By Kelsey Mowatt

Over the last couple of years combat sports fans and martial artists have been treated to a new wave of submission focused events, but does this mean grappling is on its way to becoming a spectator sport? Just as mixed-martial-arts went from the margins of society to mainstream popularity?

One of the new grappling events to hit the market is Submission Series Pro, which is based out of Canada and will hold its fourth event next Sunday on September 12th. Like Metamoris, Polaris and the Eddie Bravo Invitational, Submission Series Pro is a submission only event, whereby a winner must be declared by tap-out.

The argument and belief being that submission only matches feature much more action, since a competitor can’t stall in a dominant position, and win by scoring points.

Due to these events, combat sports fans are becoming more and more familiar with jiu-jitsu all-stars like Garry Tonon, Eddie Cummings, and Keenan Cornelius, among many others. But does this mean the sport will become a staple for fights fans? And move people into a venue’s seats? Who aren’t huge MMA fans and don’t necessarily train in jiu-jitsu?

Recently one of the promoters for Submission Series Pro, Cat Clarke, appeared on Full Contact Fighter Radio. While discussing this very question, the Nova Scotia promoter and jiu-jitsu practitioner stated:

“I think it will always be relegated to people who do jiu-jitsu, and maybe if it becomes an Olympics sport, and it gets regulated in that kind of fashion, I think it could take on a whole other level,” said Clarke, “But, I think at this point, we have trouble with our own tickets. This is our fourth event and we have yet to break the 300 number.”

“You look at Metamoris, they’ve kind of taken out spectators altogether,” added Clarke. “So for us, I don’t that you’re going to move the sport by having no spectators. We try to keep a free stream and this event has kids, and there’s a teen girl’s match, so it has everything and every kind of flavor of jiu-jitsu. So, there’s different ways to move the sport with tournaments or whatever…it’s coming, but it’s definitely hard.”

While it remains to be seen how big the professional grappling world gets, and whether it will ever be more than a niche sport, there’s no doubt that more people than ever before are interested in jiu-jitsu. Submission Series Pro offers a free stream of its events, and while the numbers aren’t massive in the grand scheme of things, clearly there’s an audience.

“Our event in Halifax that we streamed with (Michael) Liera Jr. versus (Marco) Tinoco as the main event, that hit almost 13,000 viewers live, so that’s a lot of people on a live stream, so the eyes are there and people are following around the world. We just have to stay consistent…”

The September 12th Submission Series Pro will take place in Truro, Nova Scotia, and will be headlined by a match between UFC vet Mitch Clarke and Scott Nauss. For more information head to Submission Series Pro.ca.