Masakazu Imanari Vs. Nicky Ryan Announced For Polaris 8

Masakazu Imanari has stepped in to replace Ashley Williams to face Nicky Ryan at Polaris 8.

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Unfortunately due to injury, Ash Williams has had to pull out of his title bout with Nicky Ryan. ⠀ ⠀ Masakazu Imanari, coming off a very closely contested split decision loss to Ash in the semi-finals of our featherweight bracket, steps in to replace him, and the veteran grappler has only one thing on his mind for this match – to give everything he has to take the Polaris featherweight belt. ⠀ ⠀ Standing in his way is Nicky Ryan, who wants to go down in history as the greatest grappler of all time, starting with becoming the Polaris featherweight champion. ⠀ ⠀ Polaris 8⠀ December 9⠀ Ice Arena Wales, Cardiff⠀ Doors 4pm, Prelims 5pm, Main Card 7pm⠀ buff.ly/2OMMjGM⠀ Broadcast on @ufcfightpass⠀ ⠀ Please give our sponsors a follow: ⠀ @canavapecbd⠀ @made4fightersuk⠀ @bitcoin.com_official⠀ @scramblebrandofficial ⠀ @tatamifightwear

A post shared by Polaris Professional Jiu Jitsu (@polaris_professional) on Nov 9, 2018 at 4:34am PST

The namesake of the Imanari roll, who currently competes in the featherweight division of ONE Championship, lost a close split-decision semifinals match to Williams. Following Williams’ injury (that also forced him to withdraw from today’s Kasai Pro 4), Imanari will now take his spot in the finals to compete for the featherweight title.

Ryan is coming off an RNC win against Hideo Tokoro at Quintet 3. He made jaws drop at Polaris 7 by winning his match against Phil Harris with a super slick triangle-armbar, which pushed him ahead to the finals.

Polaris 8 kicks off on December 9 at Ice Arena Wales; Craig Jones will face Keenan Cornelius in the main event.

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