MIHA PERHAVEC: THE SLOVENIAN LEG LOCKER & POLARIS STAR

We recently caught up with Miha Perhavec, a rising star on the submission grappling scene and keen traveller. He's 3-0 in the Polaris Pro middleweight division, with a 100% submission percentage and all of his wins coming by some kind of brutal leg lock. We had some questions for the Slovenian, which he was happy to answer. 

Hey Miha, you've had a unique year, what have you been up to? 
Yeah, my fiancé and I travelled around the World twice in 2018. Once just wasn't enough, haha. Been working hard on minimizing future regrets and seeing some really cool places. I managed to train with more people than ever, including periods at some famous academies.

Over this past year you've also done some training with the Danaher Death Squad, how did that go?
For a guy from a tiny town in Slovenia, it's one of those pinch-me moments to get to train in the blue basement and to get smashed by guys like Gordon, Jake, Garry, Nicky and a whole bunch of others. When I was last there, Craig Jones was training for a match too and I got to train with him a lot. I think he took my ego to Australia after that. There are people there who maybe don't have the recognition of the guys I just mentioned, but they have serious skills. I don't think there's a better environment to train submission grappling on the planet. I'm trying to return ASAP for more training. 

Would you say Renzo's has the toughest training out of all the places you visited? 
Yeah, for nogi absolutely. It's also worth mentioning that I was doing just John's classes when I was there, so 2 a day at the most. Gordon for example would train like 2 more times per day and some of the guys then train in Jersey or elsewhere as well. The only place that could really compare was ATOS in San Diego, which I believe to be the best gi training room in the world. Those 2 World Championship winner trophies they have support my opinion!

You were recently at Polaris 9 in Sebastian's corner, what did you think of the event? 
Yeah, my fiancé and I flew out to support Sebastian Brosche and the East Coast crew. It was weird being at the O2 and not being nervous, like all the other times, when I was competing. 

I think Sebastian did amazing, especially given Tommy Langaker's recent rampage. I was worried when he jumped to a good flying triangle right away, I could see the choke wasn't 100% on, but the armbar was a real threat. Once Sebastian managed to get out, I was happy that people got to see the unique fighting spirit that he has. People think that because Sebastian is the Yoga for BJJ guy, that he's some peaceful hippy. Rolling with him with HURTS. I know because we recorded the 30Dirty DVD together. He literally has a DVD with just 30 dirty, painful techniques!

Darragh had a good match too, Mike is at the top if his game right now. He had Darragh in a front headlock position for like 5 minutes, but he didn't know Darragh fell into a pot of arm-triangle chokes as a kid and he's now immune to them. I've been trying to submit him with one for years and my success percentage was like 0.32% percent. 

The thing about Darragh is that as good as a competitor as he is, he's also an amazing coach. Ffion is proof of that, just look at what she did to Gezary. 

What did you think of the event as a whole?
I think Polaris is the gold standard for professional submission grappling. Especially now that it seems EBI is going to be just combat jiu jitsu. There's something special about being on that stage, the rush of victory is something that can't really compare to anything I've experienced so far. 

I've known a large part of the organization crew for some years now and I'm really proud of the level of professionalism they maintain. We need events that aren't just some rich benefactor of mysterious origin dumping money into the sport until they are no longer interested. I think it's also really cool that Polaris is on UFC Fight Pass, because it helps get eyes on the sport & opens opportunities for MMA grapplers to come on the show too. 

When are we going to see you on the Polaris stage again? 
I'm ready for round 4. The last time I competed here was Polaris 7. I really didn't want to miss 2 editions in a row. When #8 was on, I was in Japan. I wanted to compete on this one, but health and bureaucratic issues kept me out. 

Luckily, I have a match agreed for Polaris 10 against and exciting opponent. From what I hear, it's the one match that's already agreed besides Nicky Ryan vs. Urijah Faber. Keep an eye out for the announcement from Polaris!

Thanks Miha, good luck to you and see you at Polaris 10.
Stay stylish! Oss