to cause some huge upsets when he takes to the mats...

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Polaris 27 is scheduled for March 23rd, 2024 and although the welterweight grand prix is still in the process being announced, the preliminary card has also started taking shape too. Ten matches have been added to the preliminary card, and each one features some of the best grapplers from around Europe. UFC veteran Phil Harris will be returning to the Polaris mats to face Cage Warriors contender Kris Edwards, while Shane Price will also be coming back to the promotion against Christian Ozbek. Ryan Williams and Gavin Stewart have also been booked to face one another in what is sure to be an exciting match between two fast-paced grapplers. Thomas James will be looking to repeat the performance from his Polaris debut recently, as he takes on Manu Perez. Alex Aston and Josh Ellis are another pair of MMA veterans who will be clashing with one another, while entertaining competitors Harri Evans and Yalcin Sucu will no doubt be putting on a show. Two grapplers with a ton of experience behind them will also be meeting on the preliminary card, with Gavin Thomas and Stuart Duffy both eager to get the win on the biggest stage in Europe. The final...

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Although the main attraction at Polaris 27 is the welterweight grand prix, there will also be a pair of title-fights on the card as well. The men's featherweight title-fight has already been announced, and now Ffion Davies will be putting her under 55kg title on the line as well. Davies has been the champion since Polaris 7 in 2019, when she won the vacant belt by submitting Gezary Matuda. She made her first title-defense at Polaris 11 when she beat Talita Alencar by decision and she has since established herself as one of the best female competitors on the planet. She is currently the reigning ADCC under 60kg world champion, the reigning IBJJF lightweight world champion in both the gi and no gi, and the reigning IBJJF no gi absolute world champion too. She will have a tough challenge ahead of her at Polaris 27 though, as she will be facing one of Canada's top competitors Brianna Ste-Marie. Not only did Ste-Marie win the IBJJF no gi world championship at lightweight in 2022 when Davies was not competing in the division, but she also stood opposite her in the final of ADCC 2022. Davies won that match 10-0 on points...

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Polaris 27 will take place on March 23rd, 2024 and the featherweight title will be on the line in the main event. Although Ashley Williams was the reigning champion he's unable to defend it due to other commitments and has vacated it instead. Owen Jones will be the first challenger for the vacant title, and he's coming in off the back of an incredible performance at ADCC Trials where he won the 66kg division. Although he was only recently promoted to brown belt, he's already proven that he is capable of beating elite black belt competitors. That's exactly what he'll need to do too, as the other challenger for the vacant title is Gabriel Sousa. Not only has Sousa been one of the best featherweight grapplers on the planet for a while, but he's also the silver medalist at 66kg from ADCC 2022. He will be quite possibly the biggest challenge of Jones' career to date, but it's also a huge opportunity for him to prove that he belongs with the best in his weight class. For Sousa, this represents a chance to confirm his status at the top of the division and an early opportunity to test himself against...

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Another two competitors have joined the welterweight grand prix lineup for Polaris 27 and after Jozef Chen and Jed Hue, that means that the lineup is now halfway to being complete. Both the third and fourth men in the bracket are actually gi competitors primarily, but they are both tough opponents no matter the ruleset. First up is top Australian competitor Levi Jones-Leary, who has won several major IBJJF tournaments over the course of his career so far. He has already beaten some of the biggest names in the sport like Oliver Taza, Gianni Grippo, and Lucas Lepri, so he stands a good chance of winning this tournament too. The fourth entrant is one of the best competitors in Europe, Espen Mathiesen. It'll be interesting to see if Mathiesen is able to get his patented berimbolo game to work well in no gi competition, but he's already used it to great effect in the gi. He's won the IBJJF European Open and has plenty of experience on the Polaris mats, with four matches under his belt already. Each one of them was an impressive outing, and he hasn't been beaten at Polaris yet.

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Polaris 27 will take place in Newport, Wales on March 23rd, 2024 and it will feature a welterweight grand prix with 8 of the best grapplers in the world from that weight class. With a grand prize of $20,000 available for the winner, the men who get invited to compete will undoubtedly be fighting tooth and nail to win the tournament. Out of the field of competitors, 7 of them will be invited based on their accomplishments in the sport and performances on the Polaris mats. The final spot will then go to the winner of a Polaris contenders tournament that will take place on February 24th, 2024 at Great Britain Top Team HQ in London, England. Although all competitors will have to weigh in at under 77kg for Polaris 27, those competing in the contenders tournament will be allowed to weigh as much as 80kg on the day. This will also serve as a great build-up for Polaris 27, as it will give fans of preview of one of the dark horses to take home the grand prize.

