Author: Anton Tabuena

This edition of the BJJ Beat covers Gordon Ryan discussing Jon Jones’ UFC 309 win, and the continuing tradition of Japan trying to kill a Sakuraba!

Welcome to the BJJ Beat! On this recurring feature, we’ll tackle the biggest news from the professional grappling scene, and roll everything up in an easily digestible and familiar jiu-jitsu format.

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Warm Ups

BJJ coach Gordon Ryan wants Jon Jones to continue fighting

Gordon Ryan was in Jon Jones’ corner at UFC 309, and the Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) great says Jones still has “so much more” to learn despite already looking dominant on the ground.

As for Jones’ next move, Ryan says he’s a bit conflicted on retirement, but mostly wants the UFC champion to continue fighting.

“It is very inspiring to be around greatness. As a fan, I want to see him continue because hes as exciting as they come and never loses. As a coach, I want to see him continue because despite being better than everyone else, there is so much more for him to learn,” Gordon Ryan wrote. “As a friend, I want to see him to whatever his heart desires. I want him to press forward if he wants or to leave the sport on top after being on top since the very beginning. I want to see him happy regardless of what he decides to do next.

“I can’t take credit for any part of Jons career, but I am very thankful to be a small part of such an amazing legacy. Thank you for choosing me to help you, and thank you for your friendship. Enjoy this time off that you deserve, and don’t let anyone tell you what to do. Not the fans, not the fighters, only you. You’re the one and only.”

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Drills

JMMA tradition of trying to kill a Sakuraba continues!

“The Gracie Hunter” Kazushi Sakuraba is an icon in Japanese MMA, but it was almost a running joke among fans that promoters might’ve been trying to kill him with all those dangerous matches late in his career.

He was KO’d by Melvin Manhoef at 39, then closed out his career deep into his 40s with five straight losses to much younger champions like Marius Zaromskis and Shinya Aoki.

The UFC Hall of Famer’s son, Taisei Sakuraba, is now looking to follow in his father’s footsteps. Unfortunately for him, it looks like that brutal matchmaking will carry over onto the next generation.

“Saku Jr.” is now set to compete in MMA for the very first time, and RIZIN booked him straight away against a veteran title contender in Yusuke Yachi (27-14).

Yachi, 34, is undefeated in his last four RIZIN fights. His only loss in almost three years happened in his Bellator fight against Mansour Barnaoui.

The younger Sakuraba, 26, has been primarily a grappler, with a couple of appearances in Quintet team grappling. He submitted 45-year-old Olympic Judo champ Masato Uchishiba in 2023, and went to a draw with 38-year-old RIZIN vet Kazuma Kuramoto last October. After taking on older grapplers, Saku Jr. somehow got a massive step up now that strikes are involved.

Japan’s storied New Year’s Eve specials typically play on nostalgia. It seems like on the next one, RIZIN is keeping the tradition of brutalizing a Sakuraba alive and well.

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Move of the Day

UFC vet Derek Brunson submitted at ADXC 9 main event

Longtime UFC middleweight contender Derek Brunson kept active in grappling, while waiting on his next PFL fight. He headlined ADXC 9 against a BJJ star turned UFC fighter in Rodolfo Viera. After some early wrestling exchanges, the five-time IBJJF world champ unsurprisingly took over once he got things to the ground.

Viera easily passed then finished Brunson with an arm triangle. Video of the finish is below, and full results can be found here.

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Rolls

UFC FPI 9 and WNO 25 fight cards are shaping up nicely

Who’s Number One 25 (WNO 25) and UFC Fight Pass Invitational 9 (UFC FPI 9) are happening on back-to-back days on December 4 and 5, respectively.

As reported earlier, the first ever official UFC grappler Mikey Musumeci headlines UFC FPI 9, while the two ADCC 2024 double gold medalists are highlighted on WNO 25.

More bouts have since been confirmed for both events, including recent PGF champion Ryan Aitken and CJI vet and decorate wrestler Jason Nolf joining UFC FPI 9 on separate bouts. CJI fan favorite Andrew Tackett unfortunately pulled out of WNO 25.

