Month: May 2021

Team UK & Ireland and Team USA are now completely finalized as the last spots on each team have been filled by Ben Dyson and Kade Ruotolo respectively. Ben Dyson is the third competitor from Team UK & Ireland to have made an appearance at ADCC 2019, where he came up against the eventual silver medalist Craig Jones in the opening round. Dyson has previous experience on the Polaris mats as he came up against the Danaher Death Squad's Nicky Rodriguez back at Polaris 11 and comfortably held his own against the physically-imposing wrestler. He's trained all around the world over the years and is known for his phenomenal work from the front headlock, including a variation of a classic submission that he calls 'the Dorset Necktie'. There is also now a new youngest competitor at Polaris Squads 3 as the eighteen year-old ATOS prodigy Kade Ruotolo joins Team USA. Ruotolo and his twin brother Tye have both shot to stardom in the Jiu-Jitsu world over the last year or two after repeatedly performing at an incredibly high level for grapplers still in their teenage years. He already holds a decision victory over Polaris triple champion Ashley Williams and it'll...

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The amount of free spaces are slowly dwindling as another representative has been added to both Team UK & Ireland and Team USA for Polaris Squads 3. Team captain Darragh O'Connaill will have another Irishman in his lineup as he is joined by Polaris veteran Tom Halpin. He will be experiencing a change of pace from the last Squads event, where lost a decision to Ashley Williams for the Featherweight title, and will now be back to working with him in the same team. Halpin is yet another veteran of ADCC 2019 and like Ross Nicholls, he had to earn his way to the event by storming through five different opponents at the European trials. One advantage Halpin will have over everyone else in both teams is that he will be the only person who has earned a victory in a Squads match, as he was responsible for Team UK & Ireland's 1-0 victory over Team Europe in the first event. His counterpart on Team USA is a young and extremely talented grappler hailing from Brazilian Fight Factory in Texas, William Tackett. Having only just had his twentieth birthday, Tackett is the youngest grappler competing for either team so far...

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There is only one spot left on both Team UK & Ireland and Team USA as the former had their under 75kg lineup completed with the previous announcement, and the latter has had their under 95kg lineup completed now. Kieran Davern will be the third Irishman to compete for Team UK & Ireland, and the fifth person to return from the team that was victorious at the first Polaris Squads event. Davern is an ex-professional MMA fighter and BJJ black belt competing out of SBG Tullamore. He works from butterfly guard very well and makes liberal use of the shoulder-crunch position to sweep his opponents, switching to becoming a heavy pressure-passer the moment he gets on top. He put in good work at the first event in matches against Tarik Hopstock and Marcin Held, demonstrating that he's also able to get into firefights with veteran leglockers and emerge completely unscathed. On Team USA, Jon 'Thor' Blank will be joining his fellow 10th Planet teammates PJ Barch and Richie 'Boogieman' Martinez. He also continues the trend of ADCC competitors taking part, as he received an invite after losing a decision to Josh Hinger in the semi-finals of the West Coast trials...

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With these two additions to the lineup for Polaris Squads 3, ten out of the total of sixteen spaces are now filled and both Team UK & Ireland and Team USA are close to taking shape. Joining Team UK & Ireland is Bradley Hill, who is no stranger to the Squads format and will now be the only person to represent his country in all three editions so far! 'The Omoplata man' is a black belt under Braulio Estima and is able to compete at a high level both in the gi and out of it, having reached the podium at the IBJJF World championships during his time as a coloured belt. Despite his nickname, some of Hill's most impressive attributes are a crushing top-game and phenomenal leglock-defense that he has put on display in the past at Polaris Squads, and during his run through the UK grand prix. PJ Barch will serve as the fifth member of Team USA, and the third one to weigh in at under 75kg. The 10th Planet representative has previously been victorious on the Polaris stage in an exciting match against Marcin Held, one he fought with Richie 'Boogieman' Martinez in his corner at...

