We’re on the precipice of the beginning of the Professional Grappling Federation’s Season #7. That means we’re about to be on our way to see who will be both the daily and the season PGF Fantasy Manager champions.
Every fan can play for free or play for prizes for a small fee. Everyone interested in playing should head to PGF.global and register.
Some of the highest ranked competitors heading into the Day 1 have some very tough competition. While these matches prove to be very exciting for us as jiu jitsu fans, they’re to even-matched to make these competitors a great choice for a fantasy roster (we want advantageous matchups for higher probabilities at points). After looking at all the matchups for the day and the histories and styles of the competitors, the Editorial Board at Eggheadwarrior.com has the following predictions:
Listed in order of fantasy value for the day:
Adam Bradley – 16 points (two Kills via RNC, 2 back takes)
A consensus top-5 competitor, Bradley’s got a chance to put some points on the board today. Bradley’s likely heard the criticism of him being a points/ref decision player and just an “escape artist” as his nickname suggests. Bradley got very little respect, going for only 900 in the PGF draft. All these things may just lead to a real statement from Bradley. Whether he gets two kills or a kill and two breaks, there’s a real chance he’s in the double digits today.
Adam Bradley B Team JiuJitsu
Cameron Hurd Ascend/TDBJJ
Adam Bradley B Team JiuJitsu
Kemoy Anderson 10th Planet Austin
Adam Bradley B Team JiuJitsu
Caleb Crump Easton Training Center – Centennial
Paul Ardila – 16 points (two kills, two back takes)
He has a likely KILL on Schneider; think he gets the BREAK against Porfirio; Marcin is tough. There’s a real chance he could get three subs. Paul is a sub machine. Ardila was consistently ranked 1 or 2 (at least top 3) by everyone going into the season. He doesn’t do as many competitions because he has a real career – so this week while he’s not in court, he might just sit in judgment of all his competition (yeah, I’m working on my lawyer pun/jokes here). He’s making the Egghead roster for sure.
Paul Ardila American Top Team – Atlanta
Bradley Schneider Pedigo Submission Fighting
Paul Ardila American Top Team – Atlanta
Marcin Maciulewicz Aligatores Fight Club
Paul Ardila American Top Team – Atlanta
Andre Porfirio Alpha Miami Grappling
Kemoy Anderson – 15 points (two kills, 1 takedown, 1 back take)
Kemoy has two matches against competitors picked to be in the bottom half of the roster. The former PGF Season 5 runner up has to know he needs to capitalize on these matchups. Crump was the first competitor to be intentionally walked in the draft and is weighing around 190 lbs. Cam Hurd was the most improved grappler from Season 5 to Season 6 of the PGF, but his submission game is likely still lagging Kemoy’s game. Hurd has to be the better wrestler as a former D1 collegiate wrestler, but Kemoy has a phenomenal ankle pick and a solid lateral drop. If Kemoy’s been doing his homework, he knows Cam is susceptible to a triangle and Kemoy’s got great triangles.
Caleb Crump Easton Training Center – Centennial
Kemoy Anderson 10th Planet Austin
Adam Bradley B Team JiuJitsu
Kemoy Anderson 10th Planet Austin
Kemoy Anderson 10th Planet Austin
Cameron Hurd Ascend/TDBJJ
Kyle Chambers – 9 points (three breaks)
Chambers is coming off a very commanding performance at the AIGA qualifier. His leg lock entries are looking sharp as ever. The Ernesto match is a leg lock battle of East versus West, but fellow 10th Planet Freak Kyle Boehm was able to sub Ernesto twice (both within one minute) at the PGF Season 7 Nashville Qualifier – you have to think Chambers will get some pointers on how to re-create that from his teammate. Chambers has shown he can submit Fedor, heel hooking him at the Combat Jiu Jitsu Worlds 2023. Haddad was impossible to submit in PGF Season 6, but he was big for that season. Haddad actually forewent the ADCC trials so he could cut down enough for Season 6. Now Haddad doesn’t have any size advantage, especially against a 6’3” (or more) Kyle Chambers. Haddad’s tough as can be, but there’s a real chance Chambers gets three submissions today.
