PGF 8: Egghead’s Draft Rankings

The clock is near midnight on the eve of the Professional Grappling Federation (PGF) draft. The Editorial board at Eggheadwarrior.com has been frantically scouring the interwebs to find all the film and compile stats on the competitors. Don’t worry, by the time you have to set your fantasy lineups, you’ll have some glorious stats on these competitors. Nevertheless, the traditional PGF Insider mock draft is upon us. In only a handful of hours, the PGF Insiders will gather to conduct our mock draft which might inform everyone of the competitors this season and their prospects. As originally a PGF fantasy news site, Eggheadwarrior.com has followed the best practices of fantasy drafts – putting competitors into tiers. These tiers roughly follow the rounds in which competitors would be drafted if it were a traditional draft. Of course, the PGF draft is an auction draft, which is more akin to poker – you play the opponent, not the cards. Regardless, this evaluation might provide the fans, coaches, and fantasy managers with some value. Enjoy.

Tier 1: The Bedrock of a team. Coaches and Fantasy managers can’t afford to miss on their top pick. They need to make points happen…period.

• Jett Thompson – PGF Season 6 runner-up with a very stacked roster at a higher weight class. The secret is out that Jett’s a killer. While he’s not going to surprise anyone this season, he’s still going to submit many of his opponents. And he loves that grind – he’s excited for 15 matches. He’s a no-brainer top pick. Nothing else is needed, re-watch PGF Season 6 if you need to know more.
• Christos Papadelos – The first man invited to PGF Season 8. Papadelos went into the PGF7 Austin Qualifier (the 205lb season) and submitted everyone besides his roommate that greatly outweighed him. Papadelos is not only a competitor, but he’s a promoter. The founder and head of Enigma Jiu Jitsu, he’s wicked smart (read that as *smaht* if you’re familiar with the Massachusetts area from where Papadelos hails). Papadelos usually gives up lots of weight against his opponents and still excels. Now that Christos is in his weight class, he’s going to rise to the top – if there’s someone who has researched everyone on this list more than our Editorial board, it’s Christos. Christos will have an answer, a gameplan, for everyone.
• Raphael Ferreira – Your PGF 8 Las Vegas Qualifier winner! He goes “a Brazilian miles an hour” as one fan put it in the stream’s comments. Ferreira truly weaponizes cardio (tip of the cap to PGF Veteran Caleb McAlister). Raphael just out cycled all his opponents at the qualifier. More importantly, the PGF 8 Las Vegas qualifier included nine out of the 20 (or 45%) of the competitors who will be vying for the PGF 8 title. Raphael personally defeated four of those nine competitors. Any fan who sees an interview with Raphael will see a true baby face. He’s a very nice, calm young man who wants to pursue a law degree in the future. But stand by, when he steps onto the mats and the referee tells them to start. At that point, Raphael turns into the Tazmanian Devil, relentlessly attacking his opponent until he can secure a submission. His mild-mannered appearance and demeanor might just be setting him up to repeat or exceed Jett “the Kid” Thompson’s success from PGF Season 6.
• Kris Olivo – founder of Potential Jiu Jitsu, a Zenith Jiu Jitsu affiliate, promoted to black belt by Robert Drysdale.  “The Most Interesting Man in the PGF!” Olivo was in the Air Force. Then he decided he wanted to do jiu jitsu and train under Drysdale because Drysdale beat Marcelo Garcia. When no one in the Air Force wanted to support his decisions, Olivo willed his way to Nellis AFB in Las Vegas area. On a whim, became a magician and sold magic tricks online for Penguin Magic. Olivo has co-written a book. He’s started a marketing company for franchises. Olivo has started a platform for individual service providers to build their reputation online(endorsemii). Olivo started his own gym, affiliate of Zenith bjj, where he decided to be the only jiu jitsu gym with a sauna and a cold plunge in Las Vegas. Olivo decided he needed some big wins in his jiu jitsu journey so he won a no-gi masters world championship at Brown belt. Olivo is coming in to this season, weighing normally at 180 or more; instead of giving up weight to his opponents like he did in PGF Season 7, in Season 8, Kris will be one of the bigger boys. As a marketing guy, Olivo knows to be himself, but turned up to 11. His entrepreneurial spirit has led him to set big, hairy, audacious, goals…and Olivo accomplishes them. I wouldn’t bet against this man who’s consistently beat the odds. This PGF Season 7 alternate and most stylish competitor to grace the PGF stage (tip of the cap to Cam Hurd and Kyle Chambers) will be both a fan favorite and an odds favorite to finish in the top 8, if not on top, period!

