Polaris 29: Jay Rod suffers upset loss to Avtarhanov, Fans question Weird Judging

John Davis

Jay Rodriguez, hot off his ADCC silver, was matched with Mohammed Avtarhanov, a dominant force on the Irish circuit. What appeared to be a routine victory for Rodriguez quickly took a surprising twist.

The co-main event features a matchup between 22-year-old Jay “J-Rod” Rodriguez from the US, representing B Team, and 21-year-old Mohamed Avtarhanov from Ireland, representing SBG.

Rodriguez tries to geta takedown going and take the back off of a scramble but Avtarhanov gains top position.

Avtarhanov pulls guard off of a reset.

Avtarhanov is using his flexibility and leg dexterity to disrupt Rodriguez’s attempts to pass. Avtarhanov gets closed guard after several of Jay Rod’s attempts to pass.

Avtarhanov looks to set up a leg entanglement but Rodriguez escapes.

Rodriguez tries passing Avtarhanov’s inverted guard but it’s largely a stale mate. Avtarhanov manages to sweep Jay Rod but can’t maintain control and Jay Rod gets up. Avtarhanov still has a body lock going for him.

Jay Rod repeatedly rolls to roll Avtarhanov off from body lock control without conceeding the back. He finally shakes him off and the two are back to inverted guard and Jay Rod trying to pass.

Jay Rod spams attempts to pass inverted guard until one finally works and he secures the back mount and starts looking to finish with a rear-naked choke. Avtarhanov refuses to tap and manages to survive until the end of the round.

The match goes to the judges’ scorecards, and in a split decision, Mohamed Avtarhanov is declared the winner, stunning the heavily favored J-Rod.

But then, the decision came. Avtarhanov was declared the winner, and the room was left in stunned silence. The upset sparked immediate controversy, with fans and pundits alike questioning the scoring system.

Many argued that the match was Rodriguez’s to win, citing his near finishes and overall control. Yet, under Polaris’ three-round system, the decision stood, leaving Rodriguez visibly frustrated, though he maintained his composure in the aftermath.

The Polaris system, where rounds are scored even without the traditional breaks, left many grappling fans scratching their heads. Calls for reform, such as adopting a system like CJI or IBJJF’s more transparent points-based approach, have grown louder. Some even suggested lengthening the matches or tweaking the point distribution to avoid situations where a single, dominant moment gets lost in a sea of ambiguity.

John Davis