Over the years The Polaris Professional Jiu-Jitsu Invitational has seen a rise in competition from other organisations, so every event has to be bigger than the next one. In 2019, Polaris is doing a bit of a UK tour to bring their submission-only grappling show to various parts of the country.
Poole is Polaris’ next stop, back to the home of Scramble, who operate in the Dorset area. This it gives the people of the south an opportunity to see high-calibre fighters such as Nicky Ryan, Craig Jones and former UFC star Urijah Faber in the flesh.
“We are incredibly excited to be putting on our tenth show,” says co-owner of Polaris Matthew Benyon. “We’re going from strength to strength, growing each time and working with athletes who share our vision. It’s great to be back in the south of England, having not been here since Polaris 4. The Lighthouse is a top class venue that has just gone through a multimillion pound renovation, and we’re sparing no expense on making it look and sound as good as possible. We won’t be down south again for a while – the next event will be up north, so if you’re thinking of coming and you’re anywhere south of London, get yourself a ticket today!”
“We have loads of exciting matches – the middleweight belt, lightweight and featherweight belts are all on the line, and the card is full of the kind of intriguing matchups that can only happen on Polaris.”
Polaris 10 Main Card Preview
Nick Rodriguez vs Ashley Amos – Catchweight (105 Kg) NOGI
Our first matchup on the main card see’s the return of Welsh competitor Ash Amos go up against American rising star Nicky Rodriguez.
Both of these fighters have been climbing the professional grappling ladder, with their breakout performances. Judo black belt and BJJ brown belt Ash Amos had an incredible outing at Polaris 9 against the formidable Ed Ingamells, while BJJ blue belt Rodriguez was the standout name at both the East Coast ADCC Trials where he placed third after only six months of training and the West Coast ADCC Trials, where he won a spot to compete at the ADCC.
But don’t let the colour Rodriguez’s belt fool you, his grappling pedigree goes back way further than a year’s worth of Jiu-Jitsu. Originally from South Jersey, Rodriguez finished his senior year at Clayton High School with a wrestling record of 111-17 in the 170 lb weight class. And while he only wrestled during his freshman year at Ferrum College in Virginia, but he finished with a record of 34-4 at 197 lbs and a rank of #12 in the country before dropping out to pursue a career in fitness modelling.
Since coming back to Jiu-Jitsu Rodriguez has been training in the blue basement with Danaher and Gordon Ryan in preparation for this matchup and the upcoming ADCC championships.
Expect both of these guys to look for high-impact takedowns and with both players having an incredibly impressive top game, whoever comes out the victor is going to be the one who grinds it out the hardest.
Leigh Remedios vs Caol Uno – Lightweight NOGI
Next up we have two big names in the world of MMA in their respective countries. Both UFC veterans, these two will be looking to get that next step up on the professional grappling circuit.
Firstly we have former UFC Lightweight Champion, Qunitet and Polaris veteran Caol Uno who is back to look for his first win on the Polaris stage. Uno will be out for redemption after he was choked unconscious by BJJ black belt Vitor ‘Shaolin ‘Ribeiro, but he will need to get past Remedios first.
Filling in for the injured Brad Picket, who had to pull out due to injury, is UK MMA veteran Leigh Remedios. While is last MMA bout was in 2013, Leigh is now a full-time martial arts instructor at his gym VTJJ, where he teaches the champions of the future.
Expect a fast-paced wrestling heavy matchup between the two MMA star, with Remedios bringing the home crowd advantage to battle Uno’s gritty style.
Miha Perhavec vs Richie “Boogeyman” Martinez – Middleweight NOGI
Our third main-card matchup of the night is one I’ve been excited about for a long time. Here we see BJJ brown belt Miha Perhavec put his unbeaten Polaris reputation on the line against 10th Planet’s Richie “Boogeyman” Martinez.
Both fighters have been training hard for this matchup, Perhavec, who is also known for his work with Keenan Cornelius and Yoga for BJJ’s Sebastian Broche, has been down on the blue basement preparing his biggest matchup yet. While Boogeyman has been on the mats with his brother Geo preparing.
These two have a serious killer instinct when it comes to competing, Perhavec, is the only person to have won all his Polaris matches via submission, including taking out Boogeyman’s 10th Planet teammate Jamie Scott from 10th Planet London at his last appearance on the show.