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We're now at a point where the roster for the upcoming Team UK & Ireland v Team USA edition of Polaris Squads is half-full as both teams now have four members included. Team UK & Ireland have been given a huge boost with the return of the first and only Polaris triple-champion Ashley Williams. This will mean that Williams has competed at all three Squads events so far, after being part of the victorious Team UK & Ireland from the first event and winning his third title at the second event with a victory over former Squads teammate Tom Halpin. The Welsh grappler is an IBJJF European no gi champion who keeps up an incredible pace and excels at the armdrag, using it to great effect on opponents significantly bigger than him on numerous occasions. Opposite him on Team USA is a member of the Danaher Death Squad, Nick Ronan. While Ronan might be new to Polaris, his teammates have competed at the very top of previous events with both Nicky Rodriguez and Nicky Ryan having served as main event athletes. He might be the competitor with the least experience so far, but that's not a reason to overlook Ronan's...

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Two under 95kg competitors have just been added to the lineup for Polaris Squads 3, with both men being experienced grapplers with years of competition under their belt. Daniel Strauss will be leaving behind commentary duties for this event to join Team UK & Ireland on the mats instead, alongside Darragh O'Connaill and Ross Nicholls. Strauss is a black belt under the legendary Roger Gracie and is no stranger to team grappling events, as he led Team Polaris to victory at the very first Quintet event. As a strength-training fanatic with years of experience both competing and coaching, Strauss brings a unique element to the team in that he can help O'Connaill strategize during the event while also going toe-to-toe with even the strongest grapplers. Joining JT Torres and Edwin Najmi on Team USA is one of the most popular 10th Planet competitors, Richie 'Boogieman' Martinez. He is a former professional MMA fighter who decided to forego that career in order to pursue grappling full-time and has excelled ever since, competing all around the world for the past few years. Martinez has a unique style for a bigger competitor and often presents a challenge that his opponents have difficulty overcoming,...

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The lineups for Team UK & Ireland and Team USA are starting to fill out as the first competitors to join the respective team captains can now be revealed. Working under Darragh O'Connaill to represent Team UK & Ireland is a Polaris fan-favorite and runner-up in last year's UK grand prix, Ross Nicholls. He's already beaten several elite grapplers like Gianni Grippo, Nathan Orchard, and his own captain O'Connail during his impressive career at the top of the European grappling circuit. Nicholls fought tooth and nail at the ADCC European trials to earn his ticket to the World championships in 2019, only to fall short in the opening round against the eventual winner, JT Torres. With Torres leading the charge for Team USA, Nicholls has the chance to earn redemption against him at the event. The second competitor joining the event is none other than fellow ADCC 2019 veteran Edwin Najmi. The Romulo Barral black belt will be representing Team USA as an -75kg competitor under Torres' guidance and will no doubt fit right in with his relentless pace. Najmi enjoyed great success on his journey through the belt ranks, winning the IBJJF World championships at both purple and brown...

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It's time for New Blood! For the first time ever, we are opening up the opportunity for anyone to compete at Polaris. Rather than sticking exclusively to proven and known talent, we are casting the net further and allowing anyone to put themselves forward for consideration. If you have never appeared on Polaris before, now is your chance to get picked and make the most of the opportunity to showcase your talents on one of the biggest stages around. To be considered you must post a highlight reel to your Instagram feed, tag us and use #PolarisNewBlood. The application process is now open and all belt levels are welcome to apply. If you are selected, you will compete on the undercard of the upcoming Polaris Squads 3 event in Southampton on July 17th and feature live on UFC FightPass, shortly before elite grapplers representing the UK & Ireland take on the best that the USA has to offer in the main event.

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Polaris Squads 3 will broadcast on UFC Fight Pass exclusively, on Saturday 17 July. It will be held in Southampton, England and for the first time ever a Squads event will be have a live crowd in attendance. Darragh O'Connaill will be returning to lead Team UK & Ireland once again as they look to defend their perfect no gi record. O'Connaill is one of the most well-respected coaches and competitors to ever come out of the Irish grappling scene and a black belt under Saulo and Xande Ribeiro. He's a veteran of the Middleweight division who has won several IBJJF open gold medals with his crowning achievement coming in 2018 when he won the no gi European Open by submitting two of his three opponents. Opposite him captaining Team USA for their first appearance on Polaris Squads will be two-time ADCC World Champion JT Torres. Torres is a Lloyd Irvin black belt who has been a mainstay on the podium of the biggest grappling competitions available for well over a decade now. His first major win was back in 2010 when he became the IBJJF no gi Pan-Ams champion, but since then he's gone from strength to strength and...

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