FANTASY JIU JITSU IS BACK!!!!! PGF Season 8 opening day is upon us. 23 July 2025, the season will start. Better go to fantasy.pgf.world quickly and set your fantasy rosters before the action starts – teams are locked once the first match begins. PGF Fantasy jiu jitsu is free to sign up and play. The question is do you think you have what it takes to assemble the best fantasy jiu jitsu roster? Can you beat fantasy jiu jitsu guru Egghead and his 20 lb brain? You’ll only know if you sign up and play.
Just like fantasy football, every PGF fan will have a chance to compete against other fans to see who can pick the best fantasy PGF roster. Each week, PGF Fantasy managers will have a $7,000 budget to form a seven-competitor roster. Every squad must have seven players (you can’t just pick four premium players). Each week the player prices will change, so PGF fantasy jiu jitsu managers will need to set their lineups weekly. Every week, this blog will provide fantasy analysis to help fantasy managers pick their teams. Every time a PGF competitor on a fantasy roster hits a submission, that fantasy manager gets points for his fantasy jiu jitsu squad. However, in PGF fantasy jiu jitsu, fantasy managers will also get points when their players hit takedowns (1 pt), secure the mount position (2pts), or take their opponent’s back (2pts.). So a roster member might not have any points on the board for their standings in the regular PGF, but they might put tons of points on the board for a fantasy team if they have the right type of jiu jitsu style. For a breakdown of how the PGF Fantasy Jiu Jitsu website works, you can check out this video on setting your roster HERE or this video discussing the scoring HERE.
But let’s get to the fantasy analysis. Here’s the estimations of how the competitors will fare on OPENING DAY!!!
SUPER PREMIUMS (you’re going to have to offset the expense with budget players)
Jett Thompson (New Hope Kings) – $1300 faces Landon Elmore (Dollamur) – BREAK, John Chandler (Tropic Thunders) – KILL, and Matt Masch (Alabama Twisters) – DRAW – 9 points. Right off the bat, Jett will have a chance to show whether he’s worth the most ever paid for a PGF competitor. Newly minted KingsWave purple belt Landon Elmore will definitely be looking to steal some of Jett’s shine, but Jett will have the last laugh. Chandler’s likely going to try to put a pace on Jett, hoping Jett’s tired from cutting weight. Chandler’s aggression might open him up for a kill. Jett vs Matt Masch should be a great match and could go either way, so we’ll call it a draw.
Kris Olivo (Alabama Twisters) – $1200 faces Robert Blackledge (Tropic Thunders) – KILL, Armin Mirzakhanlou (Dollamur) – DRAW, Anthony Molina Valdes (New Hope Kings) – DRAW. – 6 Points. Olivo will be looking to set the tone for his season with his first match. Doubtless, Olivo thinks Blackledge is his best shot to secure points on opening day and he’s going for that kill. In his second match, he faces student and training partner Armin Bruni – they had a draw in the PGF team duel. They won’t pull any punches so to say, but they know each other so well it will likely be hard to get a sub in six minutes. Molina Valdes can be a leg lock sniper, but he can also have draws. Olivo has a leg game as well so there’s a real chance he gets caught in a leg lock battle and Olivo and Molina Valdes cancel each other out.
Mike John (Dollamur) – $1100 faces Juan Martinez V (New Hope Kings) – KILL, Jordan Wirth (Alabama Twisters) – KILL, Zack Schneider (Tropic Thunders) – DRAW – 12 points. PGF 6 veteran, Mike John’s going to have a big opening day. It might not be in this configuration, but he’s going to have a good day. He came into Season 6 not respecting the gauntlet that is the PGF and he’s back to prove he belongs in the PGF. Being a 10th Planet coach, Mike John doubtlessly deals with flexible, lanky, unorthodox training partners all the time. These are going to be some great matches, but Mike’s going to find a home for his guillotine on more than one competitor today.
Zack Schneider (Tropic Thunders) – $1100 faces Jordan Wirth (Alabama Twisters) – KILL, Juan Martinez V (New Hope Kings) – LOSS, Michael John (Dollamur) – DRAW – 6 points. In their previous match, Schneider found his way to Wirth’s back for the rear naked choke. He’s going to be trying to do the same thing on opening day – and with the previous win, you have to think he has the psychological advantage. Juan finds a way to get a break on Schneider; Juan’s a little off the radar and Schneider probably hasn’t been focusing his preparations on this match. Zack and Mike are seasoned veterans, both being on big stages for years. The battle of the veterans will be exciting, but is probably a toss up.
