PGF World Season 8 has just begun and week 1 delivered exactly the kind of exciting results and highlight-reel moments that fans had been hoping for. It’s too early to tell how the switch to a weekly format will effect the end-product, but the promotion is just as entertaining as it always was. A lot of that can be attributed to how well-balanced both the 20 individual grapplers and the teams that were put together in the initial draft actually are. Obviously there were a few favorites coming into the first week but the skill-gap between everyone is close enough that this really is anyone’s season.
PGF World Season 8 Week 1 Full Results And Recap
Week 1 saw some of the top contenders starting their run to the playoffs early, but there were a few who remained pretty quiet too. There were a few others who fans might have overlooked initially that also put on an excellent performances too of course, and it’s still far too early to tell who’s going to finish in the top 8. The team battle is just as tough to predict at this point too, as all four teams are relatively close together after week 1. There’s just 4 points between 1st and 4th so everything could change by next week, never mind by the end of the regular season.
Top Performers
There are two men in the lead after week 1 of PGF World Season 8 and they both made a big impression. Anthony Molina got the first submission of the day with an incredibly quick ankle-lock against Armin Bruni and he repeated that feat later in the day against Anthony Blackledge to score 8 points in total. Teenage star Raphael Ferreira also scored 8 points with a pair of finishes, as he caught CJ Murdock with a heel hook and Brady Branscum with an ankle-lock. There’s two more men right behind them on 7 points though, and one of them actually won two of his matches too.
Christos Papadelos submitted Brady Hylton with a brutal double shoulder-lock from the back and finished his day by heel hooking JJ Bowers, while Zack Schneider only won one match but scored the same thanks to his method of victory. He submitted another one of the early favorites, Jordan Wirth, with a rear-naked choke after a stalling call gave him easy access to his back on the reset. These are the top four after the first week but there’s so many other competitors within touching distance, and last season’s playoff contender Jett Thompson has yet to score, so he’ll be eager to get some submissions soon.
Other Winners
Dominic Lobo is the only other man to score big after he got a rear-naked choke against Hylton and finished the week on 6, but four grapplers have 5 points. Landon Elmore submitted John Chandler with an Aoki lock and Kris Olivo caught Blackledge with an ankle-lock, while Matt Masch heel hooked Chandler and Wirth pulled off a crazy comeback to heel hook Mike John. John did win his first match against Juan Martinez with an ankle-lock though; and that allowed him to finish the week on a respectable 4 points. He wasn’t alone either, three other grapplers are sitting on 4 points after winning and losing in equal measure.
JJ Bowers hit Hylton with a tight toehold in his very first match, while the other two men left it right until the end of the event to get their points on the board. Armin Bruni and CJ Murdock both won their final matches with ankle-locks, submitting Blackledge and Brady Branscum respectively. Only three competitors are left with 0 points after the first week, because three different teams won bonus points for winning the 10-match blocks. Hylton finds himself in a decent position with 2 points considering that he didn’t get any finishes, so he’s in a good position to turn it around quickly after a rough start.
PGF World Season 8 Week 1 Full Results
Landon Elmore vs Jett Thompson ends in a Draw – No Submission
Anthony Molina defeats Armin Bruni via Submission – Ankle-lock
Brady Branscum vs Anthony Gojani ends in a Draw – No Submission
Mike John defeats Juan Martinez via Submission – Ankle-lock
Christos Papadelos vs Dominic Lobo ends in a Draw – No Submission
Matt Masch defeats John Chandler via Submission – Heel Hook
Kris Olivo defeats Robert Blackledge via Submission – Ankle-lock
Raphael Ferreira defeats CJ Murdock via Submission – Heel Hook
Zack Schneider defeats Jordan Wirth via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
JJ Bowers defeats Brady Hylton via Submission – Toehold
Matt Masch vs Landon Elmore ends in a Draw – No Submission
Kris Olivo vs Armin Bruni ends in a Draw – No Submission
Raphael Ferreira defeats Brady Branscum via Submission – Ankle-lock
Jordan Wirth defeats Mike John via Submission – Heel Hook
Christos Papadelos defeats Brady Hylton via Submission – Shoulder-lock
John Chandler vs Jett Thompson ends in a Draw – No Submission
Anthony Molina defeats Robert Blackledge via Submission – Ankle-lock
CJ Murdock vs Anthony Gojani ends in a Draw – No Submission
Zack Schneider vs Juan Martinez ends in a Draw – No Submission
JJ Bowers vs Dominic Lobo ends in a Draw – No Submission
Jett Thompson vs Matt Masch ends in a Draw – No Submission
Anthony Molina vs Kris Olivo ends in a Draw – No Submission
Anthony Gojani vs Raphael Ferreira ends in a Draw – No Submission
Juan Martinez vs Jordan Wirth ends in a Draw – No Submission
Dominic Lobo defeats Brady Hylton via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
Landon Elmore defeats John Chandler via Submission – Aoki Lock
Armin Bruni defeats Robert Blackledge via Submission – Ankle-lock
CJ Murdock defeats Brady Branscum via Submission – Ankle-lock
Zack Schneider vs Mike John ends in a Draw – No Submission
Christos Papadelos defeats JJ Bowers via Submission – Heel Hook
PGF World Season 8 Standings After Week 1
Team Dollamur – 16
Christos Papadelos – 7
Landon Elmore – 5
Mike John – 4
Armin Bruni – 4
Brady Branscum – 1
Alabama Twisters – 15
Raphael Ferreira – 8
Matt Masch – 5
Jordan Wirth – 5
Kris Olivo – 5
Brady Hylton – 2
New Hope Kings – 14
Anthony Molina – 8
Dominic Lobo – 6
Jett Thompson – 0
Anthony Gojani – 0
Juan Martinez – 0
Tropic Thunders – 12
Zack Schneider – 7
JJ Bowers – 4
CJ Murdock – 4
Robert Blackledge – 1
John Chandler – 1
The full replay of PGF World Season 8 Week 1, including all of the above results, is available to watch on the promotion’s official YouTube channel:
