Polaris Squads is back again and the third event that the promotion have put on in this style will feature the debut of Team USA, as Team Europe take a backseat for once. The promotion announced the news on their official Instagram account, where plenty of professional grapplers and fans alike have already been speculating about who will be representing both Team USA, and Team UK & Ireland. This won’t be the only difference that the third Polaris Squads event will feature, as this will also be the first time that they will be permitted to have a live audience in attendance, a seemingly minor detail that should have a huge impact on the atmosphere of the event.
The rules will remain exactly the same as the first Polaris Squads event, and this will again be contested without the gi which could pave the way for the return of some of Team UK & Ireland’s most successful competitors like Tom Halpin and Ashley Williams. Although switching to a gi-based competition for the second event ended up with a match that was far higher-scoring than the first, it doesn’t seem to be the sole reason behind that difference. Most notable was the absence of both Williams and Halpins from the main competition, although the men did still compete on the night, just against each other for the promotion’s Featherweight title.
With the event set for just four months time, it shouldn’t be too long to wait before we can start revealing some of the names set to line up for either Team USA or Team UK & Ireland, but who would you most want to see competing?
The full play-by-play and live results for the first Polaris Squads can be found here, along with the full play-by-play and live results for the second Polaris Squads event here. Rest assured, we’ll be on hand again to provide the same for Polaris Squads 3.
Polaris Squads 3 featuring Team USA v Team UK & Ireland will be streamed live on 17th July on UFC FightPass, click here to subscribe and watch.