Kyle Chambers 10th Planet Freaks
Ernesto Rivera American Top Team – Atlanta
Kyle Chambers 10th Planet Freaks
Fedor Nikolov 10th Planet Saint-Petersburg
Kyle Chambers 10th Planet Freaks
Nathan Haddad Helio Soneca Association
Elijah Carlton – 7 points (two breaks, one elbow genie point)
Elijah has more experience in the PGF than any other competitor. He knows putting points on the board, no matter how many will put him ahead of most of his competition. Look for him to try for quick breaks on Thomas and Attard. He’s caught Thomas in previous competition. For Attard, Carlton has a special beef. Carlton lost a 10th Planet Austin Thursday Night Jiu Jitsu match against Attard in EBI overtime despite “dominating him,” or words to that effect according to Carlton. Elijah offered a bet match against Attard, but couldn’t make it happen. Look for Elijah to make the most of his chance to get that one back against Attard. Ever time we discuss Dory, it’s worth mentioning he’s likely one of the toughest guys to submit this season. Elijah’s teammate Ryan Aitken couldn’t get a submission against Aoun even given three rounds in the Aiga qualifier last month. Elijah will be working towards a submission against Aoun, but he probably won’t sell out for it. Elijah knows it’s a long week.
Elijah Carlton 10th planet Atlanta
Sebastian Attard Grappling Education
Travis Thomas 10th planet Decatur
Elijah Carlton 10th planet Atlanta
Dory Aoun HUSTLE BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU (IBJJFF)
Elijah Carlton 10th planet Atlanta
Sebastian Attard – 9 points (three breaks).
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds – Emerson. Schrödinger’s Cat is a quantum physics concept that two particles can be in two states until they are observed…well, I can say Elijah will break Attard and Attard will break Elijah until we find out. They both want to win the rematch badly, so they’ll both be going for the submission hard. And when you sell out for a submission, you’re also more likely to get submitted. Attard also has to be looking at Thomas, who has been susceptible to leg locks previously, as a chance to pick up points. Attard and Dory have faced each other before. Attard dominated the first half of the match but gassed out and allowed Dory and his insane cardio to dominate the second half, getting the wind. Attard has said he’s in much better shape now and will want to get that one back.
Elijah Carlton 10th planet Atlanta
Sebastian Attard Grappling Education
Dory Aoun HUSTLE BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU (IBJJFF)
Sebastian Attard Grappling Education
Sebastian Attard Grappling Education
Travis Thomas 10th planet Decatur
Cam Hurd – 9 points (one kill, three takedowns)
Cam is the most improved PGF competitor. He came in as just a D1 wrestler, but now he’s added some more submissions to his game. He still has a very dangerous front headlock game to complement his wrestling. Cam’s likely going to get a couple of takedowns against Kemoy, but he will have his best chance at a takedown and a kill against Caleb Crump.
Adam Bradley B Team JiuJitsu
Cameron Hurd Ascend/TDBJJ
Cameron Hurd Ascend/TDBJJ
Caleb Crump Easton Training Center – Centennial
Kemoy Anderson 10th Planet Austin
Cameron Hurd Ascend/TDBJJ
Andre Porfirio – 3 points (one break).
Porfirio has submitted Scheider before and likely will again. If Porfirio sits guard and works his de la Riva game, his chances at the additional fantasy points are limited. Still, he has killer ankle locks and should get at least one break today.
Andre Porfirio Alpha Miami Grappling
Marcin Maciulewicz Aligatores Fight Club
Bradley Schneider Pedigo Submission Fighting
Andre Porfirio Alpha Miami Grappling
Paul Ardila American Top Team – Atlanta
Andre Porfirio Alpha Miami Grappling
Dory Aoun – 3 points (1 takedown and one position score mount/back)
Dory’s job on Team 1st Phorm is to be a stopper, to not be submitted, denying the other teams points. Dory has a grinding, positionally-dominant top game. Still, Elijah and Sebastian are likely to sit guard against Dory. Dory will be working his passing as they try to elevate him into a leglock entry. Travis will try to work his foot sweeps he uses in jiu jitsu and MMA as Dory works his takedowns. Aoun has a win over Attard after gassing him out during a previous match, but Attard says he’s in much better shape this go round.
Dory Aoun HUSTLE BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU (IBJJFF)
Travis Thomas 10th planet Decatur
Dory Aoun HUSTLE BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU (IBJJFF)
Sebastian Attard Grappling Education
Dory Aoun HUSTLE BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU (IBJJFF)
Elijah Carlton 10th planet Atlanta
Ryan Aitken – UNKNOWN.
Aitken was either one or two on the pre-season rankings for everyone. But he’s going against the top competitor from Team Constellation, arguably the top competitor from Team Intrana, and a competitor ranked in the top 3 or 4 in Kyle Boehm from Team 1st Phorm. We’re going to know a lot more about Aitken’s trajectory in the PGF after today. He’s probably not making Egghead’s roster today, but getting these tough matches out of the way, means he’s more likely to have more favorable matchups in the next three days.
Kyle Boehm 10th Planet Freaks
Ryan Aitken 10th planet Atlanta
Ryan Aitken 10th planet Atlanta
Davis Asare New Wave JiuJitsu
Chris Wojcik B Team JiuJitsu
Ryan Aitken 10th planet Atlanta
Kyle Boehm – Unknown.
Boehm was Egghead’s #3 ranked competitor (#6 in fantasy because he sits guard most of the time). Boehm really is facing the best player on each of the other teams (tip of the cap to Elijah from Team Intrana). Boehm has a serious size advantage on Wojcik and Asare, so we might see him stand and try to big brother them. Just like Aitken, we’ll know a lot more about his trajectory in the PGF after today.
Kyle Boehm 10th Planet Freaks
Ryan Aitken 10th planet Atlanta
Kyle Boehm 10th Planet Freaks
Chris Wojcik B Team JiuJitsu
Kyle Boehm 10th Planet Freaks
Davis Asare New Wave JiuJitsu
Travis Thomas – Unfavorable (0 points)
Travis had a phenomenal showing in PGF Season 5, with subs in 9/12 matches and every sub was different. Thomas is still growing in the sport, only having been training for less than four years. But he’s facing some bad matchups for him today. Dory is likely in the top five hardest to submit competitors this season. The anticipated Elijah Carlton match didn’t happen in Season 5, but subsequently they had a match and Elijah caught Thomas in a heel hook well within PGF match regulation time. Sebastian Attard as a leglocker from New Wave lands right in Travis’ weak area. The question in that match will be whether Attard can get his leg entries. If Travis can avoid the leglock shootout, he’ll have a chance work towards a kill, but Attard has shown real resilience against bigger guys as shown in his previous match against Dory Aoun.
Dory Aoun HUSTLE BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU (IBJJFF)
Travis Thomas 10th planet Decatur
Travis Thomas 10th planet Decatur
Elijah Carlton 10th planet Atlanta
Sebastian Attard Grappling Education
Travis Thomas 10th planet Decatur
Chris Wojcik – Unfavorable (0 points)
Wojcik represents the B Team and is coming off a 4th place finish at ADCC this year. He’s a dangerous leglocker, with a complete game, but he’s facing some monsters today. Boehm and Aitken are both killers and have at least 20lbs on Wojcik. Asare is around Wojcik’s size, but he’s the PGF Season 6 leading league scorer. Seeing the Asare v Wojcik match is a fun New Wave versus B Team match that could go either way for sure. Wojcik is a super smart, analytical competitor, but if he objectively looked at his probabilities for today’s matches, he’d probably look for competitors with other matchups.
Davis Asare New Wave JiuJitsu
Chris Wojcik B Team JiuJitsu
Kyle Boehm 10th Planet Freaks
Chris Wojcik B Team JiuJitsu
Chris Wojcik B Team JiuJitsu
Ryan Aitken 10th planet Atlanta
Davis Asare – Unfavorable (0 points)
In the PGF, a draw is a loss for both sides. Asare trains at New Wave with ADCC Champions who are bigger than him and other monsters who are way bigger than him. But as a fantasy manager, you can’t look at these matchups as favorable. As with some other competitors, this day will give us an idea of the pecking order for PGF Season 7, but it should also clear out some of the toughest matchups for Asare so we can target him for our rosters in subsequent days.
Davis Asare New Wave JiuJitsu
Chris Wojcik B Team JiuJitsu
Ryan Aitken 10th planet Atlanta
Davis Asare New Wave JiuJitsu
Kyle Boehm 10th Planet Freaks
Davis Asare New Wave JiuJitsu
Marcin Maciulewicz – 0 points
As one of the bigger competitors, Marcin likely had to cut a good amount of weight. Besides the weight cut and traveling from Europe, he may still be recovering during day 1. Ardila is not a likely win. The match against Porfirio is a concern because Marcin likes to play the legs as well and that’s Porfirio’s specialty. To have a chance of submitting Porfirio, Marcin needs to stay away from the leg exchanges. Schneider might be one of Marcin’s best shots at a submission this season, but he’s got a funky style. As a late addition, it’s unlikely Marcin knows the funky submissions/traps Schneider lays out. At the same time, Marcin won all five of his matches at the ADCC European trials in one day – so he’s a beast. There’s a very real chance this estimation is underscoring Marcin.
Andre Porfirio Alpha Miami Grappling
Marcin Maciulewicz Aligatores Fight Club
Paul Ardila American Top Team – Atlanta
Marcin Maciulewicz Aligatores Fight Club
Marcin Maciulewicz Aligatores Fight Club
Bradley Schneider Pedigo Submission Fighting
Nathan Haddad – 0 points.
Haddad served as a stopper last season, giving up no points and getting a kill to boot. This season he faces some bigger competition. Haddad fell via points to Ernesto at the USA Grappling World Team Trials 2023. Chambers is a super-deadly leglocker and might just catch Haddad. Nikolov has only one loss in the regular season of PGF 5 and it was due to disqualification for jumping guard. That match might be a situation of an unstoppable force going against an immovable object – but Haddad will have to watch out for Fedor’s dead orchard. Haddad will still be relegated to the stopper role until he hits a couple of submissions.
Nathan Haddad Helio Soneca Association
Fedor Nikolov 10th Planet Saint-Petersburg
Ernesto Rivera American Top Team – Atlanta
Nathan Haddad Helio Soneca Association
Kyle Chambers 10th Planet Freaks
Nathan Haddad Helio Soneca Association
Brad Schneider – 0 points.
Scheider is funky with a scary crucifix and a reverse omoplata amongst other diverse submissions. But facing Ardila, Schneider is likely to get subbed. Porfirio landed one of his patented ankle locks against Schneider in one of his Midwest Finishers runs and likely will again. Even though Schneider is a tall drink of water, he’s facing a monster in the Polish Punisher Marcin. As a late addition, Schneider will be hoping to get a funky, sneaky sub against Marcin – but that’s not a high probability.
Paul Ardila American Top Team – Atlanta
Bradley Schneider Pedigo Submission Fighting
Bradley Schneider Pedigo Submission Fighting
Andre Porfirio Alpha Miami Grappling
Marcin Maciulewicz Aligatores Fight Club
Bradley Schneider Pedigo Submission Fighting
Ernesto Rivera – 0 points
Rivera will let us know how to truly evaluate him after today. The teammate of Paul Ardila has polished leg locking mechanics according to black belts who know. He might have a decent lineup for himself today. While Chambers has the better pedigree, Ernesto actually beat Chambers (via points) at the ADCC Arizona Open in 2023 – but can he open up and get a submission? Likewise, Ernesto has a win over Haddad at the USA Grappling Worlds Qualifier, but it was a win via points. Winning via points means he should be able to get in dominant positions which could set him up for submissions. We’ll just have to see what happens.
Kyle Chambers 10th Planet Freaks
Ernesto Rivera American Top Team – Atlanta
Ernesto Rivera American Top Team – Atlanta
Nathan Haddad Helio Soneca Association
Fedor Nikolov 10th Planet Saint-Petersburg
Ernesto Rivera American Top Team – Atlanta
Caleb Crump – 0 points
Every opponent Crump faces today likely has their match circled as a good shot at a submission. The MMA fighter, Crump is super tough, but has shown to be submittable in other competitions. In this season, all points will likely be hard to get, so Crump has to expect every opponent to turn it up to 11 when facing him.
Caleb Crump Easton Training Center – Centennial
Kemoy Anderson 10th Planet Austin
Cameron Hurd Ascend/TDBJJ
Caleb Crump Easton Training Center – Centennial
Adam Bradley B Team JiuJitsu
Caleb Crump Easton Training Center – Centennial
Fedor Nikolov – 0 points
Fedor is making his black belt competition debut. He was a fan favorite in PGF Season 5. He’s facing some tough competition today. He likely really wants to get a match back against Kyle Chambers after Kyle heel hooked him at Combat Jiu Jitsu Worlds 2023, but that’s a tall feat. Ernesto Rivera will be another East versus West leg lock battle most likely. Haddad might be a shot at hitting his Dead Orchard arm lock if Haddad hasn’t done his homework, but Haddad showed he was impossible to submit last season. At this point, managers likely shouldn’t put Fedor on their rosters.
Nathan Haddad Helio Soneca Association
Fedor Nikolov 10th Planet Saint-Petersburg
Kyle Chambers 10th Planet Freaks
Fedor Nikolov 10th Planet Saint-Petersburg Fedor Nikolov 10th Planet Saint-Petersburg
Ernesto Rivera American Top Team – Atlanta
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