On July 10-11th, in conjunction with UFC 100, there will be a UFC Fan Expo at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition to meet and greets with UFC, PRIDE, and WEC stars and veterans, demonstrations, training and development sessions, and fan-inspired special events, The Fan Expo will feature what is being billed as “the largest submission, grappling, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament in history.”

PRO MMA (promma.info) was notified today that for the first time in history there will be a grappling tournament presented by the Ultimate Fighting Championship, who up until this point has stuck to only promoting professional mixed martial arts competitions. The UFC is teaming up with GRAPPLERS QUEST to host the event. GRAPPLERS QUEST, the world’s largest submission grappling organization, has been putting on tournaments since 1997 all over the nation.

PRO MMA (promma.info) spoke with GRAPPLERS QUEST founder and CEO, Brian Cimins, today. Mr. Cimins had this to say about working with the UFC to put on this historic event,

“Grapplers Quest is proud and honored to host the most prestigious grappling tournament in the world in conjunction with UFC Fan Expo Weekend at Mandalay Bay on July 10th and 11th. It’s the dream of any aspiring fighter to get to showcase their skills in front of the greatest organization in the history of mixed martial arts, the UFC. And it’s equally a dream for Grapplers Quest to showcase publicly to the world how amazingly exciting the sport of grappling can be. It will be an epic event, the greatest grappling event of all time, guaranteed.”

Among current UFC fighters who have competed in GRAPPLERS QUEST tournaments over the years are Matt Hughes, Kenny Florian, Denis Kang, Mark Bocek, Eliot Marshall, Brandon Vera, Kurt Pellegrino, Mike Massenzio, and Matthew Riddle. A UFC press release stated, “It is expected that this competition at the UFC Fan Expo will be the largest submission, grappling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament in history.”

Men, women, and children from all skill levels and weight brackets may enter the tournament which will award thousands of dollars in prizes. If you would like to compete in the tournament it is suggested you pre-register, as it will be limited to 1,500 competitors. For more information about the various no-Gi and Gi divisions go  HERE. For pre-registration go to:  http://www.grapplers.com/store/midscreen.cfm

For further details about UFC 100 and the UFC Fan Expo, please visit www.UFC.com and UFCfanexpo.com. To learn more about GRAPPLERS QUEST and their other upcoming events go to www.grapplers.com.

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