Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Arguably the most exciting team grappling format is back, as Polaris Squads 4 brings in a whole new team to compete for the title. The promotion’s third team grappling event saw Team USA manage to defeat the reigning no gi champions, Team UK & Ireland, in emphatic style. Now the Americans will be returning to the UK in order to take to the mats once more, although it remains to be seen how much of the actual team will remain the same.

The eight athletes who will be making the trip to take them down will all be hailing from Brazil, the country that most people would consider to be the mecca of Jiu-Jitsu. Neither of the teams for the event have been confirmed yet but there have been a number of elite Brazilian competitors who have plied their trade at Polaris in recent memory like Magid Hage, Paulo Miyao, Igor Tanabe and Davi Ramos.

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Joe Rogan announced as new sponsor for ADCC 2022

The 2022 ADCC world championships are fast-approaching and the promotion has just announced a major new sponsor for the latest edition. Joe Rogan has decided to support the sport that he loves so much by pledging a rather large amount of cash on behalf of his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. This is easily the biggest and most popular sponsor that any grappling promotion has ever secured.

According to the brains behind ADCC, they aren’t the only thing that Rogan supporting either. He’s also become the latest sponsor of Gordon Ryan as well, and will be paying a six-figure sum for prime placement on the competitor’s clothing. This kind of deal will help propel professional grappling further into the mainstream, while also helping to increase the amount of compensation that athletes can expect to receive.

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Gordon Ryan challenges four competitors to consecutive matches

Gordon Ryan is not known for his restraint when it comes to his social media presence, but the grappling star has now decided to issue one of the boldest challenges in Jiu-Jitsu history. Ryan took to Instagram to call out four elite grapplers in the heavier weight divisions and offered to face off against all of them in thirty minute matches one after the other without any real kind of rest period in between.

The challenge wasn’t aimed at just any old heavyweights either as Ryan targeted some of the best around, like WNO Heavyweight champion Tim Spriggs. Alongside him was IBJJF veteran competitor Patrick Gaudio, and both the reigning IBJJF gi and no gi world champions in Victor Hugo and Pedro Marinho respectively. Although the matches with all four remain unlikely, both Hugo and Gaudio did accept the challenge publicly.

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ADCC West Coast Trials get underway

The second North American ADCC trial is halfway through and the gigantic field of competitors has now been whittled down to the last few athletes in each weightclass. This is the final opportunity for athletes in the United States to book their place in the world championships unless they’re fortunate enough to receive one of the few remaining invites and as a result, it was stacked with elite grapplers.

The second day kicks off with exciting 66kg competitors like Robert Degle, Keith Krikorian, and Adam Benayoun, while 77kg features the likes of PJ Barch, William Tackett, and Ben Eddy. 88kg includes exciting prospects with famous relatives like Achilles Rocha and Jay Rodriguez, while Elder Cruz and Kyle Boehm are among the favourites to take home gold at under and over 99kg respectively.

Live results for the event will be updated here.