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 at the black belt level in well over two hundred competitive matches.
That’s what makes this match so exciting, it’s a classic case of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object and it’s impossible to know which one will give first.
