The municipal Pavilion Jorge Garbajosa turned into a large tatami last Saturday with the second official event of the GSLS 2025-2026 Ranking, bringing together 175 fighters from across Spain.
The GSLS Madrid International Open grappling competition held its second official event of the GSLS 2025-2026 Ranking last Saturday at the municipal Pavilion Jorge Garbajosa in Torrejón de Ardoz. A total of 175 competitors gathered from early morning on six tatamis set up in the pavilion's court, in an event that lasted all day.
The event, organised by Ground Sub League Spain (GSLS) in collaboration with the Torrejón de Ardoz City Council, is one of the most prominent events on the national grappling calendar. The Councillor for Sports and Tourism, Miriam Gutiérrez, participated in the trophy presentation for the different categories.
A Sports Reference in the European City of Sport
That Torrejón de Ardoz hosted this championship once again positions the city as a reference for organising major sporting events, bringing together hundreds of athletes, coaches, families, and fans around a discipline that combines technique, strategy, respect, and personal improvement.
The mayor, Alejandro Navarro Prieto, thanked the promoters of this sporting event for choosing Torrejón “especially in this year when we are the European City of Sport and we want the people of Torrejón to know and enjoy different sports disciplines, both grassroots and popular, as well as top-level ones.”
What is Grappling?
Grappling is a combat modality based on controlling the opponent through holds, throws, immobilisations, and submission techniques, without using strikes. Its goal is to achieve a dominant position over the rival to force them to submit through a joint lock or a choke, or to win by points through technical dominance during the match.
This discipline encompasses techniques from various martial arts and combat sports such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), judo, Olympic wrestling, and sambo, among others. This combination of styles has made grappling one of the fundamental pillars of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), where ground work and control of the opponent play a decisive role.
In addition to its competitive aspect, grappling has established itself as an increasingly popular sport due to the benefits it offers. Its training improves strength, endurance, coordination, balance, mobility, and strategic capacity, while fostering values such as discipline, respect for the opponent, personal improvement, and decision-making under pressure.
For the residents of Torrejón de Ardoz, this event represents a unique opportunity to get to know a growing discipline up close and to enjoy a top-level sporting spectacle without leaving the city. The Jorge Garbajosa Pavilion, with its first-rate facilities, is consolidating as a venue for national and international competitions.
The day went smoothly with a large turnout of spectators, who were able to see some of the best grapplers in the country in action. The next GSLS ranking event will be announced soon, and Torrejón hopes to continue being a key point on the calendar.
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