Tier 2: Your Scottie Pippens to your Michael Jordans. These competitors should add serious points and help pick up the slack when your top pick has a bad day of matchups.

• Anthony Molina – Here’s the first athlete ranking that’s going to get the Editorial Board at Egghead.com in trouble. Anthony has won two PGF qualifiers (season 4 and season 8). But in his PGF 8 Decatur qualifier win, Anthony had three matches that went to decision. Anthony can be a leg lock sniper and has the ability to put points on the board quickly, but he can also be taken to a draw (or submitted). He’s a talent that will greatly help a team, but not the bedrock of one.
• Matt Masch – Matt Masch has already found serious success at the ripe old age of 20. After coming in second place out of nowhere at the CJJ Worlds 2024 Featherweights (March), Masch returned eight months later in December and took home the CJJ Worlds 2024 Lightweights title (a higher weight division). To gain these accomplishments, Masch had to take out PGF alumni Max Hanson and Ben Eddy as well as fellow Young Gun (see below) JJ Bowers. Until the Combat Jiu Jitsu runs, Masch has mostly competed in regional events in the Northeast. He has serious wrestling and leg locks. In the Combat Jiu Jitsu Worlds, Masch was able to add devastating palm strikes to soften up his opponents, making them change their position. The last CJJ Worlds Champion to compete in the PGF just happened to lead his team to the championship and then won the individual championship. CJJ Worlds Champion and PGF Season 7 Ryan Aitken has some literally big shoes to fill, but you have to think Masch is hoping to reproduce his fellow CJJ Worlds champion’s success.
• Landon Elmore – For its first five seasons, the PGF always had a blue belt who rose above their ranks. This blue belt would inevitably make the playoffs as one of the top eight. Landon trains at arguably the best gym in the world with Kingswave (formely New Wave) Jiu Jitsu with Gordon Ryan, John Danaher, et al. Landon has also been grappling since his tender years. He proves the proposition that blue belts can have black belt techniques: Landon is constantly looking for a foot to lock, whether heel hook or an ankle lock variation. And he has entries from all over. Landon went to two qualifiers, winning the PGF 8 Austin Qualifier – also arguably one of the cities most chock full of bjj talent in the United States. Will Landon prove once again that #bluebeltsarepeopletoo (that’s also a PGF fantasy reference)? One has to believe Landon has a true chance to show a blue belt can once again have real success and become a fan favorite.
• Mike John – Black Belt Instructor at 10th Planet Orange – recently had a big Combat Jiu Jitsu TKO win at Subversiv Fight Club. Mike’s had big wins in many of the bigger promotions in jiu jitsu. Mike John was the only person in PGF Season 6 who actually earned his way onto the show: Mike sunk in six submissions at the PGF Season 6 Las Vegas qualifier to earn his PGF6 spot. Mike’s PGF Season 6 ended early, but he showed off his killing ability before he left. Now, Mike’s competing in the PGF Season 8, 155lb season, which is his true weigh class. In PGF Season 6, Mike John became one of the many PGF competitors to fight up a weight class or two. Now, he’s excited to get a shot at the PGF title when his opponents are not outweighing him by 20 or more pounds. Mike has tons of experience and has served as an instructor or coach for multiple other competitors. Mike has a well-deserved reputation for grit and skill. Mike John is one of my pics to end up in the top five this season – he’s a really chill guy if you get to talk to him, but there’s a killer hiding just beneath the surface. I guarantee it.

Tier 3: The value picks. Here’s where true championships are made. Will the coaches and fantasy managers know which of these competitors are undervalued? If they pick the right one, they might just be holding the big check at the end of the season.