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With just a few days left before Polaris 26 kicks off, the preliminary card has now been finalised with the last five matches confirmed. First up is a BJJ blue belt Franck Takoudjou who comes all the way from Cameroon, courtesy of the Francis Ngannou Foundation. He's one of the top prospects competing in the UK right now and he will be facing one of his biggest challenges yet in Gracie Barra Top Team's Archer Colaco. Takoudjou's coach and the founder of the BJJ program at the Francis Ngannou Foundation, Sam Crook, will also be competing at Polaris 26. Crook faces Mike Parry in an exciting rematch between two veteran black belt competitors. UFC veteran Phil Harris is returning to the Polaris mats too, and he'll be facing off against another experienced competitor in Mark Phung. Harris isn't the only man with Polaris experience competing on the preliminary card either, as Justin Moore returns to face Mathew Fitz-James. That match is sure to deliver plenty of action too, as both men are known for their exciting styles. The final preliminary card match is between two veterans of the women's MMA scene in the UK, as Kerry Isom and Jade Barker...

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The full main card lineup for Polaris 26 has been finalised, with the last match rounding out the event and adding even more excitement. The final main card match will see Polaris Contenders winner Marcin Maciulewicz returning after a valiant effort at the Polaris Absolute Grand Prix. He looked incredible at the Polaris Contenders tournament but had the bad luck of drawing reigning ADCC world champion Giancarlo Bodoni in the opening round of the grand prix. Although Maciulewicz was submitted, that match was a huge step up in competition and he still remains one of the top grapplers in Europe. Maciulewicz will be facing Max Bickerton, the head coach of one of the top no gi grappling gyms in the UK. Although Bickerton is busy bringing on the next generation of talent at Grapple Collective, he's also a Polaris veteran who is coming off a slick submission win in his last appearance. It's a great matchup between two top talents where both men will be eager to find the finish and make a huge impression on the biggest show in Europe.

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With Polaris 26 fast approaching, the preliminary card has just started to fill out with the first four matches taking shape. The first one features a pair of Polaris veterans, Dominic Dillon and Claudio Brudny, facing each other in what will almost certainly be an exciting match where both men will be hunting for the finish. They aren't the only men with Polaris experience on the preliminary card either, as Nathan Johnstone is a fan favorite who always guarantees excitement. he will be making his return to the Polaris mats in a tough matchup against top European competitor Luiz Finocchio. Along with experienced veterans, there are some top UK prospects who will also be competing at Polaris 26. Jack Hassard has a number of big wins on the regional grappling circuit and he'll get his first shot on a major promotion against Abraham Dannan, a tough grappler under the wing of Owen Livesey. Nia Blackman has emerged as one of the top female talents in the UK over the last few years, and Amanda Pamela Nicole will be making the journey over from Ireland to challenge her.

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Polaris 26 is fast approaching and another two matches have been added to the lineup, featuring three men who have won ADCC Trials in the past. Owen Jones catapulted himself to the top of the sport earlier this year when he managed to upset several big names at the ADCC European Trials and win the 66kg division. An exciting young competitor who has only just started his career at the highest level, he will be facing Polaris Contenders winner Bart Dubbeldam. Although he has a little more experience against elite competitors, Dubbeldam is also a relatively fresh talent who is known for his exciting style. The second match added to Polaris 26 is a battle between two men who have already competed at the ADCC world championship. Oliver Taza won the ADCC European Trials in 2017 and 2021 while Tommy Langaker won in the same continent in 2022, with both of them competing at 77kg. Taza is a New Wave Jiu-Jitsu representative with several gold medals from major IBJJF no gi events and podium placements at multiple other Trials events. Langaker has medalled at multiple major IBJJF gi events, including the IBJJF World Championship, and is a Polaris fan-favorite.

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Polaris openweight champion Kendall Reusing will be making her return to professional grappling competition at Polaris 26 on 4th November, 2023. Reusing has not competed for over a year, as she suffered a knee injury during her semi-final match at ADCC 2022. Prior to that Reusing was an IBJJF No Gi World Champion and No Gi Pan Champion, and she won her place at the ADCC World Championship by winning the North American Trials. She has been the inaugural women's openweight champion since Polaris 17 in 2021 and has already successfully defended her title against Amanda Leve at Polaris 19. Reusing isn't taking an easy match in her return to competition as she will be defending her title against Leticia Cardozo. While she has been a top prospect during her rise through the colored belt ranks, Cardozo was only recently promoted to black belt. She has already established herself as a top competitor though, as she won the super-heavyweight division of the IBJJF No Gi World Championship in 2022. Reusing will be looking to reaffirm her place at the top of the division upon her return, while Cardozo has the opportunity to add a huge name to her resume.

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