We’ve just announced a bold change of direction for Jits Pro League in 2026, as we will be hosting a team grappling tournament over the course of 3 events throughout the year. Our debut event in 2025, Jits Pro League 1, crowned our inaugural middleweight champion and a pair of teen champions but this year will see a lengthy build-up toward crowning our first team champions. The first two events of the year in March and July will be qualifying rounds, where 4 teams will battle it out for a spot in the final in November and a chance to win the £1,000 grand prize and team trophy.
Each team will consist of 3 grapplers from different weight classes; competing at under 160lbs, under 185lbs, and under 210lbs. They will each only face the opposing teams’ representatives at their own weight, similar to the traditional team dual format used in wrestling. The big difference is that the qualifying rounds will be round-robin instead of a straight elimination tournament, so every team in each qualifier will face each other to earn their spot in the final. Every decision win earns the team 1 point and every submission win earns them 3 points, but a bonus point is available for a finish in the first half of the match and 2 bonus points are available for a finish in the first minute.
The ruleset incentivises fast-paced grappling right from the start and rewards competitors who hunt for the finish rather than play conservatively. Then when the two qualifying teams meet in the final in November, each of their competitors will face the opponent in their weight class and whichever team wins two out of three matches by any method will be declared the winner. All throughout the year we’ll be including preliminary card matches to support the team tournament, and November’s final will see another two teen champions crowned too. It’ll be action-packed all year long, starting with Jits Pro League 2: Spring Team Qualifier on March 21st, 2026.
Tickets for Jits Pro League 2: Spring Team Qualifier are available here, and every event in the 2026 team tournament will be streamed on the Jits Magazine YouTube channel.
