Submission Underground Returns As No-Gi Goes Global | No-Gi Weekly April 28-May 4 2026

The week of April 28 through May 4, 2026 stitched together one of the busier no-gi news cycles of the spring. Chael Sonnen finally pulled the cover off Submission Underground’s long-rumored comeback, the ADCC West Coast Trials wrap-up coverage kept dropping new angles every 48 hours, UFC BJJ 8 locked in its main event, and the Gordon Ryan retirement aftershocks continued to ripple through the no-gi world. Mat shorts and rashguards are flying off shelves with Mundials prep heating up, and the regional pro grappling scene quietly added another sold-out stop to the calendar.

Here is everything that mattered for no-gi grapplers this week.

1. Submission Underground Returns May 17 In Brazil

The biggest grappling promotion news of the week dropped via Chael Sonnen’s social channels: Submission Underground (SUG) is officially back, and the comeback show lands in Florianopolis, Brazil on May 17, 2026. It will be the promotion’s first event in more than four years and brand it SUG 30, sending Sonnen’s pit-based no-gi tournament format outside North America for the first time.

SUG built its name on overtime escape rules, snappy production, and a willingness to pit jiu-jitsu standouts against MMA crossover talent. Sonnen has not yet revealed the ruleset, the broadcast home, or the competitor list, only confirming the show will be no-gi. Florianopolis is no random pick — the city has produced a generation of leg-lockers and is one of the densest no-gi training hubs on the planet, so expect a Brazil-heavy bracket with a couple of imported names parachuted in for box office.

For grapplers, the timing is sharp. SUG returning the same month as IBJJF Worlds and a stacked UFC BJJ card pushes the entire promotional landscape toward a more pro-wrestling-style cadence: every weekend, a different tournament. That is exactly the volume of high-level no-gi competition the sport needed. Read Jits Magazine’s full announcement here.

2. UFC BJJ 8 Main Event Locked: Musumeci vs Dantzler May 21

Mikey Musumeci will put his UFC BJJ Bantamweight title on the line against Kevin Dantzler at UFC BJJ 8 on Thursday, May 21, 2026, live and free on YouTube from the Meta APEX in Las Vegas. Musumeci is undefeated in the promotion at 3-0 with three submissions, having most recently footlocked Shay Montague in February.

The matchmaking has drawn its share of side-eye — Dantzler dropped a 13-0 decision at IBJJF Pans not long ago, which the BJJ corners of the internet have already meme’d as “hydrogen bomb vs coughing baby.” The flip side is that Dantzler is a credentialed CFFC BJJ standout with an offensive leglock game, and Musumeci’s vulnerability (if he has one) is exactly that style of all-gas no-stalling pressure.

The co-main is sneaky-good too: Cassia Moura defends her newly-won women’s bantamweight strap against decorated Brazilian world champ Bianca Basilio. Andy Varela, Wilson Tackett, and Danilo Moreira fill out the supporting card. Full UFC BJJ 8 card here.

3. ADCC West Coast Trials Aftermath: The Eight Names Headed To Krakow

The post-Trials write-ups have not stopped landing this week, and rightly so — the West Coast event in Pomona produced one of the deepest brackets in recent no-gi memory. The eight new ADCC 2026 invitees: Sarah Galvao, Gianni Grippo, Nathan Haddad, Adam Sainz, Lucas Cruz, Nick Hartman, plus the women’s -60kg and absolute champs.

The story-of-the-event was 19-year-old Sarah Galvao, who steamrolled -65kg with five wins and three submissions without giving up a single point. Gianni Grippo’s 7-0 run at -60kg felt like a referendum on longevity in the lightest class — the three-time IBJJF no-gi world champ is 34 and still moving like he’s 24. And Nathan Haddad clearing arguably the deepest bracket of the weekend (PGF champ Ryan Aitken, Jacob Couch, UFC BJJ’s Andy Varela) earned the most “where did this guy come from” coverage of the whole bracket. Watch FloGrappling’s submission-reel for proof:

For our complete breakdown of every weight class winner and what it means for the Krakow bracket, check our full ADCC West Coast Trials results recap and the broader West Coast Trials preview.

The week also brought the Nick Hartman story — the +99kg winner used his post-Trials platform to fundraise for his daughter’s medical care, turning a competition victory into one of the most-shared grappling community moments of the week. The donations rolled in fast, and the gesture cemented Hartman as a fan favorite well beyond the heavyweight division.

