Chael Sonnen’s Submission Underground set to return in 2019
Submission Underground (SUG), the submission grappling promotion founded by MMA star Chael Sonnen, has a show date booked and will return to promoting events in 2019, a source close to the promotion told The Body Lock.
SUG promoted seven events from July of 2016 to April of 2018 but has been on hiatus since. Now, however, there is a date booked for SUG’s 2019 return.
Sonnen, 41, promotes SUG events in his native Oregon. The shows have sold remarkably well, selling out the Roseland Ballroom in Portland, Oregon in the promotion’s debut.
The events were streamed live on FloSports, specifically on FloCombat, but will now be available on a platform yet to be announced.
Upon the announcement of SUG’s partnership with FloCombat, Sonnen said of SUG, “The mantra is: How do we figure out who the greatest alive is?”
“We’re going to bring in all the smoke and mirrors and the great production. After that, we’re going to let whoever wants to be a part of this, whoever thinks they could be the greatest alive, to come out and prove it.”
SUG follows a submission-only ruleset, using an adaptation of 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu founder Eddie Bravo’s Eddie Bravo Invitational (EBI) rules. SUG has been known to push the boundaries of convention, even experimenting with ‘tag team’ jiu-jitsu at SUG 7.
SUG’s events garnered massive attention in the worlds of grappling and MMA, often featuring standout grapplers and fighters on star-studded cards.
Here are just some of the names to have competed under the SUG banner:
- Jon Jones
- Dan Henderson
- Jake Shields
- Dillon Danis
- A.J. Agazarm
- Vinny Magalhaes
- Miesha Tate
- Garry Tonon
- Chad Mendes
- Gordon Ryan
Stay tuned for what has been labeled a “very exciting” official announcement in the near future. The return of Submission Underground is a great thing for the grappling community.