Average – (the players who fill your roster almost exactly on budget)
JJ Bowers (Tropic Thunders) – $1025 faces Brady Hylton (Alabama Twisters) – KILL, Dominic Lobo (New Hope Kings) – KILL , Christos Papadelos (Dollamur) – DRAW – 12 points. Coach Mica saw something in JJ to make him the second highest paid competitor in the draft. JJ has to be targeting Hylton and Lobo (two of the lower drafted competitors) for serious submissions. At the same time, a win over Papadelos would be a big statement for JJ. It would say he has serious plans on winning this season. But can he make that statement on opening day?
Raphael Ferreira (Alabama Twisters) – $1000 faces CJ Murdock (Tropic Thunders) – BREAK, Brady Branscum (Dollamur) – BREAK, Anthony Gojani (New Hope Kings) – BREAK – 9 points. Ferreira has been talking a lot of trash in the player group chat. He’s definitely going to have a target on his back. But Ferreira can capitalize on his motor which will be even better compared to his opponents who had to cut weight for opening day. Raphael (or Rafa) will just keep transitioning from position to position and submission attempt to submission attempt until he sinks one his opponents.
Christos Papadelos (Dollamur) – $1000 faces Dominic Lobo (New Hope Kings) – KILL, Brady Hylton (Alabama Twisters) – KILL, Joseph Bowers (Tropic Thunders) – DRAW – 12 points . Christos is a steal for $1000 and should be on everyone’s roster. He knows this game; he knows the strategy. He knows he is facing competitors on opening day who are submittable. Christos will definitely try to capitalize on his matchups and he likely will.
Juan Martinez (New Hope Kings) – $975 faces Michael John (Dollamur) – LOSS, Zack Schneider (Tropic Thunders) – BREAK, Jordan Wirth (Alabama Twisters) – DRAW – 3 points. PGF Season 4 veteran Juan has looked great in two qualifiers this season. Juan has some seriously hard matches on opening day. Out of the three, he’s going to find a way to get a submission in one of them, but it won’t be easy.
BUDGET PLAYERS (possible bargains that can help you save money for those premium players)
Matt Masch (Alabama Twisters) – $950 faces John Chandler (Tropic Thunders) – BREAK, Landon Elmore (Dollamur) – BREAK, Jett Thompson (New Hope Kings) – DRAW – 6 points. The last Combat Jiu Jitsu Worlds champion who competed on the PGF was Ryan Aitken, our PGF 7 champion. Masch will definitely be looking to follow in Aitken’s footsteps. Masch’s experience will help him take out Chandler and Elmore, but Jett Thompson’s another story. That match will be fire and either of them could win (which likely means a draw).
CJ Murdock (Tropic Thunders) – $925 faces Raphael Ferreira (Alabama Twisters) – LOSS, Anthony Gojani (New Hope Kings) – KILL, Brady Branscum (Dollamur) – DRAW – 6 points. CJ knows he needs to shift his game from the points/positional-based competitions he’s done so many times to the submission or nothing PGF. He’s going to find a way to get a Kill on Gojani, but that’s likely it for opening day. As Murdock gets into the rhythm of the PGF competition style, he definitely has a chance to get more submissions in his remaining 12 matches.
Jordan Wirth (Alabama Twisters) – $925 faces Zack Schneider (Tropic Thunders) – LOSS, Michael John (Dollamur) – LOSS, Juan Martinez (New Hope Kings) – DRAW. The editorial board at Eggheadwarrior.com are huge fans of Wirth and his jiu jitsu style. Wirth will make a lot of new fans with his gameplay this season. But opening day will be tough for him. Likely no points for Wirth on day 1.
Anthony Gojani (New Hope Kings) – $900 faces Brady Branscum (Dollamur) – LOSS, CJ Murdock (Tropic Thunders) – LOSS, Raphael Ferreira (Alabama Twisters) – LOSS – 0 points. Gojani has been bringing the Elijah Carlton Bad Guy energy to the microphones, the player chat, and his social media. Everyone will be targeting Gojani this season and they’re likely to hit their mark on opening day. Gojani’s has a unique style that will be great to watch, but he’s likely not making it out of Day 1 with any points.
Anthony Molina Valdes – $900 (New Hope Kings) faces Armin Mirzakhanlou (Dollamur) – BREAK, Robert Blackledge (Tropic Thunders) – BREAK, Kristian Olivo (Alabama Twisters) – DRAW – 6 points. PGF Season 4 veteran, Molina Valdes’ leg locks are too good for Armin and Blackledge – he’s going to find a way to get those breaks. With his break-heavy style, Molina Valdes is going to have to keep racking up breaks since they’re worth half as many points as kills.
