MARCH 25, 2024, WALES, UK. This weekend the grappling world witnessed another edition of the Polaris Jiu-Jitsu Invitational, one of the biggest professional platforms in the sport and a promotion that is famous for its clever match-making and exciting clashes. As per usual, the Polaris 27 did not disappoint thanks to the eventful title clash between Ffion Davies and Brianna Ste-Marie and the welterweight grand prix on offer, an 8-man tournament that gathered some of the most entertaining grapplers on the planet.
On the 170 lbs Welterweight Grand Prix, we saw California’s PJ Barch overcome a stacked roster and prove he is at the top of the food chain in this sport. Barch had a few ups and downs in his career, particularly last year when his record went 4-3-2, but rebounded in a big way in the UK. PJ’s biggest challenge came in the first round by way of Luiz Paulo (ADCC Brazil Trials winner), who came in with a strong strategy and skillset to match Barch’s strong wrestling and killer instinct. After he beat Luiz by a tight decision, the path was paved for his success.
Many expected Barch to meet B-Team’s hot prospect, Jozef Chen. the Taiwanese-German grappler came in unbeaten in this weight class since 2022 and defeated some of the sport’s top athletes only in his last showing at the 2023 ADCC EU Trials. Sadly, this was not a great performance by Chen who struggled to overcome the least known competitor on the GP, Canada’s Harrison Wood, and would go on to lose to gi specialist Levi Jones-Leary via back-take. Jozef’s performance could be down to a lack of competitive activity as we hadn’t seen this young man compete for several months, nevertheless, he did show some deficiencies that will need addressing if he is to succeed at the ADCC this Summer.
The big surprise of the tournament was Australia’s Levi Jones-Leary, a member of the Unity squad, currently training with Lachlan Giles at Absolute MMA. Levi had lots of success in the gi a few years ago with his recent transition to No-Gi being (thus far) a mixed bag of wins and losses. He arrived at the Polaris Grand Prix set to meet Davis Asare but the New Wave prospect missed weight by a few kilos and was replaced last minute by local athlete Shane Curtis. Levi dominated Shane easily and went on to have a fairly close semi-final with Jozef which he won with a beautiful backtake from his trademark Crag-Ride position from a K-guard entry. Outmatched in the wrestling department against PJ in the final ultimately cost the Australian grappler his shot at gold, as he went on to lose via 2 blast double leg takedowns. A solid performance nonetheless.
The most anticipated match of P27 was the rematch between Ffion Davies and Brianna Ste-Marie. The match started as a tighter affair than their last clash with back-and-forth sweeps, but, as time went on, Ffion slowly but surely was able to impose her game and take the back of the Canadian grappler from a sweeping exchange. Davies went on to attempt several submissions, ending the bout with what appeared to be a locked-in Tarikoplata. Solid win by the Welsh competitor.
POLARIS 27, 170 LBS GRAND PRIX RESULTS:
– PJ Barch def. Luiz Paulo via decision (0x0 pts)
– Levi Jones def. Shane Curtis via RNC
– Espen Mathiesen def. Max Hanson via decision (0x0 pts)
– Jozef Chen def. Harrison Wood via Kimura
– PJ Barch def. Espen Mathiesen via Inside heel hook
– Levi Jones def. Jozef Chen via 1×0
– PJ Barch def. Levi Jones via 2×0
POLARIS 27, SUPER FIGHT RESULTS:
– Nathanniel Wood def. Alex Caceres via decision
– Keith Krikorian def. Cameron Donnelly via Armbar (Featherweight Title Match: 66 kg)
– Ffion Davies def. Brianna Ste-Marie via decision (Flyweight Title Match: 56 kg)
