Polaris 27 results: Ffion Davies, PJ Barch win Polaris titles

View results from Polaris 27, featuring a welterweight grand prix and a title match between Ffion Davies and Brianna Ste-Marie.

Polaris 27 took place on Saturday, March 23, at the International Convention Center in Wales. The main card saw eight world-class welterweight competitors square off in a much-anticipated grand prix tournament. 

Additionally, reigning ADCC and IBJJF no-gi world champion Ffion Davies locked horns with Brianna Ste-Marie in a rematch of the pair’s finals showdown at the 2022 ADCC World Championships.

Davies displayed excellent work from her guard, scoring a wrestle-up sweep early and, with about three minutes left in the match, a clean back-take. Ste-Marie defended well and rarely found herself in significant submission trouble, but Davies ultimately controlled and dominated much of the contest positionally to score a unanimous decision win.

Davies is now the Polaris 135-pound champion.

And in the eight-man welterweight grand prix, veteran black belt PJ Barch turned in one of the best one-night performances of his career to take home the tournament title. Barch was pushed to the limit in his quarterfinal matchup, taking a hard-fought split decision over recent ADCC Trials winner Luiz Paulo

In the semifinals, Barch made quick work of Espen Mathiesen en route to a heel hook win, earning his spot in the final against Levi Jones-Leary.

Primarily known for his accomplishments in the gi, Jones-Leary submitted late-notice replacement Shane Fishman in the opening round before using his elite back-taking game to score an upset win over Jozef Chen in the quarterfinal.

In the final, Barch employed his top-tier wrestling game to secure two early takedowns to cement an early lead that he would ride out for the remainder of the 10-minute contest. Jones-Leary attacked relentlessly from his open guard, but was ultimately unable to score any points.

With the tournament win, Barch took home a $20,000 prize and is now the Polaris welterweight champion.

In the featured match of the prelims, ADCC veteran Keith Krikorian scored a highlight-reel armbar on Cameron Donnelly to win the Polaris featherweight title.

Polaris 27 results – Main card

135-pound title match:

  • Ffion Davies def. Brianna Ste-Marie via decision

Welterweight grand prix final

  • PJ Barch def. Levi Jones-Leary via points (2-0)

Welterweight grand prix semifinals

  • Levi Jones-Leary def. Jozef Chen via points (1-0)
  • PJ Barch def. Espen Mathiesen via submission (heel hook)

Welterweight grand prix quarterfinals

  • Jozef Chen def. Harrison Woods via submission (kimura)
  • Espen Mathiesen def. Max Hanson via decision
  • Levi Jones-Leary def. Shane Fishman via submission (rear-naked choke)
  • PJ Barch def. Luiz Paulo via decision

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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