KASAI Elite Grappling Championships (KASAI) today confirmed that Marcin Held and KASAI World Lightweight Champion Renato Canuto will compete in the upcoming World Welterweight Championship tournament at ‘KASAI Pro 3’. 

Canuto and Held will be joined by Matheus Lutes, who earned his spot in the tournament by winning KASAI’s open qualifier.

“We’re thrilled to kick off our ‘KASAI Pro 3’ lineup with such a decorated trio,” said Rolles Gracie, KASAI President. “By signing Renato, Marcin and Matheus, we’ve set the tone for what will be an epic night of world-class grappling on August 18.”

Renato Canuto, lightweight tournament winner in Dec 2017.

Canuto, a second-generation black belt under his father, Valdir, who now trains at Checkmat BJJ, bested seven other world-class grapplers at ‘KASAI Pro 1’ in 2017 to claim the inaugural KASAI World Lightweight Championship. He rounded out a sensational 2017 by winning the IBJJF World No-Gi Championships, before facing Eddie Cummings in a feature superfight at ‘KASAI Pro 2’ in April.

Held, 26, is a Polish national submission wrestling champion who received his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt at just 21 years of age. A member of Bastion Tychy and London Shootfighters, he is a 23-7 professional mixed martial artist who has competed for the UFC, Shooto and Bellator, notably winning Bellator’s Season 10 Lightweight Tournament in 2014.

Lutes, 23, is a brown belt under the great Marcelo Garcia and a close training partner of KASAI’s World Middleweight Champion Matheus Diniz at Marcelo Garcia Jiu-Jitsu. The Brazilian earned his place on the card by winning a 30-man no-gi qualifier at The Elite Grappling Championships – KASAI’s day-long amateur event – back in June.

‘KASAI Pro 3’ tournament matches are six-minutes long with grapplers competing in two round-robin brackets. The winners of each bracket will then compete head-to-head in the night’s main-event to determine KASAI’s first World Welterweight Champion. All tournament matches will use KASAI Pro rules, no advantages are awarded, and all submissions are legal.

Tickets for the ‘KASAI Pro 3’ live event are on sale now. You can also watch Live or On Demand on FloGrappling.