PGF Pro Judo
The Professional Grappling Federation (PGF) is finally stepping outside the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world. On November 10, 2026, the promotion will host its first PGF Pro Judo tournament in Las Vegas. The premise is simple: put eight top judokas into a single round-robin bracket and put a championship belt plus $10,000 on the line. PGF built its reputation by shaking up traditional grappling formats, and now they want to do the exact same thing for Judo—giving hardcore purists and casual fight fans a reason to tune in for big, crowd-pleasing throws.
Why the PGF Pro Judo Ruleset Changes Everything
If you have ever watched a traditional Judo match stall out in grip-fighting, you know the rules can sometimes get in the way of the action. So, PGF threw out the standard playbook. Eight men in the -81kg division will face every other fighter in the bracket. That gives fans 28 bouts in a single night, and every athlete gets seven separate chances to put points on the board.
Instead of the traditional sudden-death style, PGF Pro Judo runs on a cumulative scoring system:
- Ippon: 10 points
- Waza-ari: 5 points
- Yuko: 3 points
Normally, hitting a clean ippon ends the match on the spot. Not here. In Vegas, the referee will stand both fighters right back up so they can keep hunting for throws until the three-minute clock runs out. Even wilder? There is zero ground fighting (ne-waza). Everything stays on the feet. At the end of the night, the fighter with the most total points across all seven rounds walks out with the $10,000 check. It is a grueling format that forces guys to empty the gas tank early while saving enough legs to survive seven rounds.
Who Is Stepping Onto the Mat?
PGF put together an eight-man roster that mixes veteran national champions with hungry international medalists. The full -81kg lineup for the debut PGF Pro Judo bracket includes:
- Derick Thomas III
- Davit Aghasaryan
- Aaron Jen
- Tony Sangimino
- Heiko Karl Rommelmann
- Steven Boldbaatar
- Gigi Bakradze
- Chikai Nakabayashi
Plus, Christian Buckner and Danny Sobrepena are on standby as alternates in case injury strikes. You will also see some serious pedigree in the corners, including Olympic silver medalist Jason Morris alongside several of the sharpest coaching minds in American Judo.
Judo’s Old Guard Is Actually Backing the Experiment
Usually, when a promotion messes with a sport’s core rules, the traditional governing bodies want nothing to do with it.Yet the biggest names in global Judo are flying to Vegas to watch this happen in person. Officials from the International Judo Federation (IJF), USA Judo, and even Japan’s legendary Kodokan Judo Institute will all have seats in the building.
USA Judo is bringing its top brass, including Chairman Dr. Ron Tripp, CEO Corinne Shigemoto, and High Performance Director Ed Liddie—a four-time Olympic coach and 1984 bronze medalist himself. Meanwhile, eighth-dan black belt Shinichi Harada Sensei is making the trip from the Kodokan. Having that kind of royalty matside shows the establishment isn’t treating PGF Pro Judo like a sideshow. They see real potential here.
Zoltan Bathory’s $200,000 Bet on American Judo
Behind the scenes, this whole project is being pushed by PGF Chairman Zoltan Bathory. Most people know Bathory as the founder and rhythm guitarist of the multi-platinum metal band Five Finger Death Punch, but he has also spent decades on the mats earning a fourth-dan black belt in Judo.
And he is putting his own money behind the sport. Back in October, Bathory handed USA Judo a $100,000 check to help fund American hopefuls ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Right after that, he put up another $100,000 to get PGF Pro Judo off the ground. His goal is straightforward: give top judokas a slick broadcast, real prize money, and the kind of pro platform that BJJ athletes have enjoyed for years.
Where to Stream PGF Pro Judo for Free
You cannot buy a ticket to the Las Vegas venue since seats are strictly invite-only, but watching from home won’t cost a dime. The four-hour live show kicks off on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, at 4:00 PM Pacific Time. You can catch every match live on the PGF World YouTube channel or directly through the event’s website.
- Event: PGF Pro Judo
- Date: Tuesday, November 10, 2026
- Start Time: 4:00 PM PT
- Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
- Weight Class: -81kg (8-man round robin)
- Payout: $10,000 and PGF Championship Belt
- Where to Watch: Free stream on PGF World YouTube and projudo.live
Could This Spark a Pro Judo Boom?
While submission grappling has turned into a booming spectator sport over the last decade, Judo has mostly stayed locked inside the Olympic amateur system. Stripping out the ground game and turning the ippon into a repeatable 10-point play is a radical shift. Nobody knows for sure if purists will embrace the chaos until the first bell rings. Still, with $10,000 up for grabs, the Kodokan watching from the front row, and eight guys told to do nothing but throw each other for three minutes straight, November 10 should be a lot of fun to watch.
