Quintet 1 -Grappling Team Survival - April 11 (OFFICIAL DISCUSSION)

Quintet 1
April 11, 2018
 Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Hall
Tokyo, Japan

Team:
                                
HALEO Dream Team                                              JUDO Dream Team
Kazushi Sakuraba                     vs.                              Satoshi Ishii    
Josh Barnett                                                           Dong Sik Yoon
Marcos de Souza                                                      Kim Hyung-ju
Daisuke Nakamura                                            Michihiro Omigawa
Hideo Tokoro                                                        Shutaro Debana


                                   
SAMBO Dream Team                                      POLARIS Dream Team
Teodoras Aukštuolis                    vs.                         Gregor Gracie
Marius Zaromskis                                           Charles Negromonte
Mindaugas Veržbickas                                                 Craig Jones
Viktor Tomasević                                                       Dan Strauss 
Sergej Grecicho                                                              Caol Uno


Rules:

- Each team has 5 members

- Total team weight must not exceed 430kg

- The matches are Openweight

- The winner is decided only by submission. No judge decisions

- Each match is 10 minutes long

- A competitor weight difference of 20kg or over means 5-minute matches

- Fighters must wear rashguards

- If a winner is not decided after all 5 members have fought, an extension match between each team’s first choice will follow. This will continue until there is a winner.

- No heel hooks or closed guard

Woh ho, that is pretty sick.

Although the TBAs make it sort of impossible to really make a pick, Imma throw me hat behind the judo team, which I'm going to call the darkhorses.

I think they will exceed expectations. Judo-based fighters, who are experienced in MMA and broader submission fighting, may be a force here.

The Sambo team also seems strong. They all look good though.

Marcin Held (21-7) replaces Charles Negromonte at the Quintet's Polaris team.
Held's accolades:
-Black Belt in Jiu Jitsu
-Bellator Season 10 Lightweight Tournament Winner
-2011 ADCC Polish Champion
-2011 FILA Grappling European Championships Senior No-Gi Gold Medalist

Quite the lineup. Is Sakuraba planning any further Rizin activity?