Everything you love about sports, plus jiu jitsu. The Professional Grappling Federation (PGF) returns on April 21st in Las Vegas, Nevada. PGF Season 6 will skyrocket professional jiu jitsu competition to the PGF World with one of the highest paydays in jiu jitsu history, a cohort of legendary head coaches, and an ownership team poised to continue the PGF’s meteoric rise.
Starting during the height of the pandemic in 2020, the PGF provided many breakthrough elements for jiu jitsu competitions. First, PGF co-owner Keelan Lawyer’s use of gimbals for steady, mobile shots of the matches allowed fans to truly see the action wherever it went. The six-minute matches push the action. But more than anything else, the scoring format likely changed the game. In the PGF, competitors go through a week-long season, with three matches a night. Meaning, they have 12 matches in which to score as many points as possible in the hopes of making the season finale tournament as one of the top eight out of the full 20 competitors in the season. The only way to accumulate points is to score a submission, with competitors receiving six points for a KILL (choke), three points for a BREAK (joint lock), while also receiving an additional point if their submission occurs within the first minute of a round. The PGF calls that final scoring ability the “Elbow Genie Rule” after PGF standout Jonathan Roberts. These 20 competitors are divided into four teams by their coaches in an auction draft (more later). Besides the individuals competing to make it to the top eight and make the finale, the teams are also competing to score the most points in each of the 12 “blocks” of the season. A block consists of two, two team duals. The team who amasses the most points through submissions in the block receives an extra team point for each of its players. For every competitor, leaving a match without points is a lost opportunity, making a draw in the PGF a LOSS for both competitors. The result of these innovations has led to phenomenally exciting matches, with competitors pushing the pace even through the last seconds of a match.
The PGF has always endeavored to find a way to help its competitors be truly professionals. As the promotion has grown, Commissioner Brandon Mccaghren has ensured every competitor has earned money even before they stepped a foot on the mats, making them truly professionals. But now, with new members of the PGF ownership team and new sponsors, the PGF will be putting $100,000 in the pockets of the team who wins the PGF Season. Then, on top of that huge prize, the winner of the finale tournament will win an additional $20,000 for themselves.
To lead the four teams for PGF Season 6, the PGF owners have assembled a veritable Mount Rushmore of jiu jitsu. The best competitor in jiu jitsu history, 10-time jiu jitsu world champion Roger Gracie will be traveling from London, England to lead five competitors throughout the season. The father of no gi jiu jitsu, the leader of 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu, and grappling mad scientist, Eddie Bravo captain his own team during PGF Season 6. Jeff Glover enters PGF Season 6 as the only PGF Veteran, helping coach PGF Season 5 team champions Team Epic Roll. Taking a no gi world champion who is as unorthodox as it gets, giving him experience in the PGF ruleset, and then giving him a chance to draft his favorite competitors, Glover has to be looking forward to throwing a wrench in all the other coaches’ plans. Finally, another legend of the sport, Andre Galvao not only has a vaunted competitive career as a six-time ADCC champion and six-time IBJJF World champion, but he’s also the head of the Atos organization, one of the most competitive jiu jitsu academies in the world. Galvao has shown he can win and he’s shown he can shape and mold world champions. Now, Galvao will have a chance to see if he can draft and coach the PGF Season 6 championship team and overall champion.
PGF Commissioner Brandon Mccaghren and his partner Keelan Lawyer built the PGF. They had a vision for a jiu jitsu league. A jiu jitsu league all sports fans could embrace, not only jiu jitsu practitioners. For five seasons, they continually improved the product. To their league, they added fantasy jiu jitsu. They added head coaches. They added a live draft, then made it an auction draft. And of course, they had to include a combine for the coaches to gauge the competitors skills. As the Commissioner says, the PGF is everything you love about sports plus jiu jitsu. While Mccaghren and Conscious Keelan have kept the operation relatively small while working out the bugs, they found the opportunity to take it to the next level and beyond during PGF Season 5. In PGF Season 5, the company Epic Roll became a sponsor of one of the four teams. Five Finger Death Punch founder Zoltan Bathory, a judo and jiu jitsu black belt competitor, is one of the owners of Epic Roll and decided to attend PGF Season 5. After seeing the PGF first hand, he was hooked. As a hugely successful serial entrepreneur, Zoltan has an eye for talent and an eye for potential. Zoltan new with his experiences, talents, connections, resources, etc. that he could help bring the PGF to the masses. Zoltan saw investing in the PGF as a way to give back to martial arts, which he credits for all his success. Soon a new PGF ownership team formed. Zoltan brought his partner to the team, Heather Grace Gracie – she’s another serial entrepreneur. She’s also the granddaughter of Carlos Gracie and CEO of Gracie Fight Management. She sees the PGF as a vehicle to bring brazilian jiu jitsu, her family legacy, to the masses. With the grit and gumption of the original ownership team along with the business savvy, acumen, and vision of the new additions, the Professional Grappling Federation’s new ownership team is poised to increase jiu jitsu’s popularity with overall sports fans exponentially.
Fans who want to this team’s finished product for Season 6 can look forward to watching it LIVE AND FREE on the PGF World Youtube channel. The Combine and LIVE Auction Draft will be on April 21st. The main season will run from April 22nd to April 25th where the PGF Team Championship and $100,000 will be awarded. The post-season tournament will run on April 26th, crowning the PGF Season 6 Champion and awarding him $20,000. Competitors who want to be a part of this outstanding event can submit applications at the PGF World website, or better yet, they can enter, for free, into the pre-season qualifier. PGF Season 6 will only have one qualifier and it’s happening on March 1st at 10th Planet Las Vegas. Entry for competitors is free. The winner of the March 1st qualifier is guaranteed a spot in the season, but the Commissioner will be looking for other talented athletes either for at-large bids or as possible replacement/bench players for teams to use in case of injury. Competitors can sign up for the qualifier HERE.
Founded during the pandemic and originally set in a humble jiu jitsu school, the PGF stands at the precipice of forever changing professional jiu jitsu and the way fans consume it. With the new, pivotal ownership team, with the renowned PGF Season 6 coaches, and with enormously talented competitors (to be named soon), the Professional Grappling Federation will be on every sports fans’ screens starting on April 21st.
News about PGF Season 6 will be continually revealed throughout the next 11 weeks before the PGF premieres. To keep up with the latest news, check out the PGF Insiders Podcast on Brandon Mccaghren’s YouTube Channel. Of course be sure to check out the official PGF website: PGF World and follow @pgfworld on Instagram.
The editors at EggheadWarrior.com thank the PGF Insiders, and Brandon Mccaghren and Keelan Lawyer 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. 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.
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