EVEREST 26 // ORANGE COUNTY

Everest MMA is back from its Hawaiian detour, where the promotion’s cross-promotional play-in with Ryūjin FC in Honolulu provided the usual reminder that matchmaking gets interesting when nobody is quite sure who is supposed to have the upper hand. Now the tournament gets down to business.

The Hanger in Costa Mesa, California, hosts the first half of the Championship Grand Prix quarterfinals, with the field finally reduced to the fighters who have managed to survive the part of the tournament where good intentions tend to go to die. From here the margins get thinner, the stakes get heavier, and there is considerably less room for the kind of mistake that can be explained away afterward.

The Grand Prix has reached the stage where prospects stop being prospects and contenders start becoming problems. Costa Mesa gets the first look at who is built for that transition.

Streaming exclusively on the Battleground Network.

Big 4 Championship Grand Prix Hub