Dana White and Co. have signed, “the first of many” decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu champions to an exclusive deal.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) looks to be going all in on Brazilian jiu-jitsu, with Dana White promising to, “take BJJ to a whole other level.” On Thursday night, UFC’s CEO announced that it inked five-time IBJJF world champion, Mikey Musumeci, to a first-of-its-kind deal.
Mikey Musumeci Signs UFC’s First-Ever Exclusive BJJ Deal
“Over the course of the last year, I’ve been working on developing the best Brazilian jiu-jitsu program in the world. I am excited to announce that we’ve signed Mikey Musumeci to the first ever exclusive BJJ promotional agreement in the company’s history,” White announced.
“If you don’t know, Mikey is considered by many as the best BJJ player in the world. He is a multiple-time world champion and unbeaten in the past eight years at 135 pounds.”
With Musumeci landing the landmark UFC deal for grappling matches, White hinted that there will be more exclusive contracts with other BJJ stars soon.
“This will be the first of many we will sign over the coming months,” White said.
Musumeci will make his debut against Felipe Machado at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 9 on Dec. 5, 2024.
Concerns About Exclusive Deals In BJJ
A massive organization like UFC truly investing in jiu-jitsu is definitely an intriguing prospect, as it could really grow and push the sport into a more mainstream audience. At the same time, there are still a few questions and potential concerns about it, too.
With Dana White promising to sign many more BJJ athletes, just how restrictive are these “exclusive” deals going to be?
UFC Fight Pass Invitationals only happen every couple of months, and will obviously only have limited slots per event. In ONE Championship’s case, a lot of talented grapplers on exclusive deals ended up with significantly reduced schedules, and lower level opposition.
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Musumeci went from taking on fellow world champions and competing about a dozen times in 2021, to competing just seven times in three years with ONE. He mostly faced outmatched MMA fighters, before a bizarre title fiasco led to a bitter split.
With Musumeci already coming from a less than ideal restrictive deal, it seems that switching to a new one can lead to a far better situation. UFC of course isn’t ONE, but it’ll be curious to see if their next exclusive signings also run into similar issues.
It’s probably fair to assume UFC grapplers won’t be allowed to compete in other professional orgs like WNO and ONE Championship, but can everyone still remain active? Will they be allowed to add more world titles to their resume, or will they be prevented from competing at major ADCC and IBJJF events? What about an annual Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) that promises $1 million to the tournament winners?
Perhaps more important, as UFC pushes through with its grappling expansion plans, will we still see the best of the best face off regularly?
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