The first ever Pit Submission Series event is scheduled for January 26th, 2024 and the promotion has announced the lineup of three matches that will take place. The event will take place immediately prior to a Karate Combat event, as it will form part of the build-up leading in to the world’s top Karate promotion. It presents an interesting idea that hasn’t been seen in the world of professional grappling before, as these matches will take place in the promotion’s famous pit with walls angled at 45 degrees. It offers an obvious advantage to wrestlers who are able to effectively cut off the space and force their opponent’s to walk up the wall, as it should lead to significantly easier takedowns.
The closest we’ve come to seeing something like this before was all the way back in 2008 when the doomed promotion YAMMA Pit Fighting staged their one and only MMA event. While the ease of takedowns was immediately apparent at that event, there are a number of huge differences that are worth noting. Firstly the difference between MMA and pure grappling cannot be understated, as competitors have the ability to pull guard to mitigate some of that advantage. Secondly the fighters competing at YAMMA Pit Fighting 1 were mostly older or inexperienced, whereas Pit Submission Series has already announced a lineup consisting of elite grapplers.
All three matches feature talent from New Wave Jiu-Jitsu, with the young prospect Helena Crevar stepping into the pit first against veteran black belt Caitlin Murdock. The next two matches will see her more established teammates taking on fellow ADCC 2022 veterans in particularly tough battles. Dan Manasoiu will be facing off against Max Gimenis, with both men having experience in the over 99kg division of the world’s most prestigious grappling tournament. Luke Griffith will should have a size advantage in his match as an under 99kg competitor, as Vagner Rocha is his opponent and he took home a bronze medal in the under 88kg division last year.
Pit Submission Series announced the lineup for their inaugural event in a series of posts to their official Instagram account:
