2026 PGF World Season 9

Kevin Beuhring entered the April 8, 2026 playoffs as the 3rd seed with 46 regular-season points, trailing top seed Jett Thompson (64 pts) and 2nd seed Elijah Carlton (52 pts). His run to the championship stands as the defining narrative of Season 9.

Beuhring opened the bracket by dispatching 6th-seeded Chuy Magana via Rear Naked Choke, setting up a semifinal collision with Carlton — the competitor who had surged past him on the individual leaderboard during the final week of the regular season on the back of three consecutive heel-hook finishes. Beuhring responded with a composed Straight Ankle Lock finish to advance to the final.

The championship match pitted Beuhring against Thompson, the dominant regular-season individual champion who had posted back-to-back submission wins in his final two regular-season matches and entered the playoffs undefeated in his last five contests. Thompson navigated his side of the bracket efficiently — submitting 8th-seeded Shawn Melanson via Rear Naked Choke in EBI Overtime and defeating 4th-seeded Austin Oranday by Rear Naked Choke in the semifinals. In the final, however, Beuhring secured a Rear Naked Choke finish of his own in EBI Overtime to claim the Season 9 title — a 3rd-seed upset over the regular-season individual champion.

PGF World Season 9 operated as a team-based league across five regular-season weeks (February 4 – April 4, 2026), with the playoff event held on April 8, 2026. All competition was conducted nogi in the under-175 lb welterweight division, with four competing teams: the Las Vegas Kings, Alabama Twisters, Philadelphia Phenoms, and Colorado Wolverines.

Ruleset and Scoring

The regular-season ruleset is unique to PGF and permits an extensive submission library under nogi conditions, including Heel Hook, Toehold, Straight Ankle Lock, Armbar, Rear Naked Choke, Kneebar, Kimura, D'arce Choke, Triangle Choke, Calf Slicer, Estima locks, aoki locks, dead orchards, reverse triangle chokes, and arm-triangle chokes. Submission finishes earn the highest point values; DQs and penalties also award points; matches without a finish are scored as draws. Team standings accumulate across all individual matches each week, while the top 8 individual scorers over the regular season qualify for the playoff bracket.

Playoff Format

The playoff bracket employed EBI (Eddie Bravo Invitational) overtime rules as both the tiebreaking and finish mechanism, distinct from the regular-season format. EBI Overtime places a premium on back-take and choke sequences, a dynamic that proved decisive throughout the April 8, 2026 event.

The Las Vegas Kings built an early team lead in Week 1 (34 pts) and extended it progressively through all five weeks, finishing the regular season as team champions with 142 points — 14 ahead of the Alabama Twisters (128 pts). The Philadelphia Phenoms finished third with 74 points, and the Colorado Wolverines fourth with 61 points.

Las Vegas Kings

Jett Thompson led the Kings and all individual scorers throughout the season. His 64-point total was built on a consistent Rear Naked Choke finishing game across all five weeks — including back-to-back RNC wins over Andrew Kochel and Joshua Squires in Week 1 — earning him the regular-season individual championship. Austin Oranday (44 pts) and Chuy Magana (31 pts) provided reliable secondary scoring: Oranday specializing in ankle-lock finishes and Magana delivering a notable comeback victory over Sam Schwartzapfel via Straight Ankle Lock in Week 1.

Alabama Twisters

The Alabama Twisters mounted the most sustained challenge to Las Vegas, surging in Weeks 2 and 3 behind the output of Kevin Beuhring and Elijah Carlton. Beuhring led all scorers in Week 2 with three submission wins, while Carlton posted perfect weeks in both Weeks 2 and 3. Despite closing to within 17 points of the Kings after Week 3, the Twisters could not close the gap over the final two weeks.

Colorado Wolverines

The Colorado Wolverines' most compelling stretch came in Week 4, headlined by Jayden Groner's record-setting performance: an armbar over Jake Straus, a Toehold over Jared Fekete, and a Reverse Triangle Choke over Noah McCully — 18 points in a single block, the largest individual single-week gain of Season 9 — lifting the Wolverines to their first block win of the season.

The eight playoff qualifiers were seeded by their regular-season individual point totals: Jett Thompson (1st, 64 pts), Elijah Carlton (2nd, 52 pts), Kevin Beuhring (3rd, 46 pts), Austin Oranday (4th, 44 pts), Travis Haven (5th, 39 pts), Chuy Magana (6th, 31 pts), Jayden Groner (7th, 30 pts), and Shawn Melanson (8th, 28 pts).

Opening Round

The bracket followed a standard 1v8, 4v5, 2v7, 3v6 structure. Thompson submitted Melanson via Rear Naked Choke in EBI Overtime; Oranday eliminated Haven via Straight Ankle Lock; Carlton dispatched Groner via Heel Hook; and Beuhring defeated Magana via Rear Naked Choke. All four opening-round matches concluded by submission.

Semifinals

Thompson continued his rear-naked choke run by submitting Oranday to advance to the final. The round's pivotal result, however, came from Beuhring — who produced an ankle-lock finish over Carlton, eliminating the competitor who had overtaken him on the individual leaderboard in the final week of the regular season. Both semifinals concluded by submission, sending Thompson and Beuhring to the championship match.

