Ever since the news first broke that the second Polaris Squads event would take place in the gi, plenty of fans were clamoring for the Norwegian duo, Espen Mathiesen and Tommy Langaker, to represent Team Europe. Now that the first half of the event has been announced, those fans have not only got their wish but they’ve also been treated to the return of fellow scandinavian grappler Tommi Pulkkanen, who had a good showing at the first Squads event. Joining Mathiesen and Pulkkanen in the under 75kg category is a relative newcomer to the IBJJF circuit who already holds a victory over Pulkkanen, Leon Larman.
Finally, that weightclass is filled out by Pedro “Pacquito” Ramalho, this year’s IBJJF European Open silver medalist who came up just short in the final against Langaker. In the heavier weight category, Adam Wardzinski brings an impressive resume from Poland and the butterfly guard expert looks likely to make a big impact. Another extremely well-travelled competitor will be making the trip over from Italy as two-time IBJJF no gi European Champion Luca Anacoreta, the founder of Aeterna Jiu Jitsu Academy in Rome. The final competitor is Max Lindblad, the Swede who has already faced a number of his teammates in competition, including several matches with Tommy Langaker.
So far, no change to the ruleset that was in place for Polaris Squads has been announced, so it’s assumed that this event will feature the same minimum number of sixteen matches all contested over a five-minute period that forces the action.
The full play-by-play and live results for the first Polaris Squads can be found here, and we’ll be on hand to deliver the same for the gi version of the event.
The second Polaris Squads event where Team Europe take on Team UK in the gi will be streamed live on 7th November on UFC FightPass, click here to subscribe and watch.
