Polaris News

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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Another match has been added to the blockbuster main card of Polaris 17, and this one will feature one of the UK's finest competitors coming in fresh of a huge win at the ADCC European, Middle-Eastern, and African trials that has given him the opportunity of a lifetime at the eventual world championships in 2022. That man is Eoghan O'Flanagan, one of two trials winners to come from the UK alongside Polaris triple champion Ashley Williams. The New School BJJ representative has competed on the Polaris mats several times before and will be eager to get his revenge in a rematch at Polaris 17 against Tarik Hopstock. Hopstock is a dominant force coming out of Norway and one of the top competitors in Europe, most commonly known as the inventor of the Tarikoplata. A brown belt in BJJ under Eduardo 'Teta' Rios, Hopstock has also competed on the Polaris mats several times, including as part of the European Team that fell just short of victory in the first Polaris Squads event. Despite the fact that Hopstock emerged victorious the first time this pair met, the match really could go either way given how much both he and O'Flanagan have improved...

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The final two matches of the Polaris 17 prelims can now be announced, rounding out the six-fight list that will take place just prior to the main card. One of the most exciting and relentless grapplers in the UK will be making his return to the Polaris mats, Squads member and UK grand prix veteran Dominic Dillon. He will be taking on another experienced MMA fighter in Scott Pooley, and with over twenty professional fights between them this is sure to be a tough battle between two men with plenty of combat sports experience. Alongside this top-tier UK matchup is a battle between two equally exciting younger competitors. Shane Curtis is also a returning competitor from the UK grand prix and despite still being a brown belt in BJJ, he's able to put on fantastic matches with some of the top competitors in the country. Standing across from him will be Ben Hills, a black belt competing out of Next Generation MMA in Liverpool who has over a decade of competitive Jiu-Jitsu experience despite being just 28 years old.

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Another fantastic match has been added to the main card of Polaris 17, and this will be the second to feature a championship belt on the line. However, nobody will be defending a belt they've already earned as this will mark the very first time that the Women's Openweight Championship will be up for grabs. The match in question sees California native Kendall Reusing facing off with Finland's own Venla Luukkonen, both of whom have established themselves as among the very best competitors on the planet at the heavier weightclasses. Reusing in particular has had a huge amount of success on the competition circuit, closing out the finals of the IBJJF world championship in both her weight and the absolute division with her teammate Jessica Flowers in her very first year as a black belt in 2019. Having spent time training with the USA national wrestling team, Reusing has phenomenal standing grappling and is a force to be reckoned with from top position. Most recently, she came home with a gold medal at the IBJJF pan-ams earlier this year. Luukkonen will not be an easy match for Reusing however as she has a significant edge in experience, having competed at...

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The Polaris 17 undercard is growing quickly as three more matches between talented up-and-coming grapplers have been added. First up is a match between two exciting women making their Polaris debut, Nia Blackman and Abbie O'Toole. Blackman is a BJJ blue belt fighting out of Checkmat who recently won the IBJJF European Open at her belt level, while O'Toole is a Roger Gracie Academy purple belt who previously took UFC competitor Molly McCann to a decision, narrowly losing in the judge's eyes. Later on in the evening Nathan Kay, brown belt under Ross Nicholls at London Grapple, will be facing off against Max Corteggiano, a black belt travelling all the way from Paris to compete on the Polaris stage. The final new prelim added to Polaris 17 will see one of the toughest competitors on the UK scene make his return, Elements Martial Arts instructor and black belt Yousuf Nabi. He will be meeting Daniel Pacan, a recently-promoted black belt under the legendary competitor Jeff 'Ippon' Lawson who will no doubt be eager to impress on his first Polaris appearance.

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The main card for Polaris 17 has almost finished taking shape as the fourth match has been announced. Returning from his breakout performance at Polaris Squads 3 is Jed Hue, who will be welcoming Brazilian Fight Factory's Kody Steele to the UK for the very first time in what promises to be an action-packed match. As a Combat Jiu-Jitsu world champion with several victories over elite grapplers, Steele represents a huge opportunity for Hue to make a name for himself with a strong performance. Alongside the main card, the first preliminary match has also been announced and it features two men who came out on the winning side of their respective preliminary matches on the undercard of Polaris Squads 3. Both Ollie Bates and Jack Sear were given the opportunity to compete at the last event as a result of the New Bloods program and they're both colored belts training under Polaris veterans. Bates is a purple belt under 'the Yorkshire Gripper' Lloyd Cooper, whereas Sear is a brown belt training at London Grapple with head coach Ross Nicholls, and both men will be looking to impress the crowd with a finish.

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The Polaris 17 main card is starting to take shape after the initial announcement that the main event will feature the Australian phenom Craig Jones defending his Middleweight title. Now he will be joined by another elite grappler who has spent a lot of time training under John Danaher, recently-promoted black belt Robert Degle. He will be facing off against former Polaris Squads Europe representative Kamil Wilk in a battle between two elite leglockers who are both able to switch focus and attack the upper-body without a moment's hesitation. This should lead to an incredibly exciting match that really could go either way as both men will be hunting for the finish at a relentless pace. In the second match announced for the main card, another Polaris Squads Europe team-member Mateusz Szecinski will be returning to the UK to compete. He will be coming up against East Coast Jiu-Jitsu competitor Ellis Younger who will also be making his second appearance on the Polaris stage after being called up on short-notice to represent Team UK & Ireland at Polaris Squads 3.

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Good news for fans of the traditional Polaris superfight format as we'll be returning to that for Polaris 17 on October 9th, just in time for the return of the Australian phenom Craig Jones. He'll be coming back to the UK to defend the Middleweight championship, one of two Polaris titles he owns, against an as yet unnamed contender. He won the Middleweight title all the way back at Polaris 6 with a lightning-quick heelhook finish against Jake Shields in just a little over a minute, and has since defended it against Matheus Lutes by earning a unanimous decision win. In between those victories, Jones also moved up in weight to fight for the inaugural Light-Heavyweight title against Keenan Cornelius and was awarded the split decision victory after an incredibly close match. Jones has only gotten better since those performances, reaching the peak of his career so far in 2019 when he won a silver medal at the ADCC world championships. He'll now be looking to improve his perfect record to 4-0 when he returns to the UK on October 9th for Polaris 17 at the Central Hall, Southampton and streamed live on UFC FightPass.

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