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