Both line ups are below.

UFC Fight Pass Invitational 9

December 5, 2024

Mikey Musumeci vs. Felipe Machado
Jason Nolf vs. Renato Canuto
Raquel Canuto vs. Michele Oliveira
Ryan Aitken vs. Gabriel Almeida
Nick Mataya vs. Rolando Junior
Kyle Chambers vs. Jonnatas Gracie
Damien Anderson vs. Sandrey Silva

WNO 25

December 4, 2024

Main card:

Kaynan Duarte vs Roberto Jimenez
Pedro Marinho vs Izaak Michell – WNO light heavyweight title
Adele Fornarino vs Alex Nguyen – WNO strawweight title
Felipe Pena vs Declan Moody
Helena Crevar vs Leilani Bernales
Daniel Sathler vs Fabyury Khrysthyan
Max Hanson vs Carlos Henrique

Prelims:

Julian Espinosa vs Randy Baker
Emelio Hernandez vs Isaac Cordova
Dylan Melton vs Sebastian Attard
Thaynara Victoria vs Kathryn Discianni

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Cooldown

Shinya Aoki being fed to a young BJJ star (again)?

Sakuraba isn’t the only one getting rough matches in Asia. Shinya Aoki, now 41 years old, is seemingly about to be resume fodder to yet another young BJJ star. This time, ONE Championship has booked him against recent signee and AOJ product Cole Abate. It’s a weird match up, especially with a more age appropriate grappler available.

Looking at the bright side, unlike the Sakurabas, at least Aoki won’t be getting strikes to the head.

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Review

To close things out, here are other interesting BJJ stories you might have missed:

• UFC Grappling League! – UFC plans to “take over jiu-jitsu” using the same business model they use in MMA, and Mikey Musumeci warns that it will upset a lot of people.
• Diego Pato shined at the 2024 IBJJF Crown, while BJJ star Tainan Dalpra pulled out due to injury before the finals. Apparently Dalpra came in with a broken hand, and still went 2-0 in the event.
• Sandbagger, or IBJJF blunder? – A decorated wrestling champ will go from facing Gordon Ryan and dominating Luke Rockhold to a… blue belt tournament! It might not be his fault entirely, but a bunch of random hobbyists are about to get rag-dolled.

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For the latest Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) and grappling-related news click here.

“Doctor Sleep” was among three fighters who secured UFC contracts for winning the Road to UFC, Season 3 tournament in Macau.

As part of UFC Macau’s card this morning (Sat., Nov. 23, 2024), Road to UFC, Season 3 tournaments were concluded with three fighters officially securing UFC contracts.

After going through a gauntlet of some of the best prospects in Asia, coming through with the tournament victories are Shi Ming, Dong Hoon Choi and Soo Young You.

The biggest standout perhaps was China’s Shi Ming, who put a stamp on her strawweight tournament with a brutal head kick KO victory. The third round finish also left a scary scene, as Feng Xiaocan was out cold for over four minutes, and had to be stretchered out of the Octagon and transported to the hospital.

UFC commentators dubbed her “Doctor Sleep” after the win, as Ming is also a full-time doctor apart from now being an official UFC fighter. Interestingly enough, she stated even after 22 fights, her parents still don’t know that she’s a professional fighter. Perhaps that could change now that she’s about to make national news as Road to UFC’s first strawweight winner.

Apart from Feng, Ming also beat Seo Ye Dam and Dong Huaxiang to win the tournament and officially pick up a UFC contract.

South Korea’s Dong Hoon Choi won the flyweight finals with an emphatic KO over Kiru Singh Sahota. He previously won two decisions over Jiniushiyue and Angad Bisht in the opening rounds, before this tournament final.

In the men’s bantamweight final, Soo Young You beat Baergeng Jieleyisi by unanimous decision.

These entertaining eight-man Asian tournaments all kicked off back in May with the quarterfinal rounds, while the semifinal rounds happened last August.

Road to UFC Season 3 Tournament Results

Full results from UFC Macau can be found here.

