The Professional Grappling Federation (PGF) has continued to push the envelope when it comes to Jiu-Jitsu as a spectator sport and now the promotion has announced a huge expansion ready for season 8. Founder Brandon McCaghren has said that the first few seasons were more about testing and proving a concept, which was to mimic other mainstream sports and create a league for elite Jiu-Jitsu competitors. It proved to be a success and those early seasons were popular among hardcore fans, but they really made headlines by announcing a $100,000 prize pool for season 6 in 2024. That was a huge moment and the level of competition involved immediately shot through the roof.
They also signed a broadcast deal with UFC Fight Pass at the same time, and it was clear that 2024 was going to be a huge year for PGF. After a long week of elite grappling and highlight-reel moments, Andy Varela was crowned the season champion. PGF immediately set about showing that this wasn’t just a one-off and they conducted their next season in the same year, with the same prize money. Ryan Aitken emerged as the champion of season 8 after battling through some of the best light-heavyweight grapplers in the world and it was clear that PGF had reached a high-point.
They announced season 8 ready for March this year initially and although that was delayed, it turns out it was for a very good reason. Past seasons have taken place over a single week, with five days in a row containing hours of matches each day. Now they are switching to a 12-week season, giving fans relentless action and entertainment across 3 months instead of just one week. Season 8 will now begin with the promotion’s customary draft on June 25th, 2025 and the action on the mats will take place weekly from July 23rd to August 20th. That concludes the regular season and the top 8 competitors from the league will then compete in the playoffs on September 10th, 2025 where the champion will be crowned.
PGF founder and commissioner Brandon McCaghren had this to say on the Season 8 expansion:
“This was always the big vision. Jiu-Jitsu is the fastest-growing combat sport in the world. The athletes are ready. The fans are ready. And now—we’re building the league format they’ve all been waiting for.”
PGF announced the news of their huge expansion for season 8 in a recent video uploaded to their official YouTube channel:
