Polaris Pro 8: All Stars - December 9 (OFFICIAL DISCUSSION)

Polaris Pro 8
December 9, 2018
Ice Arena Wales
Cardiff, Wales

Main Card:
Craig Jones           vs.   Keenan Cornelius  
Main Event |  Title Fight | Grappling | Middleweight | 185 lbs (84 kg)

Vagner Rocha        vs. Benson Henderson  
Co-Main Event | Grappling | Welterweight | 170 lbs (77 kg)

Marcin Held          vs.          Ross Nicholls  
Main Card |  Title Fight | Grappling | Welterweight | 170 lbs (77 kg)

Satoshi Ishii          vs.          Dan Strauss  
Main Card | Grappling | Heavyweight | 265 lbs (120 kg)

Masakazu Imanari vs.            Nicky Ryan  
Main Card |  Title Fight | Grappling | Featherweight | 145 lbs (66 kg)

Polaris 8, the end of year spectacular from world-leading professional jiu jitsu promotion Polaris, will be streamed live and exclusively on UFC Fight Pass on Sunday, December 9th from the Ice Arena in Wales.

The main event sees breakout star Craig Jones move up in weight to challenge one of the most successful jiu jitsu athletes the United States has ever produced in Keenan Cornelius. Jones, the current Polaris middleweight champion, believes he can beat the American and become the first ever two-division weight class champion of Polaris.

“Keenan has blue hair and invented the ‘worm guard’ – who doesn’t want to see this man lose?” says Jones, who trains out of Absolute MMA in Melbourne, Australia.

Keenan hails from the champion factory of Atos Jiu Jitsu in San Diego, and holds a previous victory over Craig, but the Australian has a track record of scoring upset wins over well-established names in jiu jitsu.

In the co-main event, Polaris has brought together two incredible athletes in Vagner Rocha and Benson Henderson. Rocha is a jiu jitsu world champion and the EBI / CJJ champion, with a particularly nasty and brutal jiu jitsu style. Benson Henderson is a legend in MMA and his last appearance in Polaris was non-stop action and excitement.

There are two further belts on the line at Polaris 8. Ross Nicholls, a Welshman and black belt under Roger Gracie, will fight in front of his hometown crowd for the Polaris welterweight belt against Marcin Held, the Polish grappling prodigy with a string of submissions under his belt in both MMA and professional jiu jitsu. In the featherweight division, the enigmatic and dangerous leg-locker Masakazu Imanari will look to secure the belt against the young John Danaher prodigy, the seemingly unstoppable Nicky Ryan.

Polaris has also recruited Olympic gold medallist and grappling coach to Mirko Cro Cop, Satoshi Ishii in a heavyweight bout with fan favourite Dan “The Raspberry Ape” Strauss, who says he’d “rather be ipponed 20 times than be in a boring fight.”