By Hunter Homistek

Fabiano Scherner wanted to fight Ricco Rodriguez for years.

At July 17’s Submission Underground event in Portland, Ore., Scherner will receive that opportunity.

“A win over Ricco...he’s so accomplished,” Scherner said. “He’s fought in the biggest shows in MMA and also grappling tournaments. I’m going to face a guy who’s a big guy, but he’s so technical. Winning over him will tell me that my technique is superior to his technique.”

Scherner, a third-degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, understands the threat presented by Rodriguez. Each man has competed in both MMA and Brazilian jiu-jitsu throughout his career, reaching the highest highs in the latter. While Scherner’s MMA career never ascended to the heights of the former UFC champion Rodriguez’s, he believes they’ll be on equal footing at Submission Underground.

The winner will simply have to make the right adjustments at the right time.

“In this, somebody could get beat up the whole round then come back and win in the overtime with a submission,” Scherner said. “You could sometimes do your game plan to go all the way for the overtime then gamble with that. It’s pretty interesting, and I like the fact that there’s the cage so you can’t go out of bounds. It’s nonstop.”

A submission-only event, Submission Underground provides a unique opportunity for grapplers to showcase their finishing instincts as well as their technical prowess. For competitors, the eight-minute round serves to speed up the action. The shorter period allows them to push the pace, seeking out the submission whenever it presents itself.

“Once you’re there [in a dominant position], now it’s time to go for the submission,” Scherner said. “There’s no point to spend the round in that position. So when you get a really good position, you should go for the submission. Now, sometimes in a tournament, you know, you can just win that match by points because you want to save it for the next one. But this one, there’s no reason to save it.”

Should a submission not materialize in the eight-minute round, competitors will move to an overtime period. The winner of a coin flip can then choose to start from his opponent’s back or from the spider-web (armbar) position. From there, either a submission or an escape occurs.

Then, the loser of the coin flip tries his hand.

If one competitor scores a submission and the other does not, the match is over. If both competitors escape, it moves to a second, identical overtime period, then a third, if necessary. If no submission occurs through three overtime periods, the grappler with the fastest escape will win.

“I like that there will be a winner. There’s no draw,” Scherner said. “There’s no point system, only submissions. The time is good, too. In a longer match, sometimes you don’t see guys go as hard as they can. Eight minutes, I think, is great. I like that there’s no open discussion, like, in case of a draw, ‘This guy, oh, blah, blah, blah.’ Well, it doesn’t matter now because there’s a winner.”

For Scherner, a longtime veteran of the competitive Brazilian jiu-jitsu circuit, this is all exciting. It’s fresh, and it gives him a chance to accomplish something more than a medal.

“It’s not about me and showing the world, ‘Oh, I’m better, blah, blah, blah,’” Scherner said. “It’s more about me really wanting to fight Ricco in the past, in grappling or MMA. Finally, I have that opportunity to go against someone I’ve been watching for so many years…

“It’s a challenge for me, and I love challenges. I’ve been challenging myself all my life, and this is just one more. It will be a personal accomplishment if I do it.”