With six world champions, a UFC veteran and some of the sharpest black belts in the world, the middleweight King of Mats is looking particularly loaded. 

And the two five-man round-robin groups mean we’ll get to see a series of explosive matches in rapid succession. 

With a maximum weight limit of 85kg, the middleweight King of Mats is open only to the most qualified of athletes: in this case, all competitors are champions from the Abu Dhabi World Pro and Abu Dhabi Grand Slam events. 

There is two-time World Pro champion Gabriel Arges and World Pro champions Isaque Bahiense, Espen Mathiesen and Roberto Satoshi. Grand Slam winners Diego Ramalho, DJ Jackson, Manuel Ribamar, Caio Caetano and Rudson Mateus add to the depth of talent in the lineup. Lucas "Hulk" Barbosa joins the line-up as a replacement for the injured Gilbert Burns. 

The competitors were seeded via their accomplishments, creating two very balanced groups and competitive groups. See below for how they look. 

Group A

• Gabriel Arges 
• Espen Mathiesen 
• Caio Caetano Soares 
• Rudson Mateus
• Lucas Barbosa 

Group B

• Roberto Satoshi 
• Isaque Bahiense 
• Manuel Ribamar 
• Diego Ramalho 
• DJ Jackson 

Remember the 2019 Abu Dhabi King of Mats goes down on Jan. 12. You can watch it LIVE or ON DEMAND on FloGrappling.