Handsome Kevin Sherrill is your first confirmed Professional Grappling Federation (PGF) Season 5 Contestant! Showing he has brains to match his good looks and grappling ability, Handsome Kevin snuck into the first qualifier at Coosa Jiu Jitsu and Wellness in Wetumpka, Alabama and snagged the first spot on the roster. Now everyone is chasing him in the hopes of winning the PGF. But Handsome Kevin called his shot long ago. Back on 29 October 2022, right after defending his Handsome title and winning the “Handsome Daddy” belt, Handsome Kevin called his shot, thanking the Commissioner, Brandon McCaghren, for making the 185 belt for him as well.
Handsome Kevin went on to call out the Jabroni Grappler, the man formerly known as the Bad Guy of the PGF, Elijah Carlton. Carlton was the winner of PGF Season 1, runner-up for Season 2, and was the betting favorite for Season 3 before sustaining/re-aggravating an injury.
Fans most recently know Handsome Kevin Sherrill from his appearance on PGF Season 4’s finale where he faced off against Travis “the Mantis” Thomas for the “Handsome Daddy” Belt. However, Handsome Kevin’s star began to shine quickly when he stepped up during PGF Season 3 to win the Atlanta Qualifier. In that qualifier, Handsome Kevin faced off against fellow fan favorites Kevin Beuhring and Matthew Boiles. Handsome Kevin showed a devastating mix of high-caliber wrestling with leglocks and a deadly back game.
But what sets Handsome Kevin truly apart from the crowd is his charisma. Fans could see it in Handsome Kevin’s Season 3 promo video. While other competitors gave the same analysis of their strategies, Handsome Kevin quickly shined saying he was only working on getting “those Toe-Hold sandals” who was a sponsor of the season and awarded a pair of sandals for every toe-hold submission. On the first night of the season, Handsome Kevin debuted his trademark hair flip in his second match. That match, against Jonathan “Elbow Genie” Roberts, was a phenomenal display of grappling by both competitors. Finally, Handsome Kevin settled into his signature hair flip and wink to the camera when he faced fellow Rome, GA wrestling state champion Randy “Dumptruck” Roden on the fourth night of PGF Season 3.
While Handsome Kevin’s charisma makes him stand out, he backs it up with serious submission grappling. His skills eventually led him to be the runner-up for the PGF Season 3 title. Sherrill has been a lifelong grappler, wrestling since he was 13. His skills eventually earned him a scholarship to University of Northern Iowa to wrestle at the division 1 level. After leaving college, Handsome Kevin found brazilian jiu jitsu. He’s been on the jiu jitsu journey for about seven years. Sherrill spent a good amount of time at 10th Planet Atlanta under the tutelage of his coach from PGF Season 3, Sean Applegate. Currently, Handsome Kevin has moved on and has his own team, Not Bad Combat Club, training out of the Executive Training Group facilities in Woodstock, Georgia. While Sherrill leads and teaches the Not Bad Combat Club, he cross-trains at around six places in the Atlanta area. One of the places Sherrill trains is at American Top Team Atlanta under Roan “Jucão” Carneiro. However, Handsome Kevin spends most of his time developing his new skills and strategies with LHM. LHM is led by three ATT Atlanta black belts: Paul Ardila, Sergio Ibarra, and Ernesto Rivera who have ADCC and EBI experience. The LHM trio have been cornering Handsome Kevin for nearly a year and he attributes the vast majority of his current approach to jiu jitsu to them.
Handsome Kevin has seized the initiative by securing the first roster spot for PGF Season 5 and he’s already letting other potential competitors hear that they’re all chasing him. Sherrill has also said he’ll be personally bringing teammates to other qualifiers. Whether allies of Handsome Kevin or those hoping to challenge for the Handsome Daddy belt, there are only a handful of opportunities left to earn a spot on the PGF Season 5 roster. In just a few days, on May 13, 10th Planet Decatur (PGF HQ) will host a qualifier. On August 12th, 10th Planet Jacksonville will host a qualifier. On August 26th, One Nation Jiu Jitsu will host a qualifier in Nashville. The Commissioner has said he is looking to add qualifiers in Los Angeles and Austin, but the details have not been finalized so make sure to subscribe to his YouTube Channel and follow him on Instagram (or check back here) to get the details on additional qualifiers when they become available.
As a reminder, the PGF is the only submission grappling league with a pre-season, regular season, and post-season. The qualifiers serves as the pre-season. The regular season will begin October 29. The season will be broadcast LIVE on YouTube each day. Each competitor will have 15 guaranteed matches over the season. At the end of the regular season, the top eight competitors will move onto the post-season tournament on Saturday, November 4.
As it stands, Handsome Kevin Sherrill is the only competitor who can safely circle that 29 October date on the calendar. But given his experience with the gauntlet that is the PGF and his formidable skills, it’s safe to say he has November 4th circled as well. After all, Handsome Kevin’s called his shot.
The editors at EggheadWarrior.com thank the PGF Insiders and Handsome Kevin Sherrill for providing the content of this article. The PGF Insiders will always work to provide the latest and greatest information regarding the PGF and you can see their weekly podcasts on the McDojo Life YouTube Channel or Brandon Mccaghren’s channel (if a member). If you’d like to see the PGF Insider interview with Handsome Kevin Sherrill that provided most of this content, you can view it HERE or you can download podcast from ITunes, Podbean, Spotify, and other podcast outlets. Special thanks to Walo Jay for all the great photos. Those interested in Walo’s work can check out his YouTube page (link is specifically to Walo’s Handsome Kevin short) and Walo’s website.
Egghead Warrior's Blog 