• Juan Martinez V – Head Coach at Childress BJJ (Pueblo, Colorado) and owner of Ukes Grappling Club. The Uke, according to his “gram,” Juan Martinez V earned a lot of fans during his PGF Season 4 (155lb) run. Even in that season’s quintet format, Juan found a way to earn spot in the top eight, getting a spot in the playoffs. Since Season 4, Juan earned a gold medal in the ADCC Phoenix open in 2024. He showed some great jiu jitsu in both the Austin and Las Vegas PGF qualifiers, including a slick triangle with a little gag reflex against fellow PGF8 contender JJ Bowers. After PGF Season 4, Juan has earned three more years of experience, going from 21/22 to the ripe old age of 24. He went from a game competitor to a dangerous competitor, showing great improvement in his guard game. Juan is now just hitting his stride. He still comes from a smaller, regional school but his dedication to the game is serious. Juan knows he has a great opportunity with the PGF this season. One has to believe, he will do everything in his power to capitalize on this opportunity.
• JJ Bowers – Not only his JJ looking to reproduce Jett’s epic run from PGF Season 6; JJ and Jett both took their last chance and competed in the under 18 divisions in 2024. Both JJ and Jett won the ADCC World Championship in their respective weight division, with Jett being in the weight class directly above JJ. JJ has trained Jiu Jitsu since he was five already earning state and national acclaim when he was just 11. He started working on MMA and Pankration at an early age as well. JJ’s stock skyrocketed when he hit a very quick finish of world-class competitor Keith Krikorian at CJJW 2024: The Lightweights (2024). JJ had hit another anaconda in his previous match in that tournament. He ran into Masch (see above) and Masch caught him while JJ was looking to pass. JJ is very aggressive. He has a very exciting combination of wrestling, passing, and kills (in the PGF sense). With PGF 8, JJ has the opportunity to show he’s can fulfill the promise of his youth wins and continue that success in the adult ranks. JJ has a chip on his shoulder naturally which gives him the aggression and motor. JJ has won everywhere so far, and he believes he can do take these winning ways to PGF Season 8.
• Jordan Wirth – The epitome of crazy 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu. He put a competitor to sleep with a gogo clinch at the PGF 8 Las Vegas Qualifier. He’s known for his buggy chokes as well. Wirth has tons of experience competing. He has wins over multiple competitors in this division. More importantly, he might get subbed a few times, but he’s always going for the submission. Jordan has a real home field advantage and he does some of his best work in Las Vegas. As one of the older gentlemen in this season, Jordan has that force behind him telling him he needs to make his move onto the mainstream scene now – and that makes him even more dangerous.
• Zack Schneider – A veteran of Submission Underground and multiple Combat Jiu Jitsu events. He’s dangerous. But he’s also undersized for this weight class. This ranking isn’t a valuation of his skill, but more of a “what have you done for me lately” calculation. Schneider is in Tier 3 because he could easily go either way (standout or letdown) depending on how his season unfolds.

Tier 4: The Sleeper picks – those competitors who might fly under the radar but could provide real value. Like Tier 3, this tier could really make a team breakout if they do it right.

• Armin Bruni – Armin’s a good guy and the Editorial Board of Eggheadwarrior.com enjoyed meeting him at the PGF Media day, but one has to wonder if he’s in the witness protection program. He’s changed his name (if you try to find him on flow, good luck looking for Bruni) and he’s changed his look (full head of hair and a full goatee to a close buzz cut and only stubble). Armin under his old name has some nice submissions in Flograppling, but at the Team Duel during the PGF 8 Las Vegas Qualifier Bruni only had draws in three matches. He has a lot of potential, but he might struggle to get submissions in the six-minute sprint that is the PGF.
• Anthony Gojani – Gojani styles himself as an early Elijah Carlton of the Northeast. He’s done serious, but regional shows. As more footage of him submitting opponents gets out, his upcoming opponents find ways to back out of matches. He’s lanky and insanely flexible. He has an awesome back-take from full guard with a body lock…you’ll see it this season. With his attitude and crazy, unorthodox jiu jitsu, he has a lot of upside, but he’s also lost matches against competitors ranked above him, hence his tier level.
• John Chandler – the PGF Season 6 alternate from Orange County Regional Training Center (RTC) was drastically underweight for Season 6. He weighed in with all his clothes on and then some for Season 6 and still made weight. Chandler had an exhilarating match against his frequent training partner AJ Agazarm and another exciting match against Matt Elkins. At just 22, he’s still a very young, up-and-coming talent in BJJ and MMA. Chandler recently won an amateur MMA match via rear naked choke in the first round to bring his MMA record to 3-0 as an amateur. This young man is pure Americana. Coming from a football and wrestling background in high school, like so many other combat sports athletes, he had a dream to fight MMA at the UFC. He’s built upon a wrestling background where he still sharpens his tools both training at and teaching at Orange County RTC, but added serious jiu jitsu, training with 10th Planet Fullerton and even 10P HQ. Chandler has the drive and motor to match anyone at PGF Season 8. Win or lose, he’s going to put on a good show in every match!
• CJ Murdock – He has great wrestling, passing, pinning, and overall positional control. These characteristics make him very dangerous at ADCC or IBJJF, but are only part of the equation for the PGF ruleset. In the PGF 8 Las Vegas qualifier, CJ was the runner up, but of his five matches, four of them ended with decisions (which would be draws/losses in the PGF regular season). CJ is going to be fun to watch. He’s definitely dangerous. But he seems like he can be neutralized by taking him to a draw. CJ comes from a great gym and it’s likely they may tweak his game to emphasize a quicker submission – if that’s the case, CJ could be a huge value pick in this tier.

