Famous as one of the most explosive, dynamic, hard-to-submit and near-unsweepable black belts on the planet, DJ Jackson is pumped for a shot at Grappling Pro's $10k cash prize this Saturday. 

The Team Lloyd Irvin product is one of the 8 men selected for the no-gi Grand Prix, notable for it's innovative new format. 


Slams and points for taking an opponent out of bounds are some of the new rules in place, and Jackson thinks they're going to be great for the fans. Also, they're far more suited to his style as opposed to the rules used by EBI. 

"I love fighting and gaining experience. EBI is a very fan-friendly tournament to watch. The rules are tailored to basically anyone who can survive 10 min then be tall enough to bodylock in overtime," says Jackson. 

"Of course, when you fight people who you are clearly better than it's easy to tap them but any time you have tough competition you just survive the bodylock." 

I think this tournament will also be very fan friendly and can compete with tournaments like EBI for viewership. And I can't body lock, but I sure can slam!

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Jackson is also excited for another chance to tackle fellow American standout, Garry Tonon. Jackson beat him at the 2014 ADCC Nationals, but Tonon has been throwing shade at Jackson over recent weeks and that means it's on. 

I'm always excited to fight Gary that will never change because I despise when his name is put into the list of "best American grapplers" when he hasn't done anything to deserve those credentials.

"Winning tournaments with a new specific set of rules then parading yourself around as one of the best grapplers is ludicrous to me," says Jackson. "Especially when I have seen NAGAs with tougher competition than those tournaments."

I have never lost to a member of the 'Danaher Death Squad'. If their coaching and systems were actually that good, wouldn't logic dictate I wouldn't be able to beat them? But not only do I beat them, they don't even come close to beating me!

DJ Jackson vs Garry Tonon, ADCC 2014 Nationals Superfight 

With the tournament just days away and a stacked line-up of tough names, including Lucas 'Hulk' Barbosa, Gabriel Pontes, Enrico Coco, Lucas Rocha and more, Jackson strongly believes that he is the favorite. 

I don't think anyone in this tournament poses a real threat. Realistically, I don't know if any of these guys can sweep me or take me down. With that being said, Lucas Hulk is someone with really good explosion and is always a strong competitor. Other than that I'll wait for the brackets to come out and do my homework from there.