5 Reasons To Watch Fight To Win's New York Debut

Here are five reasons you (still) need to tune in to Friday night's event! Fight to Win Pro 51 in Brooklyn, New York City.

Oct 20, 2017 by Reid Connell

5 Reasons To Watch Fight To Win's New York Debut

It's true. Fight to Win Pro 51 lost its main event for Friday night in Brooklyn, New York City.

JT Torres vs. Benson Henderson was a matchup that had everyone paying attention and seeing it scrapped is a total bummer.

However, the show must go on and the good news is that F2W Pro 51 is still one of the most exciting sub-only cards of the year!

After all, Fight to Win Pro is taking its traveling jiu-jitsu show to the Empire State for the first time. While California may be known as the mecca for jiu-jitsu in America, it's New York that has some of the biggest and most competitive gyms in the country. Renzo Gracie Academy, Unity, Marcelo Garcia Academy, and many more call New York home, making the local tournament scene one of the toughest in the country.

Despite the main event shakeup, New York always brings a brawl!

Here are 5 reasons you (still) need to tune in to Friday night's event!

1) #TeamNoSleep

For the better part of two years, Fight to Win Promotions has been touring the country with its ragtag crew of misfit toys, burning the jiu-jitsu torch brighter than any other pro BJJ show on the scene. Featuring stops in Phoenix, San Diego, Denver, and Houston, the ever-expanding promotion brings the best BJJ practitioners from all over the world together in one place and delivers a raucous show night after night that feels more like a rock concert than a stuffy jiu-jitsu tournament.

After making landfall on the East Coast earlier this year, Fight to Win Pro 51 will mark the promotion's first venture into the Empire State.

2) We have a new main event, and luckily it is just as good as the old one!

The new main event will pit two of America's toughest light weights against each other for first time of their prosperous careers. Gianni Grippo vs Justin Rader is tee'd up to steal the show.

Both men missed out on the opportunity to show their skills at ADCC but will have a chance to show why they are among the best in the world.

3) The match everyone is talking about.

Two New York transplants are going head to head: Jake Shields vs. Murilo Santana. The former Strikeforce Champion Jake Shields recently left the sunshine of the West Coast for the royal blue basement of team Renzo Gracie. He'll be taking on Unity head coach Murilo Santana in a no-gi battle. These are two premier grapplers and it

4) Thomas Keenan will look to continue his impressive run at F2W events.

The rising black belt star is taking on the toughest test of his young career against world silver medalist and Marcelo Garcia black belt Marcos Tinoco, who is making his Fight to Win debut. This matchup couldn't get more exciting, and both men bring a sub-heavy attack that is bound to entertain.

Keenan now has a whopping seven matches on the Fight to Win stage and will try to up his stock in a big way on Friday.

5) The card is literally stacked with the best East Coast talent.

If that's not enough for you, Manhattan gym Unity is bringing one of the deepest squads to F2W Pro 51, including standouts such as Mansher Khera, Murillo Santana, Tex Johnson, and Devonte Johnson. Renzo Gracie Academy boasts a total of eight grapplers on the night's card while MGA is bringing nine!

If the individual matchups don't get you excited, pay close attention to the overarching team war that is always lurking just below the surface. In fact, I'm looking specifically at a brown belt no-gi clash featuring two former teammates, Frank Rosenthal and Mike Davila.

It's getting harder and harder for the popular traveling show Fight to Win to continually top itself week after week, but somehow, someway it continues to deliver the matchups the fans want to see. Friday night might go down as the biggest show of the year, and that's good news for East Coast BJJ fans. Tune in to FloGrappling.com at 6 PM to watch all 30-plus super fights, and if you happen to miss it live we'll have you covered with post-event updates and results!

Watch Fight To Win Pro 51 LIVE or On Demand on Friday, Oct. 20. ONLY on FloGrappling

How to Watch F2W Pro 51

On TV: Now available on Roku and Apple TV 4 -- download the FloSports app today.
STREAMING: Available only on FloGrappling via monthly or yearly memberships. A yearly FloPRO subscription provides access to ALL FloSports sites. SIGN UP HERE