Polaris just concluded its 9th edition. The europe based sub only promotion has been putting on shows for a number of years. In the latest edition they’ve matched up a number of jiu jitsu aces in a spectacular fashion.
WARNING, spoilers ahead
In a true Polaris fashion the main event went to decision. Rafael Lovato Jr duked it out with Jake Shields in a calculated fashion. Both aces are representatives of American jiu jitsu, in a way.
Shields tried to grind it through the match but being smaller and having done serious time in MMA his grit let him be outperformed by Lovato in a close call. The two were quite stubborn even fighting for grip control. Lovato was adamant to play the typical bjj game having passed and mounted Shields on few occasions landing him the big w.
The breakthrough of the night was Euro representative Ffion Davies who managed to submit Gezary Matuda. The new sign of tides turning in female bjj. This was probably the most exciting match of the night with plenty of transitions and heated exchanges. In the end FFion Davies got the best of Gezary in a counter attack that landed her in an arm triangle position thanks to careful transitioning.
In spite of being the clear favorite Vagner Rocha went to decision against local Ross Nicholls. Neither held back but ultimately they were pretty even keeled so with very little offensive chances taken Rocha ended up winning the decision with more or less a guard pass.
DDS junior squad member Ethan Crelinsten defeated Tom Halpin by armbar. This was another intense one. Both tried to leglock however Ethan showcased why he already earned his ADCC invite with a smooth transition series from the back to armbar.
Atos ace Mike Perez didn’t manage to sub Darragh O Connail in spite of being the clear attacker for the entirety of the match. This was a nice showing for Perez although it ultimately lacked the cherry on top.
Edurdo RIos defeated Santeri Lilius by decision. The match was exciting to watch. While Lilius seemed bigger and more imposing Rio definitely dictated the tempo of the match. This maybe led to the decision win for Rios. Worth noting that this was probably the closest decision on the card.
