SEPTEMBER 8, 2024, POOLE, ENGLAND. The 29th edition of the Polaris Jiu-Jitsu Invitational took last night in what was one of the most stacked cards built by the promotion in recent memory.
One of the most anticipated clashes on the card was that of New Wave’s Davis Asare and Fellipe Andrew, but as news broke out on the day of the event that Andrew had failed a USADA doping test (see news here), Polaris was forced to make a very brave decision and remove Andrew from the card, staying true to their commitment to fight PED use in our sport. By taking the Brazilian athlete out of the card at the last minute, Polaris brought forth a local athlete, George Pearce, a resolution that ended up greatly benefiting the show. Asare & Pearce had one of the best matches of the evening with back and forth submission exchanges, positional scrambles, and one of the biggest displays of heart and grit by both competitors. A tremendous match.
Another bout worth revisiting and one of the night’s best performances came from Luis Finocchio over Archer Colaco in the preliminary card. A beautifully slick showing by the Brazilian veteran, Finocchio, from the get-go over the rising British talent with fun transitions and lots of submission attempts, finishing with a gnarly armbar. The full prelims card is available for free on Polaris’ YouTube channel, here.
The main matches of the evening were those of the AOJ trio, Cole Abate, Tainan Dalpra, and Diego Pato. Three athletes brought the Gi back to Polaris’ main event, and what a treat that was for jiu-jitsu fans. All three AOJ competitors won their matches and won their fairly dominantly, particularly Tainan who ran over one of Europe’s toughest competitors in Tarik Hopstock. Just an incredible display of top pressure and submission focus. Dalpra tried his hardest to submit Hopstock with his own creation, the Tarikoplata, being close to it but ended the match with a kimura.
The upset of the night came by way of SBG’s Mohammad Avtarhanov. The Chechen brown belt who trains under John Kavanagh managed to beat ADCC silver medalist, and one of the top prospects in the USA, Jacob Rodriguez (Jay-Rod). The match was very even, with Rodriguez struggling to deal with the lanky guard frame of Mohammad. Avtarhanov was the first to take control of the match by taking Jay’s back and dominating him there for some time. In the second half of the match, it was Rodriguez who took the back of the SBG athlete. After all was said and done, a tough decision in Avtarhanov’s favor that could have, just as easily, gone Jay Rod’s way.
POLARIS 29 MAIN CARD RESULTS
– Davis Asare def. George Pearse via decision
– Cam Donnelly def. Dom Dillon via Inside heel hook
– Jed Hue def. Julian Espinosa via decision
– Cole Abate def. Sam McNally via decision
– Tainan Dalpra def. Tarik Hopstock via Kimura
– Mohammad Avtarhanov def. Jay Rodriguez via decision
– Diego “Pato” Oliveira def. Ashley Williams via decision
