DYNAMIC – the word encapsulates so much of the Professional Grappling Federation (PGF). By definition is means “(of a process or system) characterized by constant change, activity, or progress.” Looking at progress, every season has improved – the level of competition, production quality, venue, EVERYTHING. Looking at constant change, fans can just look at the leader boards throughout the season, with the competitors constantly going up and down the standings. But even with the dynamic nature of the standings, the top competitors have started to pull away from the pack. On any given day, a competitor can over perform or underperform, but given a large enough sample size, the top competitors have proven their reputations were well earned.
It's tradition that every season, the PGF has a blue belt who breaks into the top eight and makes the finale. Also true to PGF tradition, some competitor comes out of nowhere and shocks everyone.
The PGF Regular Season wraps up TONIGHT on Brandon Mccaghren‘s YouTube Channel as PGF Season 5, Day 4 will kick off LIVE at 4pm.
As we head into the final day of the PGF regular season, let’s look back at the best of day 3:
Elijah Carlton (Team Epic Roll) – Black Belt, 10th Planet Atlanta. You can’t stop Elijah, you can only hope to slow him down. After two of the top competitors in the PGF took Elijah to a draw on day one, Elijah has been on a tear. He has started to run away with the competition, sitting at 38 point. He had another three-submission night on day 3, adding a kill and two Elbow Genie Point worthy breaks. In the final day of the season, he faces Young Matthew Dewees, Fedor Nikolov, and David Cooper. Fans have to be excited to see the Fedor and Elijah match, anticipating a display of seriously high-level jiu jitsu. Regardless of the outcome of that match, Elijah should put up some more points and maintain his position atop the PGF standings.
MANTIS Travis Thomas (Team Level) – Purple Belt, 10th Planet Decatur. Brandon Mccaghren told everyone that Travis Thomas was his dark horse to win this season of the PGF. Team Level Manager Nekiaya Jackson showed her belief by laying down $1100 for the 11th pick of the draft. BOTH have proven the naysayers wrong! To be fair, both had inside baseball on the professional mixed martial artist who just happens to be phenomenal at jiu jitsu (but if you watch his MMA matches, you’d think he was mainly a striker). Thomas has a preternatural ability to learn combat, whether jiu jitsu or mma fighting. It’s on the record he’s the fastest promoted student ever under Brandon Mccaghren (who has a reputation on making his students cook at their belt levels before promoting). Put plainly, Thomas is a star and we’re all seeing the nascent stages of an outstanding career. In the final day of the PGF, Thomas faces Landon Tourville, Noah Randolph, and Cam Hurd.
Landon Tourville (Team Toe Hold Red) – Blue Belt, Fathom BJJ. Once called the man of mystery because he had such little rolling footage online, he’s shown he belongs in the PGF. The GOAT of Day 1 had a solid day two with three submissions but ran into top competitors on Day 3. Landon had to face Elijah Carlton and Kemoy Anderson, receiving submissions from both. Landon still found a way to put points on the bar by arm crushing Luke Church. He sits at a very respectable fourth place heading into the final day of the season, but can he stay in the top 8? In the final day of the season, he faces Travis Thomas, Nick Craton, and Matt Elkins. These competitors represent some of the toughest opponents one could face in the PGF and they’re all still jockeying for position in the top eight themselves. If Landon can’t get a submission today, there’s a real possibility he might not make the playoffs.
Nick Craton (Team Epic Roll) – Brown Belt at Adamas Jiu Jitsu, formerly of 10th Planet St. Paul. He got Josh Gibbs with a heel hook within the first minute to also gain the Elbow Genie Point. Then he used his awesome anaconda on Luke Church to get those six points for the kill. He was very close to having a three-submission day but despite threatening Young Matthew Dewees for the majority of the match, he just couldn’t finish him off. He started slow but after the third day is in third place. In the final day of the season, Craton faces Noah Randolph, Landon Tourville, and Sawyer Griffin. He should be able to score a couple of submissions to maintain his spot in the finale. As long as he makes the finale, he has every possibility to make a real run at the PGF title.
Matt Elkins (Team Toe Hold Blue)– Black Belt, 10th Planet Birmingham. Many fans picked him to unseat Elijah Carlton as the king of the PGF. Elkins has had a slow start to the season. He’s built up a head of steam by getting an Elbow Genie Point kill on day two and securing two more kills on day 3. He’s tied for 7th and on the bubble heading into the final day of the season. Today he faces Sam Schwartzapfel, Sawyer Griffin, and Landon Tourville. All these competitors are either fighting to maintain or to break into the top eight. He needs to gets some submissions to ensure his spot in the finale and he’s facing very motivated competition. But over multiple seasons in the PGF, Elkins has proven he has the grit and killer instincts to finish strong.
Fedor Nikolov (Team Toe Hold Red) – Brown Belt, 10th Planet HQ (formerly 10th Planet St. Petersburg). Fedor had a very strong first day with multiple submissions. He slowed down a bit on day 2, only getting one break, but he got back to his multiple submission ways on day 3. He scored a kill via triangle and an armbar for nine points on the day. Fedor sits at sixth place, but needs to fight for more submissions to ensure he makes the playoffs. In the final day of the season, he faces a tough lineup in Kemoy Anderson, Elijah Carlton, and Moose Fritz. Fedor has two wins over Moose in the LA Qualifier, but everyone knows Moose has been looking to get one back. His other competitors will be motivated to either maintain or improve their seeding for the finale. But one has to imagine, in this scenario, Fedor will put his best jiu jitsu on display. Fans should be excited to see a motivated Fedor against high level competition today.
Kemoy Anderson (Team Level) – Brown Belt, 10th Planet Austin (formerly 10th Planet El Paso) - Kemoy took out two fan favorites in the Rock Troll Maximus Jolly and Day 1 GOAT Landon Tourville. Kemoy caught Landon in a slick triangle with a setup similar to the one he used to take out Moose Fritz. But the more remarkable thing was giving the Rock Troll his first PGF Submission loss. In two seasons, no one had submitted the Rock Troll. He had only lost via ride time in the semi-finals of the PGF Season 4 Finale. Kemoy threatened the Rock Troll the entire match, eventually getting Maximus in the truck position. From there, Kemoy submitted the Rock Troll with a calf slicer. Kemoy is currently tied for fourth place with 23 points and looking to go deep into the Finale tournament.
Fans can expect another four plus hours of exciting matches tonight on Brandon Mccaghren‘s YouTube Channel as PGF Season 5, Day 4 will kick off LIVE at 4pm Central time. The FINALE roster and the Regular Season winner will be determined tonight!
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