Tier 5: In Fantasy terms, this tier is usually called your penny stocks. Just like the stock market, this group could make a team’s fortunes or go to zero. For a historical perspective, Jett Thompson went to Team 1st Phorm for 1200 in the fifth round of PGF Season 6 – and he became the overall runner-up and had the third most points of any competitor in the regular season. These competitors could be the diamonds in the rough.

• Brady Branscum – Coming from a wrestling background, he’s going to be fun on the feet, but he only has six minutes for PGF matches. His coach won PGF 6 so hopefully, he learned that from Varela. But his top game could lead to his opponents getting stalling calls which would put them in bottom referee position which Brady should win. His EBI matches showed he could be stalled out, but if he gets on your back, there’s a good chance for a RNC Kill. Competes at 145 lb so might be a little light (but as a wrestler, there’s a fair chance he’s been cutting to 145 lb. Another storyline, he’s won 6 ADCC Opens altogether at Intermediate, this season might be his time to show he’s ready to be a player at the higher levels. But until he proves he’s at this level, he’s probably a lower tier draft pick.
• Brady Hylton – Hylton is very technically sound. He loves playing the guard. He has great guard recovery. He uses his guard and leg attacks to find headlocks and the back. But he doesn’t have any wins over anyone in the competition. He will put in solid matches and his draw against CJ Murdock shows he might be a good stopper for a team. But he’s not a reliable source of prospective points for a team.
• Dominic Lobo – The future is bright for this 20 year old 10th Planet product. With Eddie Bravo and Mike John as his coaches, Lobo will have the path shown for him. While Lobo has had one of the biggest highlights of the year by putting a guy out in CJJ with a gogoplata, his opponent was an MMA fighter out of Ecuador, training at the FPI in Mexico. Lobo’s win at the PGF 8 Decatur qualifier was impressive but it was against a white belt. He’s also a little undersized, competing at 145 lbs. Don’t get me wrong, Lobo has great upside potential, but he’s probably going for the league minimum.
• Robert Blackledge – Training out of Gracie Humaita Las Vegas, Blackledge will definitely have homefield advantage and will have his actual coach, Mica Cipili, at the PGF with him. He’s an acrobat, owning an acrobatics gym in Las Vegas. But he’s bottom tier because of the limited footage of him out there. Of the 12 videos, the researchers could find, Blackledge only wins two of the matches (one by points; one by advantage). Best guess is his real-life coach picks him up for the league minimum.

There you have it. Here’s the traditional Eggheadwarrior.com pre-draft rankings. The Mock PGF Draft will commence at 10pm Easter TONIGHT (20 June) on the PGF YouTube Channel. The REAL PGF Season 8 Draft will start on Wednesday, 25 June HERE. It’s the most fun jiu jitsu event ever – and you won’t see any jiu jitsu. Seriously, it’s a blast. Check it out and see which competitors who might be nemeses in real life become teammates (e.g. Elijah Carlton and Davis Asare in PGF Season 6) or just see who your favorite grappler will be facing this season. Remember, this season is now five weeks, meaning 15 matches for every competitor. This setup means every competitor will face very other competitor on other teams (they will not face their teammates). If you’re a PGF fan you just might start hearing the old Christmas song in your head “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” because it is. It’s PGF time folks – the MOST wonderful time of the year.

Keep following PGF World and Brandon Mccaghren on Instagram and keep tuning in to the PGF Insiders on PGF World’s YouTube page. We normally go live at 7pm Eastern on Sundays. PGF Season 8 kicks off June 25th with the PGF DRAFT! It’s one of the most fun events in the PGF, be sure to check it out.

BTW, if you’re looking to get some new jiu jitsu gear, PGF World Season 6 Team Champions XMARTIAL has some great gear. I wrote a review of my XMartial shorts and rash guard HERE. If you use the coupon code “EGGHEAD,” you will get 15% off your order (and you’ll help me out a bit). XMARTIAL has some really fun rash guards and everyone I know loves their shorts. So check them out.