The first two matchups for July 14th’s Polaris 7 event have been announced, and the card is already looking promising.
Nathan Orchard will compete against Ross Nicholls, and Lachlan Giles will compete against Oliver Taza in what will serve as the opening rounds for the welterweight championship, which will take place later in the year at Polaris 9.
Orchard is an Oregon-based 10th Planet black belt with an extensive MMA record that includes ten submission wins. He was a finalist at EBI 2 and a 2016 Onnit Invitational champion and is the namesake of the Dead Orchard submission.
Nicholls is one of the UK’s top jiu-jitsu athletes and trains out of Roger Gracie’s academy. He’s a multiple-time British National and European champion and was a competitor at Polaris 5.
Giles is one of Australia’s top-ranked grapplers and most recently competed at the Abu Dhabi World Pro. He’s also a two-time ADCC Trials winner and won third place at EBI 5, where he defeated Orchard via fastest escape time.
Taza is a Canadian athlete who competes under the Tri-Star/ Renzo Gracie flag. He was also a competitor at this year’s Abu Dhabi World Pro and 2017’s ADCC. Taza competed at Polaris 5, where he defeated Nicholls by unanimous decision.
These are the first two matches announced for the card; the Jiu-Jitsu Times will continue to provide updates as they become available.
Polaris 7 will take place in London on Saturday, July 14, 2018.
