Nick Rodriguez sure is setting himself up for a busy month. Before he takes on ex-UFC World Champion Luke Rockhold at Polaris 12, he’s stepped in to replace friend and teammate, Gordon Ryan, in the BJJ Fanatics Grand Prix. As Rodriguez had an impressive ADCC debut and Ryan took home the biggest prize at this year’s event, it’s exciting to see either one competing for the $10,000 prize.

He’s been the sport’s worst-kept secret since bursting onto the scene as a white belt at the ADCC Trials, but Nick Rodriguez has really stepped up his game this year. Not only did he come away with a silver medal at ADCC but he was also awarded his purple belt in BJJ. This was fresh off starting an unbeaten run in Polaris with a Performance of the Night victory against Ashley Amos and a dominant decision over Ben Dyson.

The man who met Gordon Ryan in the -99kg final at ADCC, Vinicius “Trator” Ferreira, has also been invited. He isn’t the only ADCC competitor who’s entered the Grand Prix, having been joined by Hulk and John Combs as well. With a long list of world-class grapplers in the mix and no brackets released as of yet, the eventual winner is virtually unpredictable.

The BJJ Fanatics No Gi Submission-Only Grand Prix was announced following their highly successful brown belt tournament and the previous winner, Kyle Boehm, also makes returns to face a step up in competition. It takes place on Friday, November 15th 2019 and tickets for the event can be found here.