While Perhavec is known to go for the legs, Martinez is known for his incredibly flexible rubber guard game, where he favours submissions such as the omoplata and the gogoplata.
Expect fireworks in this matchup, which is more than likely going to end up with a submission.
Ethan Crelinsten vs Ashley Williams – Lightweight Title Match NOGI
After having to pull out of his featherweight title match against Masakazu Imanari, Ash Williams has been chomping at the bit to get back on the Polaris mats for a title shot. Now he has one for the lightweight title, but this time it’s against Tristar’s Ethan Crelinsten.
Welshman Ash Williams’ rise to the top hasn’t been the easiest but his last three wins have seen him take some major scalps, including Frank Rosenthal, Ben Eddie and Imanari. However, the Canadian, Crelinsten, maybe his toughest matchup to date.
After a decisive win against one of Ireland’s top black belts Tom Halpin, Crelinsten showed incredible back control over his opponent, and while the Irishman toughed it out through the choke attempts, Crelinsten finally caught him when he switched to the armbar.
Expect a tough battle between these two, with multiple submission attempts coming from both sides. This is going to be a close one.
Craig Jones vs Matheus Lutes – Middleweight Title Match NOGI
Our co-main event of the evening is Polaris fan favourite Craig Jones going up against Marcelo Garcia’s breakout brown belt Matheus Lutes.
Jones, who is currently spending his time in Costa Rica at Mo Jassim’s ADCC camp is looking sharper than he ever has with his newly found love of the top game. Which is a contrast to the guard-heavy game we’ve seen from him over the last few years.
Lutes has been a shining star at Marcelo Garcia’s since the departure of Dillon Danis and Polaris Welterweight champion Mansher ‘Munch’ Khera. Winning major titles with his incredible display of Jiu-Jitsu.
We’ll be expecting Lutes to be working his top game, which may see Craig sit back to his Z-Guard days, but expect this to be an excellent clash of styles.
Nicky Ryan Vs Urijah Faber – Featherweight Title Match NOGI
Our final match of the night sees grappling phenom Nicky Ryan go up against former UFC featherweight champion and Hall of Famer “The California Kid” Urijah Faber.
Faber, who’s been making his way back into the competitive scene through grappling will be facing the younger brother his former Quintet teammate Gordon Ryan. And while Nicky has dispatched other excellent grapplers to get here, we expect him to have a tougher time against Faber, who recently went into overtime with accomplished Unity grappler Paulo Miyao.
Faber is a former UFC Champion and ADCC competitor, so he knows what it takes to get the win, it’s just whether or not his level is up to the level Ryan’s. If Faber can frustrate him with his strength and superior wrestling then he may be able to give Nicky problems.
Neither of these two is known to back down so expect an exciting matchup full of admiration and respect.
Polaris 10 Prelims Preview
Fronting every main Polaris card is the exciting Prelims. Prelims are actually where some of the best matches of the nights come from and have been a launch pad for many people looking to get onto the professional grappling circuit.
This year we saw the first Polaris qualifiers at the BJJ British Open, where Polaris invited 16 competitors from around the UK to compete for a place on the Prelim card. This year’s prelim card looks to be just as good as ever with 2 Gi matches and 4 NoGi matches, including Roger Gracie black Andy Robert, going up against Jeff “Ippon” Lawson, who is most known for his hip-toss to armbar finish at Polaris 5.
The headline match features Lachlan Giles brown belt Jeremy Skinner going up against Zenith BJJ black belt Kamil Wilk, which promises to be a great scrap. While further down the card we see Polaris veterans Igor Terreco and Phil Harris go up against each other.
Kamil Wilk vs Jeremy Skinner – Catchweight (68 kg) NOGI
Igor Terreco vs Phil Harris – Catchweight (63.5 kg) NOGI
Andy Roberts vs Jeff “Ippon” Lawson – Catchweight (80 kg) GI
Craig Ewers vs Luiz Finocchio – Catchweight (76 kg) NOGI
Konstantinos Chioutakos vs Pete Robson – Middleweight (83.9 kg) NOGI
Enrique Villasenor vs Trevor Birmingham – Catchweight (63 kg) GI
Spencer Hewitt vs Michael D’Aguiar – Catchweight (63 kg) NOGI