It seems that professional grappling events have become more and more prominent in the community at large. It all started with Metamoris and now we have at least 5 major event promotions and many new smaller ones. These events are great because they pay their professional athletes and allow us to see matches that may otherwise never happen. They can also allow us to see competitors actually go all out for the submission rather than fighting for points. These events also can bring relatively unknown athletes in their under-card and give them a chance to be seen. One such promotion has actually just popped up in my own backyard (Portland, Oregon) being promoted and commentated by non-other than the local Chael Sonnen himself and presented by Flo Combat. It doesn’t end there though, because it seems he may have pulled a few strings in order to get some incredible athletes. But it seems, even that was not enough as the promotion page states that Bruce Buffer will be the announcer for the event! Is this real life?
So I know by now you are probably asking what the card looks like, right? Well here it is ! MAIN CARD:
Jake Shields vs. Benson Henderson
King Mo Lawal vs. Vinny Magalhaes
Kenny Florian vs. Filipe Braga Costa
Ricco Rodriguez vs. Fabiano Scherner
Jens Pulver vs. Nathan Orchard
Yeah, you read the names correctly. It seems we will be seeing a lot of fighters competing and while this may actually be overkill, I for one, am pumped. I am excited for two matches in particular. The first being Kenny Florians return to BJJ which I think we can all agree is going to be awesome and the second being Jake Shields vs. Benson Henderson. Both Jake and Ben have always competed in grappling and both have great takedowns, so it will be interesting to watch the main event play out.
This event also has an undercard which is going to showcase a lot of local talent, I even tried to get on it, but unfortunately it didn’t work out (maybe next time). Here is what the undercard looks like. UNDERCARD:
145lb: Misty Davison (AliveMMA) vs Hannah Sharp (Renzo Gracie)
185lb: Adam Shelton (Superhero Jiu Jitsu Academy/10th Planet Springfield) vs Chris Martin (Impact JJ)
175lb: Carsten Carlson (Renzo Gracie) vs Billy Yi (Next Level Martial Arts)
195lb: Alex Le (Next Level Martial Arts) vs Howie Mole (Gracie Barra)
140lb: Cindy Hales (Gracie Barra Seattle) vs Amanda Diggins (Straight Blast Gym)
155lb: Gustavo Bessa (503 West Coast Academy) vs Phill Schwartz (10th Planet Portland)
170: Joshua Bacallao (Gracie Barra Seattle) vs Nathan Wallner (10th Planet Jiu Jitsu)
So if you are local to the PNW I would highly suggest you come down and buy tickets. It will also be streamed live via Flocombat. Here is the link for more info
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