Road to UFC 135 lbs. Finals: Soo Young You def. Baergeng Jieleyisi by unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)
Road to UFC 125 lbs. Finals: Dong Hoon Choi def. Kiru Singh Sahota by KO (right hook), R1
Road to UFC 115 lbs. Finals: Shi Ming def. Feng Xiaocan by KO (head kick), R3

Mikey Musumeci warns that people will be mad about UFC’s grand plans to take over BJJ.

The UFC has recently signed Mikey Musumeci to a landmark contract as their first ever exclusive Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) athlete. Dana White called it the “first of many” deals to be signed with other grapplers.

Musumeci will make his debut at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 9 (UFC FPI 9), but he reveals that the promotion has far bigger plans outside of just running these FPI events.

“I feel like (UFC is) finally another platform that could expand our sport to people that wouldn’t typically watch jiu-jitsu,” Musumeci said on the Ariel Helwani Show.

“For now, we’re just doing the Fight Pass Invitationals,” he said. “UFC has very big plans for grappling. I don’t think I’m allowed to talk about them yet. Just know that there’s very big plans for grappling coming from the UFC.”

New UFC ‘grappling league’ will ‘take over jiu-jitsu like they have MMA’

While Musumeci initially tried to be tight lipped about their plans, the BJJ star eventually revealed that the UFC is starting a new “grappling league” that could upset a lot of people in the industry.

“(They’re going to sign) everyone! They’re trying to take over jiu-jitsu like they have MMA. They’re going to do exactly what they did for MMA. They’re going to have a grappling league,” Musumeci said. “We’re just going to grow the sport even more than it has been rapidly growing.

“All I can say it’s the best deal I have ever had in my life,” he said about his UFC contract. “It’s incredible. They’re really treating me well. That’s why I’m so grateful to them and for what they’re going to do for jiu-jitsu. If I’m getting a deal like this, I know many future generations can.

“I just need to freaking keep staying strong, while there’s a lot of people that are going to be mad at me for changing what the sport is now — with all these random tournaments and all these shady promoters, and all these things that promote steroids,” he said. “I want this all gone. I want to make this one platform for all of us.”

Photo by Amphol Thongmueangluang/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

With Musumeci calling it the best deal he’s ever had, it likely means UFC eclipses his previous payouts with ONE Championship, WNO, and other BJJ orgs. That bar isn’t very high though, as outside of the rare outliers, grappling deals typically don’t pay as well as other sports.

The recent IBJJF Crown had their “record high” prizes of $20,000 for each tournament winner. ADCC was also criticized for previously not giving “show money,” and only paying $10,000 to the division winners, and $40,000 to the absolute champion. Those are two of the most prestigious orgs, and other BJJ promotions pay even less.

This general low pay also makes it an easier and smart investment for the UFC to swoop in and “take over” another rapidly growing industry, without really breaking the bank.

Musumeci wants ‘shady promoters’ and ‘steroids’ gone from BJJ

He declined to reveal names, but Musumeci went off on “shady promoters” in jiu-jitsu. He also believes the UFC model with a sole organization dominating the industry could solve things.

“There’s a lot of shady promoters that do a lot of messed up things behind the scenes, and being in it for so many years, you get really burned out from it,” he said. “It doesn’t feel legitimate or professional. You make money here and there, a random shady arms dealer might promote an event and they have money… then all of a sudden it disappears, then another one comes.

“We need to to become a sport like MLB, NBA, NFL, where we have a legitimate organization with money that we don’t have the question: are they going to have money a year from now?”

When mentioning issues with money and “shady promoters,” it’s a bit unclear who Musumeci was referring to. After all, just like every branch of combat sports, there are controversial figures and practices involved in jiu-jitsu as well.

IBJJF and FloGrappling are big players that have been criticized for pay and other issues. ONE Championship has had various controversies and questionable finances. ADCC, ADXC and AJP all get money from controversial Abu Dhabi royals. Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) has “anonymous donors” funding their $1 million tournaments. Many other pro leagues also pop in and out with undisclosed backing.

For what it’s worth, Musumeci said he previously wanted to compete in CJI to “help Craig (Jones) and his event,” before taking shots at ADCC.

