Category: News

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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We at Polaris are very excited to announce a partnership with Yoga for BJJ. Yoga for BJJ is one of the most popular and respected resources for grapplers in the world, providing expert guidance on how to stretch, improve strength and flexibility, deal with injuries, prevent injuries, and more. Headed up by Sebastian Brosche, a black belt and Polaris veteran (and owner of one of the most exciting gi matches ever when he took on countryman Tommy Langaker), Yoga for BJJ contains a huge range of videos and courses designed to keep you training smarter and longer. We are happy to announce a Yoga for BJJ Discount Code for fans of Polaris. You can get 15% off any subscription to Yoga for BJJ using the code polaris when checking out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70JaT9YL-Ok

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Polaris Squads 1 will broadcast on UFC Fight Pass exclusively, on Sunday 27 September. It will be held in Southampton, England. The event will featured Team UK & Ireland against Team Europe, with a superfight at half time. Team UK & Ireland's representatives are as follows: Under 75kg: Tom Halpin Jed Hue Dominic Dillon Ash Williams Under 95kg: Taylor Pearman Bradley Hill Kieran Davern Darragh O'Conaill - Team Captain Team Europe's representatives will be: Under 75kg: Mateusz Szczecinski Tommi Pulkkanen Kamil Wilk Dinu Bucalet Under 95kg: Tarik Hopstock Santeri Lilius Marcin Held Eduardo 'Teta' Rios - Team Captain The Superfight will be a 10-minute feature bout between our women's champion Ffion Davies and Polish challenger Magdalena Loska, under the Polaris Superfight rules. Here are the rules of the new Squads format: Polaris Squads Polaris Squads is a revolutionary new team format grappling event with the aim of bringing the excitement and camaraderie of team sports, to grappling.  The Teams There are eight members per team. Four members must be under 75kg and four members must be under 95kg. Teams can be centred around towns, nations, or team affiliations. The teams will each have a Team Captain, who acts as a...

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As we move closer to our historic Absolute Grand Prix, we are pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications from press wishing to attend our weigh-ins and fight night. We expect many applications and unfortunately due to the limited amount of media spaces available, priority will be given to certain outlets. If you wish to be credentialed, send an email to media@polarisprograppling.com and outline what coverage you have in mind as well as which outlet you represent. We will be unable to accept unaffiliated photographers as we try to limit having excess people on stage, which may impede the audience viewing experience. If you are a photographer for an outlet please include your outlet and contact details for the assigning editor to verify your assignment. Applications will remain open until Friday, March 27th.

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On April 4th, Polaris returns to the International Convention Center in Newport, Wales with a stacked show. Unlike previous events, Polaris 13 will be focused around a one-night tournament featuring some of the biggest names in the world of submission grappling. The Absolute Grand Prix features some Polaris regulars as well as some promotional debutants, but without further ado, let's meet the athletes: Nick Rodriguez Fresh off his main event victory at Polaris 12, Nick Rodriguez is back and looking to build upon his 3-0 record at Polaris. Rodriguez is an ADCC silver medalist and holds wins over some of the sport's most impressive grapplers including Cyborg Abreu, Orlando Sanchez and Mahamed Aly. Nathan Orchard The lightest entrant to our tournament is Nathan Orchard. Orchard is a black belt under 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu founder Eddie Bravo and is the reigning Shugyo Invitational champion. Orchard holds wins over Craig Jones and the great Baret Yoshida. Mike Perez ADCC veteran Mike Perez has signed on to compete in our tournament. El Patron, a black belt under the legendary Andre Galvao, has a wealth of big-tournament experience and will be looking to continue his Polaris winning streak on April 4th. Adam Wardzinski...

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Polaris is pleased to announce that tickets for its next event, Polaris 12, are on sale now. Using the sleek Eventbrite platform, you can buy your tickets to P12 here. It will be held at the brand new ICC just off the M4 as soon as you arrive in Wales / Newport. The first match announced is a cracker - Ash Williams vs Joao Miyao for the 135lbs Polaris title. More amazing matches to be announced soon.

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The second ever Polaris Contenders will take place on September 14 at the Sports Wales National Centre, from 14:30. Polaris Contenders is designed to give athletes a clear route from “amateur” to “professional”, and a way to fight your way to a spot on Polaris Pro, which is broadcast on UFC Fight Pass. This competition is “no gi”, meaning shorts, rashguard, spats are permitted. No shoes/wrestling boots. No cups. This competition is open age (18+) and open belt, matches will be drawn at random. Final brackets will be released tomorrow on Thursday 12th September. All matches will be 10 minutes long as per our prelim card format and if no submission is achieved then a judges decision will be awarded. Rules can be found here - https://buff.ly/2AcwHD4 The event is due to open at 14:30 with weigh ins getting underway from around 14:45. There will be a +500gram allowance for the weight classes which are Lightweight 70.3Kg and Light Heavyweight 93Kg. Each weight class will have a maximum of 32 competitors split into two brackets of 16, single elimination style. Byes will be given at random if necessary. The winners of each bracket will face each other at Polaris 12, which...

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