By Aaron Ramos

Fresh off the success of the inaugural Polaris invitational, the UK s premier submission-only grappling event returns this September. Last year, the show surprised everyone in the grappling community, hosting a range of top talent from around the world in a number of exciting matches.

With big names like Keenan Cornelius, Dean Lister, Garry Tonon and Kit Dale, the first show that played out in January 2015 boasted talent you would usually find competing in a larger American event. Polaris advertises itself as Europe s premier submission grappling and jiu jitsu invitational. The bout time is slightly shorter than its precursor Metamoris at just fifteen minutes each, submission being the only way to secure the victory. If there is no winner at the end of the set time limit, the match is declared a draw. With the resounding success of the first show, Polaris 2 has a lot to live up to. However, for the second time running Polaris will feature a female bout. Long time fans of the sport will know that this is one match on the card with a pair of fighters guaranteed to bring fireworks.

As the fifth contest of the evening, two women will step up to represent everything that is great about women s BJJ. On the one side you have Gezary Matuda. A black belt under Ricardo Lib rio, she holds titles as both the Pan American and World champion. On the other side of the mat is Michelle Nicolini, a pioneer of the female side of the sport. Coming off a heartbreaking loss at the IBJJF World Championship to young rival Mackenzie Dern, Nicolini is intent on getting back in the win column.

Having Nicolini as part of this card is not only testament to the quality of competitors present at the show, it is also topical. The issue of pay in BJJ is a subject being thrown around in many a grapplers forum. Polaris is one event that financially rewards its fighters in a sport where this is all too rare. Michelle is one of the most outspoken women in the sport on this subject. She believes not only that competitors need to be paid well for their performances; but that it s high time men and women were treated equally.Stood mat-side for her performance against Mackenzie, even the greenest of practitioners and casual fans could appreciate the women s skills. While these competitors may be smaller in stature than most of their male counterparts, they are every bit as technical and ferocious on the mats. Not relying so much on strength and size, they use on a mixture of elite technicality and blistering speed to secure a win. The two women fought back and forth with everything they had for that world title, neither wanting to concede until that one moment. It was a mix of skill, human error and the will to win that created the space for Dern s stunning submission win against Nicolini. Some said it was a kind of passing of the torch to a new generation of fighter. If you were to ask Michelle, I doubt she saw it that way. Her entry into this tournament is something of a statement that she is still very much in the game at the highest level, ready to pave new roads for women in the sport.

Nicolini is the first ever female to compete in both Metamoris and Polaris so it s only fitting then that she returns in an attempt to repeat her success for the second year running. Last time it was Angelica Galvao who gave up a vice tight toehold in the ninth minute of their bout. This time it s Gezary Matuda s turn to test her skills on the mat, stepping up a weight class to take on the veteran Nicolini. Known for her exciting and relentless style, Gezary is no stranger to challenging herself. Early in her grappling life Matuda started competing less than a month after first putting on the gi. I asked Nicolini what she thought about the upcoming match, women s martial arts, pay, and her plan to close out the year in style.

Gezary is similar to you in that she has a relentless attacking style. What do you think an exciting matchup like this does for the profile of women s BJJ and even MMA?

In my opinion it s always good to watch the submissions in both BJJ and MMA. It s the goal in BJJ and if we are aggressive with the attacks people pay more attention during the fight. Submissions are similar to knockouts because they can happen any time. For example when Ronda Rousey fights, we always expect the armbars. Everyone knows her because of her aggressive style. Submissions just make the fights more exciting!

You re one of the most outspoken athletes in the sport when it comes to fighter pay. What do you think of the comments regarding the differences between men and women s pay? Should there be a difference based on the number of fights as some people say, or is there no difference?

This difference should never have existed. We have accepted this for a long time without fully understanding why. Now the girls are stronger, we have enough of us competing and we deserve equal pay. I m so happy that Polaris has this initiative. Hopefully the fans, fighters and the organization will keep changing their mentality about it. Actually I believe it s the girls that have the most exciting fights to watch!

Not only are you one of the leading figures in women s BJJ, but you ve also tried your hand at MMA too, with good success. Is that something you ll be returning to soon? Would you eventually move away from BJJ to focus on that full time?

For sure. I was supposed to be participating in an MMA grand prix here in Brazil. It would have been two fights in one night, but unfortunately they had to change the dates of the show and I cannot make the new date. I ve been training my stand up and am looking forward to have more MMA fights soon. I will do some BJJ competitions next year but my goal will be to reach a big MMA show in 2016.

And finally, Polaris is one of the last big shows of the year gaining international attention. Will you be competing again before the end of the year, or will this be your way of ending the year with a bang before focusing on new challenges in 2016?

I m happy to finish off the year fighting for a second time at Polaris. It s a big show who pays well and treats the athletes very well too. We need more events like this one who support and set up female fights regularly. I would like to have another MMA fight before the end of the year but nothing is confirmed at the moment.

Catch Michelle Nicolini versus Gezary Matuda this September 12th at Polaris 2. http://www.polaris-pro.org/