Ethan Crelinsten, MMA stars booked for Karate Combat’s Pit Submission Series 3

Karate Combat returns on March 23 with Pit Submission Series 3, featuring Ethan Crelinsten and MMA standouts.

Karate Combat will soon return to action with its third installment of Pit Submission Series – submission grappling matches featured on an otherwise all-striking fight card.

This Saturday, March 23, at Pit Submission Series 3, ADCC veteran and elite competitor Ethan Crelinsten will square off with ONE Championship MMA veteran Troy Worthen. Also, UFC standouts Gillian Robertson and Montana De La Rosa will clash.

A two-time ADCC Trials winner, the B-Team’s Crelinsten has been competing at a world-class level for over five years and has established himself as one of submission grappling’s toughest outs and most entertaining athletes. The Canadian is a talented leg locker and guard player but tends to do his best work when he’s passing the guard and hunting the back, where he is an excellent finisher.

Crelinsten was originally slated to face former PFL MMA champion Lance Palmer, but when Palmer was unable to make it, Worthen stepped up on just days’ notice.

A veteran of 10 professional MMA bouts, Worthen has lost his last three bouts, all in ONE Championship. While he is essentially new to submission grappling, he hails from a collegiate wrestling background, having competed for the University of Central Florida prior to his MMA career.

Before that, Robertson and De La Rosa will square off.

A UFC veteran since 2017, Robertson is a BJJ black belt and no stranger to submission grappling, having previously competed at Submission Underground (SUG) and Fury Pro Grappling. She is currently ranked #15 in the UFC strawweight division and has long been considered one of the promotion’s top submission artists.

For her part, De La Rosa is an 11-fight veteran and currently competes as a flyweight. She’ll come into this contest on a three-fight skid. A talented wrestler, De La Rosa boasts three submission wins in the UFC – good to tie for the second most in UFC flyweight history.

Previous Pit Submission Series events have featured elite BJJ competitors including Craig Jones, Vagner Rocha, and Helena Crevar. Matches consist of one 12-minute round of submission-only action, with a panel of judges awarding the winner in the event no submission occurs.

How to watch: Karate Combat’s Pit Submission Series 3 takes place on Saturday, March 23, and will air live on YouTube beginning at 7:00 PM EST.

Ben Coate

Ben has been involved with grappling, whether through wrestling or Brazilian jiu-jitsu, essentially his entire life. After wrestling throughout his childhood, Ben found Brazilian jiu-jitsu as a young adult and quickly fell in love. He has been training for over ten years and holds the rank of black belt, and remains involved in both the MMA and BJJ scene. Ben has been writing about combat sports since 2017. He has interviewed and profiled some of MMA's biggest stars, including multiple UFC champions.

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