Category: News

The first competitor for Team Brazil has just been announced as they make their debut in the Polaris Squads format against the reigning no gi champions, Team USA. Weighing in at under 95kg, Igor Tanabe will be returning to the Polaris mats after he made a successful debut at Polaris 18. He took on Tommy Langaker in a tough matchup but managed to register an impressive finish by locking up a choke after taking his back. Tanabe has won several major IBJJF tournaments at the coloured belt levels throughout the years and his crowning achievement came in 2018 when he won both the gi and no gi world championship at purple belt. He was eventually promoted to black belt in May 2020 and has struggled to compete frequently at the highest level since then due to restrictions in place to combat the pandemic. He has managed to stay somewhat active locally though and has still won nineteen straight matches at black belt without a single loss. Tanabe might have less competitive experience at this level than some of his opponents, but he's been one to watch for quite some time and he'll be eager to make a statement at Polaris...

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Team USA will be returning to defend their no gi title against promotional newcomers Team Brazil at the fourth Polaris Squads event, and they will be led by the same man who led them to victory against the UK at the last squads event. The latest edition of Polaris Squads will take place on June 25th at Polaris 20 and Richie 'Boogieman' Martinez will be returning alongside seven other elite American competitors. He is one of Tenth Planet's top competitors alongside his brother Geo Martinez and he's a veteran of elite Jiu-Jitsu competition for a wide variety of different promotions. He has managed to register three draws during his time serving as captain for Team USA and he'll no doubt be eager to improve upon that record when he leads his fellow countrymen into battle against Team Brazil.

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The main event for Polaris 19 is finally in the books! It will feature two of the most exciting grapplers on the planet who's styles should make for a fast-paced and wild matchup. Roberto Jimenez is a black belt under his father, Raul, who lives and trains in the United States. The young star has already taken some impressive scalps since receiving his final belt promotion, most notably Keenan Cornelius. It isn't as though that's the only big name on Jimenez's resume though as he has also managed to submit Fellipe Andrew, Pedro Marinho, Nathan Orchard, and Kade Ruotolo in the past. While Jimenez technically has three draws and a win on the Polaris stage, they all came at Polaris Squads 3 and he was one of the most exciting members of the victorious Team USA. Jimenez will be coming up against Magid Hage IV, who is perhaps best known for having one of the best baseball bat chokes in the sport. As this will be a no gi match, it's incredibly unlikely he's able to utilize his most-feared weapon but Hage is still an elite grappler regardless. He's been working hard recently to qualify for ADCC 2022 and has...

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Polaris 19 is approaching fast and another two matches have been added to the preliminary card, along with one replacement due to an injury. Akhil Bist has been forced to withdraw from his match against Michael D'aguiar and as a result, Nathan Kay has been called up. Kay is a London Grapple brown belt who recently made his promotional debut in exciting fashion at Polaris 17. Elsewhere on the preliminary card, the welsh presence continues to grow as CF24's Ben Robson will be returning to the Polaris mats after a successful outing last time around. Robson will face off against fellow returning athlete, Luiz Finocchio. Finocchio is an undefeated MMA fighter who has competed for Cage Warriors in the past but has focused on his grappling career more in the last few years, last seen at Polaris 10. The second preliminary match added to Polaris 19 features the debut of an exciting young prospect in Gracie Barra purple belt Jeremy Pare. The 20 year-old recently earned a huge win when he defeated Shane Curtis, who also happens to be competing on the preliminary card of Polaris 19. Pare will be coming up against brown belt and head coach of Mata...

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Two more matches have been added to Polaris 19, and one match has been changed as the result of an injury. Josh Williams was forced to withdraw from his match against retired UFC fighter Phil Harris and he will now be replaced by someone who actually competed in the world's premier organization alongside Harris, Paddy Holohan. Holohan amassed a respectable 3-2 record in the promotion before abruptly retiring from MMA competition due to a rare blood disorder. He will be stepping up to the mats for the first time in years at Polaris 19 to take on the tough challenge that Harris will present. Another veteran MMA fighter will be competing on the preliminary card as 'Mr bag and tag' Nathan Jones takes on Polaris veteran Shane Curtis. Jones had over twenty fights on the UK MMA scene over the last few years before being signed to make his debut for Bellator back in 2021. Although Jones is an experienced competitor, they don't come much tougher than his opponent. Curtis has had several exciting performances on the Polaris mats and will be eager to add a big name to his resume. Finally, ADCC European trials 88kg champion Eoghan O'Flanagan will...

