If you’ve been following the Jiu Jitsu competition scene over the past couple of years, you know that PPV live streaming sub only events are all the rage. Starting with the exhilarating first Metamoris, and including EBI and Polaris, this trend has taken the BJJ community by storm. There is a new series of these invitational Sub Only events that has been getting a lot of buzz and excitement, and for good reason. Submission Series Pro has the elements of these other events but with a bit of a twist, it pits high level local talent that hasn’t yet made it into the international spotlight against high level talent that has.
I had an opportunity to interview Cat Clarke who is the main man at Submission Series Pro and he gave me some insights about why you should be excited about his upcoming events.
“Metamoris and Polaris are similar, yet very different. They are sub only format events, like Submission Series PRO; however we travel city to city. We take the TOP local fighters in each area we host a show and fly in the some of the TOP talent in the world to compete with them in a 15 min sub only format. All cards will have a main event that is also of world class but not necessarily featuring a local fighter.”
A major concern with Metamoris (which has thus far been the biggest name on the invitational Sub Only scene) has been that many of the competitors have been far less interested in getting the finish than in simply surviving and not getting finished. Many competitors have been content with going to a draw.
“Our fighters go for it, our last event had 8 fights and 7 finishes; as the local guys and girls have ZERO to lose and everything to GAIN with the world class athletes in reverse.” There is a certain comfort and power to be taken in anonymity. I know that if I had a chance to have a sub only match against a big name, I would go out there and compete like I was fighting for my life, as a loss is expected for the local guy but a victory is potentially career changing.
Cat has big plans for his Submission Series “Our long term goal for Submission Series PRO is to become the global leader in professional Jiu Jitsu events. We want to focus on making Jiu Jitsu an exciting and interesting product for the everyday person and help grow the sport and gain notoriety for the local top athletes who may not get to travel so much while at the same time helping push the world class athletes in this format. It’s truly about the sport growing for us, helping spread the word of BJJ and how it’s a life changing element… It’s a great way to see what BJJ is about and we plan to take it as far as we can.”
Upcoming events include matches between Joao Assis Vs. Tom DeBlass, Michael Liera Jr Vs, Marcos Tinoco and Danis Nguyen Vs. Edwin Najimi. If you are not familiar with the names on that short list, you should look them up, they are all finishers of the highest caliber.
The best part of the Submission Series Pro that I haven’t even mentioned yet is that the live streams are FREE. That’s right, no 15 or 20$ fee to watch, just go on their website and enjoy the amazing events. Money to fund the events come from tickets and sponsors, so casual fans at home don’t have to come out of pocket to see world class grappling. The URL is www.submissionseriespro.ca
Emil Fischer is an active blue belt competitor under Pablo Angel Castro III training with Strong Style Brasa and is sponsored by Pony Club Grappling Gear and Cruz Combat. For more information, other articles, and competition videos check out his athlete pages at www.facebook.com/emilfischerbjj and www.twitter.com/Emil_Fischer
