Craig Jones vs Davi Ramos was a bit of a bust, with Jones apologizing to the crowd for a boring match as it was mostly a battle for a position without any significant submission attempts.
“I was hoping at some point he would take some big risks. I really felt like he [would] based on his previous matches. You’d seen his previous matches, eventually, he would jump for something wild. When he did, I got on top, but he won the argument for the first time in history against a referee.”
Jones is referring to a scramble that led to the two coming off of the mat as Jones was engaging in Ramos’ open guard. Initially, the referee wanted to reset the grapplers in the center of the mat with Ramos in a seated position. However, after the protest, Ramos was able to convince the referee to allow them to restarts from the standing position. At that point, Jones just pulled guard. “Look at [Ramos] I’m not gonna wrestle with this monster. I didn’t even wanna reach for a collar tie, become another highlight reel.”
Fans can expect to see Jones return to Polaris, potentially competing for the light-heavyweight title, “I’d like to come back [to Polaris]. I know initially, we were talking about a 205-pound defense against Lovato. But, Lovato was away at No-Gi worlds, so I’d love to set that one up… I cut a lot of weight for this one, it was miserable. So yeah, definitely 205 next time.”
The co-main event had a bit more excitement and provided a nice highlight for fans, as Kendall Reusing made a slick transition from Luukkonen’s back in a rear-triangle position, into an armbar for the victory, “With an opponent like Venla, I had to take my time and really not make any mistakes… I really respect her jiu-jitsu and didn’t want to make any errors… As soon as I started into the first pass I felt like my hip pressure was there, my underhook control was there… Once I was able to pin both shoulders on the mat, I knew that my legs would do the rest of the work.”
The champion noted that despite her extensive experience, she’s still developing her toolset and broadening her style, “It’s interesting having been on the mats since I was 5 years old, but at the same time feeling like I’m just getting started. It’s very exciting, I think we’re seeing a lot more diverse jiu-jitsu from me.”
// Main Card //
Craig Jones def. Davi Ramos via Unanimous Decision (Middleweight Championship)
Kendall Reusing def. Venla Luukkonen via Armbar (Women’s Openweight Championship)
Jed Hue def. Kody Steele via Split Decision
Mateusz Szczecinski def. Ellis Younger via Heel Hook
Tarik Hopstock def. Fred Greenall via Unanimous Decision
Kamil Wilk def. Robert Degle via Unanimous Decision
// Preliminary Card //
Jack Sear def. Ollie Bates via Split Decision
Dominic Dillon def. Scott Pooley via Kimura
Shane Curtis def. Ben Hills via Unanimous Decision
Yousuf Nabi def. Dan Pacan via Unanimous Decision
Max Corteggiano def. Nathan Kay via Unanimous Decision
Abbie O’Toole def. Maia Holmes via RNC
