UFC FIGHT PASS®, the UFC’s digital streaming service, will stream the upcoming submission grappling super-show Polaris 5 live and exclusive from London, England, on Aug.19.
The event will be headlined by the hotly anticipated grudge match between Garry Tonon and Dillon Danis and adds to FIGHT PASS’s growing BJJ offering.
Tonon and Danis have been exchanging barbs on social media – and in person – ever since Tonon emerged victorious from their initial encounter in 2015.
Danis is a friend and BJJ coach of UFC superstar Conor McGregor, and mimics the two-division UFC champion’s swaggering self-promoting style.
He said: “I will get my sweet revenge.”
Tonon, an EBI champion, has other ideas. “I’m grateful for Dillon's recent rise to fame,” Tonon said. "When I knock him off his pedestal, he has that much farther to fall and the bounty of rewards and acclaim that I will reap from my victory will be that much greater.”
The grudge match finally happens at Polaris 5, only on UFC FIGHT PASS.
Also on the stacked submission specialist card, former UFC welterweight title challenger Jake Shields will take on British jiu jitsu super-heavyweight champion Dan Strauss.
Said Shields: “I'm super excited to be part of Polaris’s first show in London. There's nothing I enjoy more than going to someone else's home town and defeating them.”
In a featured attraction, recently retired UFC fan favorite Brad Pickett will make his Polaris debut by taking on Phil Harris, an MMA fighter who has already successfully transitioned to Polaris.
Pickett retired from the Octagon earlier this year after a memorable eight-year run in the UFC and WEC, where he defeated current MMA pound-for-pounder Demetrious Johnson and earned a worldwide fanbase for all action style.
“I’m thrilled to be back competing,” Pickett said. "It’s very different to MMA but appeals to me because I am a competitive man by nature. Grappling is picking up pace as an exciting sport to watch in this country and Polaris is playing a big part in that.”
And there’s even more UFC-interest on Polaris 5, as former UFC lightweight title challenger and MMA pioneer Caol Uno looks to continue the Japanese vs Brazilian submission rivalry when he meets grappling icon Vitor Shaolin Ribeiro.
Additional matches will be finalized in the coming weeks. All 15-minute professional grappling matches will be contested under the Polaris rules, which are designed to encourage constant action.
Some of the most exciting bouts from Polaris’s previous event will be uploaded to FIGHT PASS shortly, joining EBI and ADCC events in FIGHT PASS’s growing library of world-class submission grappling events.