There is a love for combat in Nathan Orchard's blood. More specifically, the type of competition where there is a winner and a loser.

By Duane Finley

The Oregon native has been testing himself in various disciplines of martial arts for years. Orchard simply loves to get to the grit of things, and that's the reason submission grappling has become one of his biggest passions. Orchard hits the mat with a kill or be killed mentality, and believes that mindset has unfortunately drifted away from competitive jiu-jitsu.

That won't be the case at Chael Sonnen's Submission Underground, and therein lies the entire appeal of Orchard's participation.

"In every competition there should be a winner and a loser," Orchard said. "Who wants to compete for a draw? What warrior wants to go to battle and fight to a draw? I know that's not what I want. People want a winner and a loser so why would a combat sport be okay with it? Not to be overly dramatic but it's the game of death. When you play to the death there is a winner and a loser.

This platform is much grittier than a lot of jiu-jitsu competitions. It's going to be inside of a cage so you better know how to fight off of a wall. I like that aspect because that's a more realistic element to fighting. I remember B.J. Penn talking back in the day about finishing fights and how going to a decision is a loss because it's true.

"A decision victory is just someone's opinion of who won," he added. "I want there to be no question, and I get the chance to do that at Submission Underground."

In order to ensure the action reaches a conclusion, Chael Sonnen has set the Eddie Bravo Invitational rules in place. Bravo's system doesn't allow stalemates, which will keep the action rocking and rolling at Submission Underground.

Why Orchard Loves EBI Rules

A high-stakes affair is what gets Orchard's adrenaline pumping, and he will be looking to put on a show July 17.

"This is what I do," Orchard said. "I've been in four EBI's and I'm always ready to go to work. When I got the call I jumped on it immediately. "Those rules are the closest thing to getting it right in this sport. If I had my way the only thing that would change would be the time limit. Let's put two competitors out there and let them go until someone taps."

Although Orchard was quick to answer the call, he's also been faced with several twists and turns en route to SUG. He was originally set to face Jens Pulver before the former UFC lightweight champion was forced to withdraw due to injury.

New Jersey native Michael Palladino stepped in to replace "Little Evil," but was unfortunately bitten by the injury bug as well. In a last minute scramble Guilherme de Vasconcelos Juliao accepted the challenge and Orchard and "Bomba" will square off in Portland.

"I was initially supposed to face Jens Pulver and I was fired up to get in there with him. I've been a big fan of Jens for years, have watched him since I was a kid and to compete with someone like that is a massive honor. I was stoked.

I was happy my name was thrown in the hat for something like this, but at the same time I feel like I deserve to be here. This is what I do. There have been some changes but none of that matters to me. I'm coming there to compete, get my hand raised and put on one hell of a show.

Watch Nathan Orchard in action this weekend over on FloCombat -- FloGrappling annual members get access to watch FloCombat events, plus all the great content from sites like FloWrestling and more, for free. Sign up to watch here

Submission Underground Presented By Chael Sonnen & FloSports

Ronny Markes vs. Vinny Magalhaes
Fabiano Scherner vs. Ricco Rodriguez
Jake Shields vs. Chris Lytle
Josh Calvo vs. Filipe Braga Costa
Stephen Abas vs. Alex Canders
Nate Orchard vs. Guilherme "Bomba" Vasconcelos

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If you're already an annual (or yearly) FloGrappling subscriber, simply visit FloCombat and enter your log-in credentials for access to Submission Underground -- the annual subscription gives you access to all sites in the FloSports Network, including FloWrestling, FloElite and more! If you're a monthly subscriber, visit https://www.flograppling.org/upgrade to upgrade to an annual subscription, or you can upgrade through your account settings when you're logged in. Otherwise, you can simply sign up for a monthly subscription on FloCombat.com to view this weekend's event.