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Two more matches have been added to the preliminary card for Polaris 19, with both of them featuring exciting Welsh talent facing off against talented Paraestra UK athletes. First up is BJJ black belt Tom Tovey who trains under Ashley Williams at Draig, and he will be coming up against one of his oldest foes Claudio Brudny. Brudny hails from Bournemouth and is a highly-competitive BJJ brown belt who competes out of Ippon Gym in the local area. Elsewhere, Shane Price will be returning to the Polaris stage after his debut against Fred Greenall back at Polaris 12. Price was due to compete at the last event against Owen Livesey but ended up being replaced by Max Bickerton. He will be competing against one of Paraestra Poole's coaches and top competitors Peter Robson, who also has experience on these mats after defeating Konstantinos Chioutakos at Polaris 10.

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Polaris 19 is coming round fast and now three more matches have been added to the full fight card, all located on the prelim portion of the night. First up is a battle between two MMA fighters, Paul Redmond and Thomas Magnitis. Redmond has been a professional competitor for over a decade and has competed for the UFC, KSW, and most recently Bellator. Over the course of that time he's racked up an impressive 15-8 record with several of his wins coming by way of leglock. Magnitis on the other hand is much earlier his career and is still an amateur MMA fighter at present, but is one of Carlson Gracie London's toughest representatives. Another Carlson Gracie standout will be competing at the event, as BJJ brown belt Akhil Bist makes an appearance. Bist is a frequent competitor on the local scene who already owns some wins over some of the brightest young talent in the UK. He will be taking on skilled leglock specialist and Polaris veteran Michael D'Aguiar, who also happens to be a professional MMA fighter in his own right. Finally, one of D'aguiar's teammates Phil Harris is also competing on the event. Harris is another MMA...

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Ashley Williams is a triple champion on the Polaris mats and currently holds the Bantamweight, Featherweight, and Lightweight titles. With that many belts around his waist, he's very got plenty of challengers looking to take at least one away from him. At Polaris 19, he returns in order to take on Jack Sear, a BJJ brown belt who trains among some of the best grapplers in the UK and already holds two victories on the Polaris mats after being given an opportunity as part of the New Blood program. Sear has been impressive in every performance so far, and has earned a title-shot against Williams the hard way. It remains to be seen if Sear has what it takes to take the belt from him, but he'll certainly present a tough challenge to Williams from start to finish.

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Two more exciting matches have been added to the Polaris 19 fight card, alongside the women's openweight title match between Kendall Reusing and Amanda Leve. The first to be added is a number one contender match between Frederic Vosgrone and Owen Livesey. Vosgrone is the winner of the Polaris UK Grand Prix and remains unbeaten on the Polaris mats, while his opponent Livesey has only had one match back at Polaris 18 where he won a judge's decision against Max Bickerton. Livesey is an veteran Judoka who won a gold medal at the 2014 commonwealth games and showed his phenomenal standing grappling talent in his last outing. Ashley Bendle also won a judge's decision in her promotional debut at Polaris 18, and she too will be returning to compete against Margot Ciccarelli. Bendle trains alongside Polaris triple-champion Ashley Williams and is a talented grappler, but Ciccarelli is a tough challenge for anyone as a bronze medalist in the 2021 IBJJF world championships.

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Polaris 19 is coming around fast and the very first match has just been announced. Kendall Reusing managed to submit Venla Luukkonen with a beautiful armbar back at Polaris 17 in order to win the inaugural women's Openweight title and she will now be making her first defense at the next event. Amanda Leve will be the woman to challenge Reusing and as an ADCC veteran, Leve has more than enough experience to take the match to her. Leve recently proved that she can easily overcome a significant weight disadvantage when she managed to outwork Gabi Garcia at the WNO Championships and earn the victory by judge's decision after taking her back and working hard to try and finish her. Polaris 19 will take place on March 26th, 2022, and will feature a number of exciting matches along with this women's Openweight title match between Reusing and Leve.

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With the addition of four more matches, the prelim card for Polaris 18 is almost as stacked with talent as the main card will be later that night. Joshua Williams, brother and training partner of Polaris triple champ Ashley, will be competing in the gi just like his brother later on and he will be coming up against Chris Haueter black belt and Factory BJJ coach Adam Adshead in what will be a tough matchup. They're not alone either as Polaris veteran Ashley Amos will also be wearing his gi for the night as he takes on fellow Welshman Aled Rees, who will be making his Polaris debut. Bringing a fine sense of balance, the remaining two matches on the preliminary card will both be no gi. 10th Planet brown belt and coach Tom Cellamere will be taking on a fantastic wrestler in Oli Coles, who has represented Wales in the Commonwealth games in the past and is a multiple-time British national medalist. In the remaining match, Ashley Amos's young student Finn Carey will be looking to make a name for himself in his Polaris debut against Jamie Dicks; who was recently promoted to brown belt under Joshua Williams after...

