Proving Grounds Invitational 8 is scheduled for May 6th, 2023 and the promotion has managed to book two of the best grapplers on the planet to compete at the event, Estevan Martinez and Oliver Taza. These two won’t be competing against each other as there’s a significant size different between them, not that that’s ever stopped Martinez from facing someone before of course. He’s called the ‘Giant Slayer’ for a reason, but this time around he’ll be facing someone in his own weightclass.
Estevan Martinez will be competing at lightweight in the main event of Proving Grounds Invitational 8, where he will challenge Damon Morgan for the promotion’s title. Morgan is a veteran BJJ black belt and an experienced competitor who has managed to reach the podium of the IBJJF no gi world championship in the first masters division on several occasions. It’ll certainly be a huge challenge for Morgan, but it’ll be interesting to see how the local favourite performs against one of the best grapplers on the planet.
Shortly before that match takes place, Oliver Taza will be competing in a no gi superfight against another of Utah’s finest BJJ black belts. Taza is up against Dan Crawforth, an experienced local grappler who has been training Jiu-Jitsu for over a decade and was promoted to black belt a little under a year and a half ago. While Taza is the favourite coming into the match, Crawforth will no doubt make life hard for one of the top competitors training under John Danaher at New Wave Jiu-Jitsu. There are several other exciting matches throughout the card and fans in attendance or watching via PPV will be treated to a fantastic night of elite grappling action.
The news that both Estevan Martinez and Oliver Taza were going to compete in superfights at Proving Grounds Invitational 8 on May 6th, 2023 was announced in a pair of posts to the promotion’s official Instagram account:
