Submission Underground is back today, as Submission Underground 25 brings ten exciting matches to the Roseland Theater in Portland, Oregon.
After the originally scheduled main event between SUG absolute champion Mason Fowler and SUG 24‘s absolute tournament winner Kyle Boehm was cancelled due to a Fowler injury, the tournament’s runner-up Pedro Marinho and fan favorite former title challenger Andy Varela were promoted to the spot.
The co-main event pits UFC, PFL, and Bellator veteran Jeremy Kennedy against decorated grappler Edwin Najmi in what will serve as the SUG debut for both competitors. This event will serve as “JBC” Kennedy’s first major grappling competition, and his first competition overall since dropping a decision to Adam Borics at Bellator 256. This will be Najmi’s first notable competition of 2021, last appearing at Third Coast Grappling 5 in a loss to Kody Steele.
Submission Underground 25 will also feature a tag-team title eliminator. The winner between Team Impact and Team BTT will move on to face Team Toro, made up of former UFC fighter Anthony Birchak and Deon Clash, for the title. Similar to tag team pro wrestling, teammates that are not currently competing must stay in a certain designated spot unless tagged in by their competing teammate. The team then has three seconds to double-team their opponent before the teammate tagging out must reach the designated spot. The team with the most submissions at the end of the period wins.
On the preliminary card, several familiar faces return to SUG to compete. Recent UFC signing and SUG 24 tournament competitor Nicholas Maximov is set to face Gustavo Pire, while fellow SUG staples Aaron Tiegs, Zack Schneider, and Alex Larmey return as well.
Stay tuned to MMA Sucka for up-to-date results on Submission Underground 25, happening live on UFC Fight Pass tonight at 6pm ET/3pm PT.
Submission Underground 25 Results
Main Card
Pedro Marinho def. Andy Varela via submission (guillotine choke), 1:54 of Regulation
Edwin Najmi def. Jeremy Kennedy via submission (rear-naked choke), 0:15 of Overtime Round 1 (bottom half)
Keith Krikorian def. Joey McKay via submission (rear-naked choke), 0:48 of Overtime Round 1 (bottom half)
Tag Team BTT (Charlie Gilpin and Gustavo Bessa) def. Tag Team Impact (Phelan Carron and Ioane Palakiko) via more submissions in Regulation, 1-0
Preliminary Card
Gustavo Pires def. Nicholas Maximov via submission (armbar), 0:10 of Overtime Round 1 (top half)
Colton Vaughn def. Eric McConico via fastest escape time after Overtime periods
Aaron Tiegs def. Zachary Minteer via submission (face crank), 0:09 of Overtime Round 1 (bottom half)
Zack Schneider def. Kevin Shaughnessy via submission (heel hook), 0:29 of Regulation
Ighor Horta def. James Zeng via fastest escape time after Overtime periods
Alex Larmey def. Josiah Iwamizu via submission (rear-naked choke), 4:09 of Regulation