“CJI, I don’t know exactly. If I’m doing it for charity to help some cause, maybe I would like to push UFC to let me do it,” Musumeci said. “Will I do CJI? I don’t know exactly, but ADCC I don’t really like what it stands for at the moment with the steroids and all these different things. I just want one professional organization for everyone to have.

“…(UFC is) another platform that will eventually have drug testing as well. It’s another platform that could make our sport more professional, instead of all these steroids, all these craziness.”

With UFC’s new grappling league still not live, Musumeci will instead debut first at UFC FPI 9 against Felipe Machado.

Diego Pato won at the IBJJF Crown, while BJJ champ Tainan Dalpra had to bow out of the finals due to injury.

The 2024 IBJJF Crown is in the books, with six Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) champions taking over $20,000 each for winning their respective tournaments.

Among the biggest standouts in the IBJJF’s premier gi event were Diego Pato, Erich Munis and Gabi Pessanha.

Erich Munis and Gabi Pessanha tease no gi switch after second Crown

After already having eight IBJJF world titles in the last four years, Gabi Pessanha continued her historically dominant run in the gi and won her second straight IBJJF Crown. Pessanha made it look easy again, going 3-0 and submitting every opponent. She also teased finally making a move to no gi competition soon, making for an interesting next step for the dominant queen in the gi.

Much like Pessanha, Erich Munis managed to become a two-time IBJJF Crown champion on the event. The five-time world champion scored 15 points in one match, and submitted the other two opponents to win the ultra heavyweight tournament. Already a decorated champion in the gi, Munis announced plans to make the jump and join the next ADCC world championships.

Diego Pato wins crown, Tainan Dalpra injured

Diego Pato moved up in weight and won the crown at the featherweight division, proving once again why he’s among the best grapplers today. He put on a pretty impressive run with wide scores of 6-2 and 18-0 in the first two rounds, before getting a slick finish in the finals.

Last year’s middleweight Crown winner Tainan Dalpra won two matches, including a slick triangle armbar in the semis. Unfortunately, despite the win, the popular BJJ champ couldn’t continue on to the finals due to a broken hand.

Andy Murasaki looked incredible in his two opening rounds, but the Atos product instead won the title by default and will have to wait a bit longer for another crack at his longterm rival.

Pro BJJ scene rapidly growing, but needs work to be a better spectator sport

IBJJF followed all their traditional rules, so it naturally had the same little things that people debate or complain about there, like stalling and advantages deciding too many things. More than the scoring though, this gi event made me miss ADXC’s simple innovation of taping belts since it prevented a lot of goofy resets.

Speaking of attempts to be a better spectator sport, IBJJF Crown used two mats and had two matches running simultaneously for every round, up until the finals. It made for an event with good pacing, and made slow decisions more palatable.

We could’ve gone without that incredibly long intermission before the finals matches though, as it killed all that nice momentum.

It’s still early and the pro grappling scene is quickly growing, but seems like each of these BJJ promotions still need tweaks in both format and production, before they can deliver a complete product for general consumption.

2024 IBJJF Crown Winners, Quick Results

Featherweight (154 lbs): Diego Pato
Middleweight (181 lbs): Andy Murasaki
Heavyweight (208 lbs): Adam Wardzinski
Ultra Heavyweight (Openweight): Erich Munis
Women’s lightweight (141 lbs): Brianna Ste-Marie
Women’s super heavyweight (Openweight): Gabrieli Pessanha

Full event results, including all the silver and bronze medalists, can be found here.

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Join us live for the 2024 edition of The Crown, IBJJF’s premier gi event.

The 2024 IBJJF Crown happens TODAY (Sun., Nov. 17, 2024), with the long-running Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) institution hosting their premier gi event.

8-man tournaments will be held across four divisions for men, and two divisions for women. Stars such as Diego Pato and Tainan Dalpra will be among the several BJJ world champions participating in the event that has over $250,000 total in prizes.

The gi jiu-jitsu event will stream LIVE on FloGrappling, starting at 2 p.m. ET.

Checkout the full brackets, purse breakdown, along with a preview of the event here. Full results from the event can be seen below, along with a free live stream of the early matches.