Armin Bruni (Dollamur) – $900 faces Anthony Molina Valdes (New Hope Kings) – LOSS, Kristian Olivo (Alabama Twisters) – DRAW, Robert Blackledge (Tropic Thunders) – BREAK – 3 points. Armin was a high draft pick in the PGF team duel. He’s a tough competitor, but doesn’t have the best draw this week. He’ll be working hard to make sure he leaves with some points, so he’ll make the most of his match against Blackledge.
Dom Lobo (New Hope Kings) – $900 faces Christos Papadelos (Dollamur) – LOSS, Joseph Bowers (Tropic Thunders) – LOSS, Brady Hylton (Alabama Twisters) – KILL. As the only player to get intentionally walked in the draft, Lobo has to be coming into the season with a chip on his shoulder. Motivation or no, he has a tough first two matches. After two likely losses to top-5 draft picks Papadelos and Bowers, Lobo’s going to find a way to work his rubber guard game against Hylton. Look for that gogo play that made him go viral previously.
SUPER BUDGET/PENNY STOCKS (NOT LIKELY TO MAKE YOU MUCH, BUT IF YOU HAVE MONEY LEFT IN YOUR POCKET…)
As a little disclaimer, this season has the most parity of any PGF season to date. These prices make these competitors super budget. Many of these competitors have real chances to put points on the board on opening day. If you think they are going for too little, put them on your roster and say thank you.
Landon Elmore (Dollamur) – $885 faces Jett Thompson (New Hope Kings) – LOSS, Matthew Masch (Alabama Twisters) – LOSS, John Chandler (Tropic Thunders) – BREAK – 3 points. Elmore faces two of the toughest competitors from the roster in the first two blocks. He’ll likely find a way to get one of his leg locks on Chandler, but he’s going to have to work for it. Don’t get it twisted, there’s a very real possibility Elmore makes the playoffs. He just has a hard draw for opening day.
Robert Blackledge (Tropic Thunders) – $850 faces Kristian Olivo (Alabama Twisters) – LOSS, Anthony Molina Valdes (New Hope Kings) – LOSS, Armin Mirzakhanlou (Dollamur) – LOSS. Based on the limited film of Blackledge available online, he’s going to have a bad day. At the same time, since there is so little film, he might be able to sneak up on people like Jett Thompson in PGF Season 6. We’ll know a lot more which way this season will go for Blackledge once the dust has settled from Opening Day.
John Chandler (Tropic Thunders) – $850 faces Matthew Masch (Alabama Twisters) – LOSS, Jett Thompson (New Hope Kings) – LOSS, Landon Elmore (Dollamur) – LOSS – 0 points. The editorial board of Eggheadwarrior.com doesn’t like how these estimates worked out. Chandler was definitely a bright spot in the few matches he got in PGF Season 6. Chandler recently improved to 3-0 in his amateur mma record and is a VERY game competitor. But Chandler is facing three competitors that are likely to make the playoffs.
Brady Hylton (Alabama Twisters) – $800 faces JJ Bowers (Tropic Thunders) – LOSS, Christos Papadelos (Dollamur) – LOSS, Dominic Lobo (New Hope Kings) – LOSS – 0 points. This season will likely be a long one for Hylton. He’s going to get an amazing amount of high-level competition experience. He’s shown in the qualifiers he can be tough, but he’s taking a big step up in level of competition in PGF Season 8.
Brady Branscum (Dollamur) – $800 faces Anthony Gojani (New Hope Kings) – KILL, Raphael Ferreira (Alabama Twisters) – LOSS, CJ Murdock (Tropic Thunders) – LOSS – 6 points. Branscum should also be on everyone’s rosters. For this price, he’s a real value pick. His wrestle-heavy, passing style will likely force competitors to receive stalling penalties, giving him a look at taking their backs for KILLS. He’s going to be a competitor who has upside potential against almost every competitor. He’s going to have a tall order in Ferreira and Murdock, but should get at least one submission on opening day.
As mentioned above, there’s more parity this season than ever before in the PGF. Just like the opening week of football season, we’ll have a lot more information about all the players once the Opening Day matches have concluded. Who will be the stars no one expected? Which top draft pick will lay an egg and be playing catchup? Will one team start to pull away from the rest? Opening Day will give us 30 matches of excitement, but also knowledge. To be honest, most fantasy managers and fans are on an even playing field currently. So sign up and pick a squad – you can’t win if you don’t play!
PGF Season 8 is LIVE and FREE on YouTube. Starting on 23 July and for the next five weeks, every Wednesday, fans can watch amazing PGF action starting at 7pm Eastern/4pm Pacific. Tune in and watch four teams and 20 grapplers take their respective shots at becoming Professional Grappling Federation Champions! But remember, with Fantasy PGF, you can have a shot at being a PGF Champion as well!!!
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