Alongside the main playoff bracket, the April 8, 2026 event featured two additional competitions: the Battlerama and the first-ever Princess of the PGF tournament.

Battlerama

The Battlerama brought together competitors outside the top-8 playoff bracket. Jeo Ortiz of the Alabama Twisters opened with a decision win over CJ Murdock — determined by the fastest escape in EBI Overtime — while Clayton Wimer of the Colorado Wolverines submitted Derrick Adkins of the Philadelphia Phenoms via Rear Naked Choke. In the final, Ortiz defeated Wimer via Heel Hook to claim the Battlerama championship. Notably, Murdock had also appeared as an unaffiliated substitute competitor during Week 5 of the regular season, falling to Travis Haven via Triangle Choke and to Jayden Groner via Straight Ankle Lock.

Princess of the PGF

The Princess of the PGF marked the first women's tournament in PGF Season 9 history, introducing four competitors: Hazel Cenidoza, Jemma Gonzalez, Violet Goodnight, and Gemma Salinas. In the opening round, Cenidoza defeated Gonzalez via Armbar and Goodnight eliminated Salinas via Armbar. The final saw Goodnight submit Cenidoza via Rear Naked Choke in EBI Overtime, crowning her as the inaugural Princess of the PGF.

Jett Thompson's regular-season dominance was built on a consistent Rear Naked Choke finishing game across all five weeks. His 64-point total represented the highest individual total in Season 9; he drew with Elijah Carlton in Week 1 and Kevin Beuhring in Week 5 but was otherwise largely untested heading into the playoffs.

Elijah Carlton delivered perfect weeks in both Weeks 2 and 3 — finishing opponents via Heel Hook, Armbar, and Rear Naked Choke — before closing the regular season with a decisive three-heel-hook surge in Week 5 (over Caleb Crump, Austin Oranday, and Shawn Melanson) to finish 2nd overall at 52 points, surpassing Beuhring's cumulative total in the final block. Carlton also celebrated his 100th PGF match in Week 4 with a Heel Hook finish over Joshua Squires.

Kevin Beuhring opened Season 9 with two Heel Hook wins in Week 1, led all scorers in Week 2 with three submission victories, and maintained submission-finish consistency throughout the regular season — converting that finishing ability into the Season 9 championship on April 8, 2026.

Jayden Groner's Week 4 performance — armbar, toehold, and reverse triangle choke finishes for 18 points — was the largest single-week individual gain of the season and delivered the Wolverines their first block win of Season 9.

Chuy Magana served as an ankle-lock specialist for the Kings throughout the regular season, highlighted by a memorable comeback finish over Sam Schwartzapfel via Straight Ankle Lock in Week 1. An opening-match injury in Week 5 limited his final-week output, but his accumulated points secured the 6th playoff seed.

Derek Rayfield of the Philadelphia Phenoms delivered notable performances in Weeks 3 and 5. In Week 3, he submitted Magana via triangle armbar and Travis Haven via Rear Naked Choke; in Week 5, he finished Jake Straus via a mounted dead orchard — one of the more unusual submission finishes recorded across the season.

Rear Naked Choke

The Rear Naked Choke was the most frequently applied finishing submission across all five regular-season weeks and carried its dominance into the playoffs. Thompson, Beuhring, Carlton, Jared Fekete, Jake Straus, and others all recorded RNC finishes during the regular season. The technique decided the Season 9 championship final, both semifinals on Thompson's side of the bracket, and the Princess of the PGF final — underscoring how critical back-take and choke sequences became under EBI Overtime rules.

Straight Ankle Lock

The Straight Ankle Lock was the dominant leg attack of the regular season. Austin Oranday, Chuy Magana, Travis Haven, Kevin Beuhring, Andrew Kochel, and Jayden Groner all recorded ankle-lock finishes across the five weeks. The technique carried into the playoffs as well — Beuhring using it to eliminate Carlton in the semifinals and Oranday deploying it to defeat Haven in the opening round.

Heel Hook

Heel Hook appeared throughout the season with particular frequency from Beuhring (Weeks 1, 2, 4, and 5) and Carlton (Weeks 1, 2, and 5), and served as the decisive technique in the Battlerama final when Jeo Ortiz submitted Clayton Wimer.

Rare and Distinctive Finishes

Several uncommon submissions added depth to Season 9's finishing record: Jayden Groner's Reverse Triangle Choke over Noah McCully in Week 4; Derek Rayfield's dead orchard over Straus in Week 5; Austin Oranday's Estima lock finish over Anthony Salisbury in Week 2 and aoki lock over Adam Frank in Week 5; Kyle Chambers' Calf Slicer finish in Week 1; Shawn Melanson's Kneebar over Straus in Week 3; and D'arce choke finishes recorded by Oranday, Caleb Crump, and Sam Schwartzapfel. Together, these finishes reflect the breadth of PGF's permissive submission ruleset and the technical range competitors brought to Season 9.