4. Gordon Ryan Retirement: Tye Ruotolo’s Comments Keep The Story Alive

Two and a half months after Gordon Ryan announced his competitive retirement at 30 — citing the recurring stomach issues he has openly blamed on years of staph infections and antibiotics that wrecked his gut biome — the conversation is still the loudest one in no-gi.

This week the spotlight fell on Tye Ruotolo, who told media that “steroids are not good for longevity” when asked about Ryan’s exit. The comment landed because it came from the one elite grappler who has openly competed clean for years, and because it pulls the no-gi community into a longer-term conversation about how the very best should train, recover, and compete to extend careers past 30.

Ryan himself has framed his retirement as condition-dependent — he is otherwise healthy, the technique is sharper than ever, and he has not closed the door entirely. But with the Krakow ADCC card finalized without him, the post-Ryan era of no-gi is functionally already here.

5. Tye Ruotolo’s ONE Championship Title Defense Looms

While he is in the news for the Ryan comments, Tye Ruotolo is also actively prepping for his next ONE Championship welterweight submission grappling title defense against the Polish leg-locker Pawel Jaworski. The fight has been one of the most intriguing matchups on ONE’s grappling slate — Ruotolo’s relentless front-headlock and back-take game versus Jaworski’s heavy ashi entries and Polish-school heel-hook system.

Tye is also fresh off his sustained run of high-profile wins under ONE rules and remains arguably the most marketable grappler in the sport now that Ryan has stepped back. For more on what makes Ruotolo such a compelling pillar of the modern no-gi era, see our breakdown: Tye Ruotolo in 2026: 7 Reasons He Still Matters.

6. Gear Watch: Progress Drops 2026 Ranked No-Gi Rashguard Line

On the apparel side, Progress Jiu Jitsu rolled out its 2026 Ranked Rashguard line — IBJJF-legal across white, blue, purple, brown, and black, priced at $56, and built with the brand’s new anti-bobble technology to extend the lifespan of the print. Progress also pushed out a kids ranked range in white, grey, yellow, orange, and green for the next generation of competitors.

The release lands at the perfect time. Mundials prep season is when every serious no-gi competitor sweats through their rotation, and ranked rashguards are non-negotiable for IBJJF events. With Sanabul, XMartial, and Hayabusa all updating their lines for 2026 too, the buyer-intent search is heating up. If you are sorting your competition kit for the spring, our full Best Rashguard for BJJ guide ranks the current top picks for serious grapplers.

7. Regional Grappling Boom: Apex Submission League Sells Out Australian Debut

One quiet but meaningful story: regional pro grappling promotions outside the U.S. are continuing to scale. The Apex Submission League’s Australian debut at Legacy Gym sold out its 250-capacity venue on the Central Coast this week, joining a list of homegrown promotions across the U.K., Poland, Brazil, and Australia that are pulling matwork out of the FloGrappling broadcast bubble and into local fight nights.

This matters for the long arc of no-gi: until the sport has profitable, sold-out regional shows, careers cap at the handful of major-promotion contracts. Apex selling out 250 seats in regional Australia is the kind of grass-roots data point that, multiplied across enough cities, builds a real pro circuit. BJJ Heroes has been tracking the regional scene’s growth alongside the trials cycle.

Looking Ahead

Three things are on the immediate horizon for no-gi heads:

• SUG 30 — May 17, Florianopolis, Brazil: Watch for Sonnen to drop the bracket and broadcast partner this week. Expect an IG-heavy roll-out with a couple of name reveals at a time.
• UFC BJJ 8 — May 21, Las Vegas: Free on YouTube. Musumeci is the pull, but the women’s title bout (Moura vs Basilio) is the technical fight to watch.
• IBJJF Mundials Week — May 28-31, Long Beach: Even though Worlds itself is gi-only, this is when no-gi-trained athletes who cross-train show out, and it is the single biggest rashguard purchase week of the year. If you have not sorted your competition kit, the next 14 days are when the discount codes drop.

Beyond that, the bigger story remains Krakow. Every Trials wave between now and the September ADCC World Championship adds names to the bracket and sharpens the storylines. With Gordon Ryan out, the heavyweight and absolute brackets in particular are wide open in a way they have not been in nearly a decade — and the Ruotolo brothers, Diogo Reis, Kade Ruotolo’s lightweight reign, and a wave of new Trials qualifiers are all going to write that story together.

Train hard, take notes, and we will see you next Sunday.