2024 IBJJF Crown live stream

IBJJF Crown Results and Highlights

Featherweight (70 kg/154 lbs)

Opening rounds:

Diego Oliveira def. Osvaldo Moizino via points 6-2
Jamil Hill-Taylor def. Marco Mendes via judge’s decision
Joao Mendes def. Kennedy Maciel via advantage
Ademir Barreto def. Eduardo Granzotto via submission (kneebar)

Semi-finals:

Diego Oliveira def. Jamil Hill-Taylor via points 18-0
Joao Mendes def. Ademir Barreto via points 2-0

Bronze:

Ademir Barreto def. Jamil Hill-Taylor by submission (toe hold)

Finals:

Diego Oliveira def. Joao Mendes by submission (choke from back)

Middleweight (82.3 kg/181 lbs)

Opening rounds:

Tainan Dalpra def. Gabriel Galvao via points 8-2
Elijah Dorsey def. Matheus Luna via advantages
Andy Murasaki def. Jaime Canuto via points 7-0
Mauricio Oliveira def. Manuel Ribamar via advantages

Semi-finals:

Tainan Dalpra def. Elijah Dorsey via submission (triangle armbar)
Andy Murasaki def. Mauricio Oliveira via submission (armbar)

Bronze:

Elijah Dorsey wins by walkover (Mauricio Oliveira unable to continue)

Finals:

Andy Murasaki wins by walkover (Tainan Dalpra unable to continue)

Heavyweight (94.3 kg/208 lbs)

Opening rounds:

Adam Wardzinski def. Matheus Sprirandeli via points 9-2
Horlando Monteiro def. Paulo Merlin via advantages
Gustavo Batista def. João Nicolete via submission (armbar)
Rider Zuchi vs. Patrick Gaudio ends in double disqualification

Semi-finals:

Adam Wardzinski def. Horlando Monteiro by submission (choke from back)
Gustavo Batista gets a bye to the finals

Bronze:

Horlando Monteiro wins by default.

Finals:

Adam Wardzinski def. Gustavo Batista by advantages

Men’s Ultra-Heavyweight (Openweight)

Opening rounds:

Erich Munis def. Kristof Szucs via submission (footlock)
Pedro Machado def. Kjetil Lydvo via submission (armbar)
Gutemberg Pereira def. Felipe Costa via advantages
Marcus Ribeiro def. Roosevelt Sousa via submission (collar choke)

Semi-finals:

Erich Munis def. Pedro Machado via points 15-6
Marcus Ribeiro def. Gutemberg Pereira via advantages

Bronze:

Pedro Machado wins via walkover (Gutemberg Pereira couldn’t continue)

Finals:

Erich Munis def. Marcus Ribeiro by submission (ezekiel choke)

Women’s Lightweight (64 kg/141 lbs)

Opening rounds:

Janaina Lebre def. Vitoria Assis via submission (rear naked choke)
Cassia Moura def. Thaynara Victoria via points 4-2
Brianna Ste-Marie def. Jaine Fragoso via points 14-0
Gabriele McComb def. Vitoria Vieira via points 2-0

Semi-finals:

Janaina Lebre def. Cassia Moura via points 9-2
Brianna Ste-Marie def. Gabriele McComb via submission (collar choke)

Bronze:

Gabriele McComb def. Cassia Moura via points 10-4

Finals:

Brianna Ste-Marie def. Janaina Lebre via advantages

Women’s Super-Heavyweight (Openweight)

Opening rounds:

Gabrieli Pessanha def. Mayara Custodio via submission (choke from back)
Tamiris Silva def. Giovanna Jara via advantages
Nathiely De Jesus def. Maria Vicentini via submission (choke from back)
Melissa Stricker def. Isabely Lemos via advantages

Semi-finals:

Gabrieli Pessanha def. Tamiris Silva via submission (choke from back)
Melissa Stricker def. Nathiely De Jesus via advantages

Bronze:

Nathiely De Jesus def. Tamiris Silva via advantages

Finals:

Gabrieli Pessanha def. Melissa Stricker by submission (rear naked choke)

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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.

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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