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Both Stevie Ray and Craig Ewers have reached the highest levels of their respective sports and both men are able to use those skills to great effect when it comes to submission grappling. Ray is a UFC veteran who amassed eleven fights in the world's premier MMA organization before retiring from the sport in 2020. He walked away with an impressive 23-9 professional record that saw him submit eight fighters and win the Cage Warriors Lightweight championship throughout his decade of competing. He made his professional grappling debut at Polaris 11 and managed to submit fellow UFC fighter Paddy Pimblett with an inside heelhook, earning another callup for the coming event. At Polaris 18, Ray will take on another veteran of the promotion, Craig Ewers. Ewers is a top-tier Judoka who has competed for the promotion several times, most recently having defeated Liam Cann back at Polaris 12. He was a two-time Commonwealth champion back in 2004 and 2006, before going on to coach the Welsh Judo team for six years and then opening up his own Jiu-Jitsu academy. This match represents an interesting clash of styles as two men with markedly different combat sports backgrounds will meet in a...

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Polaris 18 will see triple champion Ashley Williams taking on his toughest challenge yet and Edwin Najmi putting his Welterweight title on the line against Jed Hue, but some of the most exciting moments of the night might be found earlier in the running order. A number of exciting competitors will be stepping on to the Polaris mats for the very first time, including a battle between two debutants as Wales' Ashley Bendle takes on Katie Bacik. Bendle hails from the same team as triple champ Williams and has trained alongside him for several years with her only recently making the transition to the highest levels of the sport. She had a fantastic showing at the ADCC European, Middle-Eastern, and African trials where she earned a silver medal and she will be an incredibly tough opponent for all-round combat sports enthusiast Bacik, who has competed in MMA, Muay Thai, and K-1 bouts alongside her grappling career. One of Bendle's teammates, Tom Barry, will also be making his Polaris debut after an impressive showing at the ADCC trials, although he didn't quite make it to the podium. He will be taking on Lloyd 'the Yorkshire gripper' Cooper who has remained a...

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Ashley Williams has won Polaris titles in three different weightclasses but will be facing what is likely his toughest challenge yet when he takes on Paolo Miyao in the gi in the main event match of Polaris 18. Williams has dominated all opponents who've challenged him on the Polaris mats and managed to achieve something fantastic earlier in 2021 when he won the ADCC European, Middle-Eastern, and African trials and booked his place at the world championships. It's a distinct change of pace to see him putting a gi back on for the first time in quite a while, but he's got no intention of easing himself into it as he takes on a multiple-time IBJJF world champion. Paulo Miyao is one half of the legendary Miyao brothers along with Joao, both of whom have secured their legacy as two of the greatest competitors ever. Paulo has won two IBJJF world championships during his career and six pan-am championships but has done his best work in the gi and may have the edge over Williams there. Moreover, both Miyao brothers are renowned for remarkable resilience, particularly when it comes to leg attacks, and Paulo Miyao has still never been submitted...

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Polaris 18 will feature at least four elite competitors battling it out in the gi as part of a stacked fight card. First up is a veteran of the Polaris mats, the Welshman Bryn Jenkins. He wasn't able to get the win last time he competed at Polaris Squads 2 and was submitted by Tommy Langaker before being forced to withdraw from the team event halfway through due to suffering an injury. Interestingly, his opponent was on the opposing team at that very same event, as Leon Larman was representing Team Europe at the time. Larman fared much better however as he managed to earn one of eight submission victories of the night with a bow and arrow choke against Tyrone Elliot. Now, the two will get the chance to make an impression on the crowd in what is sure to be one of the most exciting matches of the night. Additionally, the man who submitted Jenkins at Polaris Squads 2 will also be making his return, as Tommy Langaker takes on Igor Tanabe. Langaker is undefeated on the Polaris mats and is regarded as one of the most exciting and fast-paced competitors in the gi, while Tanabe is starting...

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Polaris fan-favorite Jed Hue will get exactly what he asked for in his post-match interview after emerging victorious against Brazilian Fight Factory's Kody Steele at Polaris 17. He won a tough match that went to decision to keep his undefeated Polaris record but as always, put on a fantastic show for the fans. In the interview, Hue decided to call out the current Polaris welterweight champion Edwin Najmi, a Romulo Barral black belt who also happens to be known for an exciting grappling style. Najmi will no doubt be a very tough opponent for Hue and stands as the biggest challenge of his career to date, but the pair's styles will almost certainly deliver one of the most exciting matches in Polaris history. Additionally, this match will take place on the upcoming Polaris 18 card on November 27th in Newport, Wales, in place of the originally scheduled Polaris Squads 4 where Team Europe were set to defend their gi title. Instead, Polaris Squads 4 will be postponed until 2022 and Team Europe will return then.

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