PGF World Season 7 has just begun as of November 3rd, 2024 as the promotion’s draft has now been conducted and the full lineup for each of the four teams is set. It’s always a tense day in every season but there’s even more on the line in this latest edition as all 20 grapplers on the roster are incredible competitors. Given that there’s $100,000 on the line for the winning team, even the athletes being bid on were eager to make sure they had the best team around them. Four of the best coaches in the world were picking the teams but navigating a draft is an entirely different beast, and there was always going to be some mistakes as well as some great choices.
PGF World Season 7 Draft Results
The Professional Grappling Federation draft is relatively simple and there was only one change for PGF World Season 7, as the coaches were going to be bidding on alternates with 2,000 points as well as 10,000 for the starting team. Each competitor comes up and an auction ensues, where the coaches bid for their services as one of the five members of their team. If nobody bids then the competitor joins the back of the queue to be bid on after everyone else. Although it’s easy to understand, it’s almost impossible to master. Getting the ideal team requires the ability to know the value and abilities of everyone in the roster, along with the guts to bluff everyone else into overspending.
The Biggest Buys
With just 10,000 points to spend, it’s not uncommon for single competitors to take up a quarter to a third of the team’s budget. Of course, just because they break the bank doesn’t mean they’re not good value for money. The best competitors will naturally cost the most, but that also puts a lot of pressure on them to prove that they worth the price. The biggest deal of the day was Ryan Aitken, who was bought by Pedro Sauer for a massive 5,200 points. That only happened by default though, as he was the 19th man to be bought and Sauer was happy to spend his entire remaining budget to secure him.
Both of the next highest bids came from Carlos Machado, who pulled out all the stops to get the two particular competitors he had his eye on. Spending 3,200 for Elijah Carlton and 3,100 on Davis Asare to start his team, Machado really limited his options for the next three picks but he was more than happy to do so in order to work with them. The only other competitor who broke the 3,000 barrier was Chris Wojcik, and he was actually up 16th in the roster. Dean Lister did a great job of saving his points for a late run though, and he was able to bring Wojcik over to his team despite some competition.
The Bargains
Although there’s always attention on the biggest deals, there were quite a few crazy bargains at PGF World Season 7 draft too. There’s not as much pressure on anyone in this position, but they all have a great opportunity to surprise their opponents. Roger Gracie was undoubtedly the biggest bargain-hunter of the night, and he really paid less than expected for most of his team. He secured four-time ADCC Trials winner Paul Ardila for just 2,400, but Kyle Chambers and Kyle Boehm for just 900 and 1,500 respectively were both crazy outcomes. Although he spent less than anyone else, he ended up with one of the strongest teams he could have had.
Lister also got a great bargain in the form of Marcin Maciulewicz, as the top European competitor easily could have been one of the most expensive. Instead Lister was able to win that auction for just 2,000, adding an incredibly valuable asset to his team for less than expected. Sauer got PGF veteran Cameron Hurd for just 1,100 and although Hurd isn’t as well-known as some of his opponents, his experience is worth way more than what Sauer paid for it. Machado got what was probably the biggest single bargain of the night in the form of Nathan Haddad though, spending just 500 to get the Helio ‘Soneca’ Moreira black belt.
The Alternates
One of the craziest moments of the PGF World Season 7 draft came when the bidding for the alternates started. Abraham La Montagne stepped up and sold himself better than anyone else did all night, reminding the coaches that he’d already submitted several members of the roster. Every single team wanted him and were willing to bid 1,900 for him, so the auction was flipped on it’s head and he was given the choice of where to go. With each of the coaches offering to host him for a seminar tour if he chose them, in the end it was Carlos Machado who attracted La Montagne.
The next two alternates up for grabs followed a similar path, as both Deyvson Souza and Christos Papadelos also went for 1,900 to their respective teams. With three of the coaches left with just a 100 points budget, that meant that Lister had his choice of the rest of the alternates. He spent 200 each to secure Drew Dyer and Jack Bidwell, which meant that the final three alternates were all going to go for 100 each. The draft took on a first come, first served approach at that point and it was just a race to bid first on each of the remaining competitors.
Full PGF World Season 7 Team Lineups After The Draft
Roger Gracie – 1st Phorm
Paul Ardila – 2,400
Adam Bradley – 900
Kyle Chambers – 900
Kyle Boehm – 1,500
Dory Aoun – 1,000
Alternates
Deyvson Souza – 1,900
Sam Schwartzapfel – 100
Dean Lister – Constellation Network
Kemoy Anderson – 1,000
Sebastian Attard – 1,200
Marcin Maciulewicz – 2,000
Fedor Nikolov – 1,400
Chris Wojcik – 3,000
Alternates
Drew Dyer – 200
Jack Bidwell – 200
Pedro Sauer – New Hope Regeneration
Travis Thomas – 2,500
Bradley Schneider – 100
Ernesto Rivera – 1,100
Cameron Hurd – 1,100
Ryan Aitken – 5,200
Alternates
Christos Papadelos – 1,900
Jacob Howarth – 100
Carlos Machado – Intrana
Elijah Carlton – 3,200
Davis Asare – 3,100
Nathan Haddad – 500
Andre Porfirio – 2,200
Caleb Crump – 1,000
Alternates
Abraham La Montagne – 1,900
Kris Olivo – 100
The full replay of the PGF World Season 7 draft has been uploaded to the official UFC Fight Pass YouTube channel:
