Author: Anton Tabuena

BJJ star Gordon Ryan wants to “win at all costs,” even if it takes decades from his life.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) stars Gordon Ryan and Mikey Musumeci have been taking shots at each other, stemming from issues on steroids and performance enhancing drugs, and it seems like those discussions aren’t coming to an end soon.

Ryan has released a near 30 minute video talking about why he thinks using steroids is a “no brainer” for him.

BJJ star Gordon Ryan justifies steroid use

“Number one, because they were legal in jiu-jitsu,” Gordon Ryan said about why he’s using steroids. “Especially back then in 2016 when I started, there was no organizations in jiu-jitsu that even tested for PEDs. So they were clearly legal. Number two, people don’t remember anything other than the fact that you won or lost. No one talks about the fact that Khabib missed weight how many times? Six, seven, eight times? They talk about the fact that Khabib’s undefeated.

“The only thing that people care about is whether you won or whether you lost. They don’t care if you were injured, they don’t care if you were sick, they don’t care if you had a good camp, a bad camp. What everyone cares about, when everyone looks back in ten years, is ‘did this guy win or did this guy lose?’ That combined with the fact that steroids are legal in jiu-jitsu, it kinda made it a no brainer.”

It’s worth noting that Khabib Nurmagomedov only officially missed weight once, back in 2013. In 2017, he got sick from a weight cut, leading to another Tony Ferguson bout being cancelled, but Khabib definitely didn’t miss weight six to eight times.

Gordon Ryan also apparently believes the IBJJF only suddenly started testing for PEDs as a conspiracy to make sure he “doesn’t win again.”

“The only place they’re not legal is in IBJJF, where they started testing after I won worlds. I won the No Gi Worlds and they were like ‘yeah, we have to make sure Gordon doesn’t win again’. So then they started testing,” he said. “I never competed in any event where steroids were illegal, where they said you couldn’t take them or we’re gonna test for these.”

Gordon Ryan wants to ‘win at all costs,’ even if it takes 20 years from his life

Gordon Ryan says he doesn’t care about the dangers of using and abusing steroids. In fact, the decorated ADCC champion says he would gladly trade decades of his life to be the greatest of all time.

“People can make arguments where it’s not healthy for you and there are long-term side effects and things like that. I understand that, but at the same time, Michael Jordan quote: I am trying to win at all costs,” Ryan stated.

“I’m not going to do things where I’m cheating. I’m not going to grease and things like that, but these aren’t illegal. So I’m gonna do everything that I can to be the best athlete that I can be,” he said.

“Even if it were to take 20 years off of my life, I wouldn’t regret doing the things that I’ve done to become the greatest of all time in this sport. Because ultimately when I die, my legacy is what’s going to be remembered.”

While others see it as cheating, Gordon Ryan sees PED use as some noble “sacrifice” for greatness.

“I would rather die with a legacy at 50 years old, than just be a normal guy dying at 70 or 80 years old,” he said. “That’s not a sacrifice that people are willing to make, and that’s why they’re not Gordon Ryan.”

Gordon Ryan, who is still in his 20s, has already dealt with serious health issues through the years. He claims those stomach issues weren’t due to abusing PEDs, and only happened because he dealt with “recurring staph infections” and antibiotics that “wiped out my gut biome.”

Ryan claims he doesn’t need steroids to be the best

Even if he said it was a way to “win at all costs,” Gordon Ryan also claims that he doesn’t really need steroids to win.

“Do you need steroids to be the best athlete in the world? No, I don’t think so. I think that I could have done all this natural, and I could have been the best in the world without steroids,” he claimed. “I don’t believe that you need steroids to be the best in the world what I do believe is that you need steroids to be the best version of yourself as an athlete.

“That’s just a fact. They’re performance enhancing drugs. You’re always going to be better as an athlete taking steroids that you would be if you weren’t.”

While many BJJ athletes take some kind of PED even from a young age, Ryan claims he never took any of those substances until after he won the EBI title in 2017 and started bulking up.

“My first introduction to PEDs, steroids, whatever we’re gonna call them, was after I had won EBI at 170 (lbs). I cut the weight, did EBI at 170, and then after that I started going up in weight and getting to a higher weight class,” he said.

“Your whole argument that ‘Gordon wouldn’t even be good unless he was on steroids’ … I was submitting ADCC champions and medalists way before I was ever on steroids,” Ryan argued.

“While I was natural, these guys were juiced up. Natural, I submitted Yuri (Simoes), Yuri was the reigning ADCC champion at the time… Then I submitted Keenan (Cornelius), I submitted Vagner (Rocha). I submitted all these guys natural, having just gotten my black belt. So I was five years into doing jiu-jitsu, I had just gotten my black belt, I was 20 years old between 180 and 190 lbs, natural. I was submitting all the best guys in the world, and I was a tenth of what I am technically back then.”

EBI 11 was in 2017, which would make Gordon Ryan 22 years old and over a year into his career as a black belt. Those wins he mentioned were certainly big at the time, especially against Yuri Simoes, who was coming off his first ADCC medal.

Keenan Cornelius had immense hype as a brown belt, and Vagner Rocha is certainly a top contender with excellent longevity, so those were huge wins for a relatively young black belt trying to make a name for himself. For what it’s worth, neither really had a case of ever being the “best in the world” though.

Ryan is incredibly skilled and technical, and he did have an EBI overtime win over Simoes, so perhaps he could’ve still won without bulking up and using a lot of drugs. It’s still worth pointing out though that Ryan’s biggest achievements and best wins against world champions all happened after EBI 11.

All seven of Gordon Ryan’s ADCC titles, all four IBJJF no gi worlds and pans medals at black belt, and that incredible six year unbeaten streak — it all happened after that date he admits to using a lot of steroids to “win at all costs.”

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Get up to date on all the biggest news from the grappling scene.

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

CJI 2 moves to team vs. team tournament format for 2025

The second Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) event was previously announced for August 2025, which also teased a major format change. More details have since been announced, with CJI 2 instead having their million dollar tournament moving to a similar style as Kazushi Sakuraba’s “Quintet” promotion.

“Grappling is boring. Stalling is boring. People being afraid to be submitted is boring. For CJI 2, we’re mixing this up,” Craig Jones said on his announcement. “We’re going to do 8 teams battling for a million dollars.

“Last time we found out who the two best athletes in the world were. That was Kade Ruotolo and Nicky Rod, and we paid them both a million,” Jones said. “Now we’re gonna find out who is the best team in the world. ATOS, New Wave, B-Team, Checkmat, Gracie Barra, 10th Planet, whatever teams, and let’s see who truly is the best team in the world. Quintet-style, last man standing.”

Jones, who faced Gabi Garcia in a friendly inter-gender match at CJI 1, also teased his participation in the event.

“Team vs team is the most exciting form of grappling and that’s what is gonna be the bulk of this show, but we’re also going to have a few crazy super-fights,” he said. “I won’t be fighting a woman this time, although the guy has many feminine attributes, but that has yet to be announced. CJI 2, Team vs. Team.”

UPDATE: More details have been revealed about CJI 2. While Quintet created groups like “Team Polaris” with various stars from different gyms, Craig Jones says CJI 2 won’t allow “super teams” and will have “real teams only.”

Teams will be composed of five members each, and “each team will have one wildcard draft pick.” Team members will also be from various weight classes, similar to what ADCC uses: 66 kg, 77 kg, 88 kg, 99 kg and +99kg.

Jones, who likes to poke fun at his former teammates, hilariously included New Wave on the potential list of teams in his announcement. It seems more than likely that the Gordon Ryan and John Danaher backed team would again boycott the event like they did the first CJI. It’s also worth pointing out that Craig Jones and his team already has experience in this format, as the “B-Team Bulls” won Quintet 4 in 2023. B-Team previously fielded a line up with Jones, Nick Rodriguez, Jay Rodriguez, Nicky Ryan, and Jozef Chen.

Quintet’s team grappling events has always been an entertaining format, as it adds team strategies and almost guarantees fun outcomes by matching up people on different sizes. One of the best things in Quintet events is the chance to see a few BJJ stars wipe out multiple opponents or even entire teams. Combine that with the top talent coming in due to the $1 million prize, plus the CJI alley (or pit) that encourages continued action, and this show already seems primed to produce a lot of entertainment.

My only gripe would be that while team grappling almost guarantees fun outcomes, it’s the traditional tournament format that determines the best of the best with a single winner. Perhaps CJI is only doing this in 2025 since there won’t be an ADCC until 2026, but permanently departing from that format would leave their rival promotion as pretty much the sole organization that will — at least in theory — determine the best grapplers in the world.

It remains to be seen if there will be a women’s tournament for this event, but Ffion Davies was previously involved in a super-fight at the inaugural CJI event, where she dominated UFC star Mackenzie Dern. Should they choose to go the same route, the biggest match up CJI can book from a sporting perspective is a super-fight against Adele Fornarino, who exploded as a star at ADCC 2024 by winning double gold as the smallest competitor. Davies and Fornarino were among the biggest standouts from that same CJI vs ADCC weekend and are the consensus two top pound-for-pound female grapplers today. From a pure BJJ standpoint, it is definitely the match up to book.

Speaking of Fornarino…

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Drills

Adele Fornarino advocates for better pay, ditches IBJJF no gi worlds

There were a few big names missing from the recent 2024 IBJJF No Gi World Championships. ADCC and WNO champ Adele Fornarino was one of them, and she broke her silence, saying her absence was due to the absence of pay from IBJJF.

“To my core, I am a competitor. Sitting on the sidelines at this year’s No-Gi Worlds was an incredibly tough decision. Many people asked me why I didn’t compete, and I want to share my reasoning,” Fornarino wrote on Instagram.

“My theme for 2024 was professionalism. Part of being a professional athlete is knowing your worth. I have really struggled with this throughout the years, often under-valuing myself for the love of competition. I now see how detrimental that is for myself, other athletes, and future ones (especially females).

“I have deep respect for the IBJJF and their role in growing jiu-jitsu into a sport where being a ‘professional grappler’ is a real career path,” she continued. “Currently, IBJJF No-Gi Worlds offers no financial incentive for black belt athletes. The athletes who have spent a decade or more teaching classes and working side jobs to afford their competition expenses. The athletes who have dedicated their lives to their craft. The athletes who now bring eyes, money, and prestige to the major competitions. Becoming world-class isn’t free. Those who achieve that level should be appropriately rewarded for their dedication and skill.

“I want to reiterate my love of IBJJF and all they have done for this sport we all love. We would not be where we are today without them. Seeing events such as The Crown, and Gi Worlds where athletes are financially rewarded for their efforts is exciting to see but there is still progress to be made,” Fornarino explained.

“I’m not saying that I will never compete at IBJJF No-Gi Worlds or similar events, but 2024 has been a transformative year for my career, and I chose to use this moment to advocate for a positive shift—one that will benefit this generation and those to come.”

Craig Jones, Ffion Davies and others also previously advocated for the same things, even before CJI was launched as a protest to ADCC and its low pay. Seeing a similar statement from Fornarino only shows that the potential CJI berth I mentioned earlier makes even more sense.

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Move of the Day

Cole Abate rips Shinya Aoki’s knee

No Gi World Champ Cole Abate heel hooked Shinya Aoki in their recent BJJ bout. As we noted earlier, this was always a suspect match up from ONE Championship, and it ended up being pretty predictable.

Aoki, now 41 years old, was again overmatched and became resume fodder to yet another BJJ star. ONE Championship has repeatedly booked him in mismatches, where Aoki predictably lost to BJJ champions like Kade Ruotolo, Mikey Musumeci, Garry Tonon and now Abate.

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Rolls

BJJ GWOAT Bia Mesquita goes 3-0 in MMA, UFC next?

Bia Mesquita — a 16-time world champion across ADCC, IBJJF gi and no gi — is now 3-0 in her MMA career. All three bouts happened in 2024, and she closed out the year by submitting Fernanda Araujo at LFA 198.

After remaining perfect and winning all three bouts by rear naked choke, will the UFC come calling soon? Mesquita will likely want a fast track to the big leagues, as she will turn 34 in April.

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Cooldown

Polaris adapting CJI rules for future events

The biggest grappling promotion in Europe is tweaking their ruleset, with Polaris announcing that they’re taking a page off of CJI. For super-fights, Polaris will now have three five-minute rounds and a 10-point must system for judging.

Both promotions are also set to have team grappling highlighted on their next events.

Polaris Squads are back, with the promotion announcing a promising Polaris 31 event on February 8, 2025 that will host a stacked North America vs. Europe card. More grapplers will be announced soon, but the current line up is as follows:

Polaris 31 fight card

Team Europe
Jozef Chen
Mateusz Szczecinski
Owen Jones
Eoghan O’Flanagan
Santeri Lilius
Taylor Pearman

Team North America
Jacob Couch
PJ Barch
Kieran Kichuck
Jason Rau

Super-fights
Helena Crevar vs. Anabel Lopez – Polaris lightweight title

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Review

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

• Youngest ever IBJJF world champion! – Cassia Moura went from blue to black belt in under a year, then set a new record by winning the IBJJF No Gi World Title at just 18 years old.
• In the same event, decorated Olympic wrestling champion Helen Maroulis won her BJJ debut.
• BJJ brawl! – Wrestling champ turned pro grappler Pat Downey, who dominated Luke Rockhold at CJI, dominated all his matches (at blue belt!), only to get disqualified in the finals for getting in a brawl.
• ‘I am a rat!’ – Mikey Musumeci continued to trade barbs with Gordon Ryan about steroids.

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Wrestling champs Helen Maroulis and Pat Downey were both dominant, but the latter got in a brawl and missed out on a medal at the 2024 IBJJF No Gi World Championship.

The final major Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) event to close out the year was the 2024 IBJJF No Gi World Championships, and it saw dominant performances from new and old champions alike.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

2024 IBJJF No Gi Worlds crown new black belt champs

Just a month after turning 20 years old, BJJ prodigy Cole Abate beat the likes of Gabriel Sousa and other more experienced foes to take gold at the featherweight division and win his first world title. Elder Cruz was also a standout from the event, taking silver at super heavyweight and gold in absolute division to officially become a two-time world champion.

In the women’s side of things, two decorated world champions continued their dominance. Mayssa Bastos won gold at 114 lbs., making it her ninth IBJJF world title across gi and no gi. Gabrieli Pessanha, who is among the most dominant gi competitors ever, won her no gi debut. She only had one opponent in her super-heavyweight division, but she won that and the absolute division to win double gold yet again.

Also having an impressive showing was Elisabeth Clay, who won double gold at the IBJJF No Gi Pans in November and gold again here at the No Gi World Championships a month later. These three gold medals in major tournaments make it an even more insane accomplishment since she just gave birth three months ago. The win also marked her fourth no gi world title.

Cassia Moura, the 18-year-old phenom who went from blue to black belt in a year, just became the youngest world champion in IBJJF history by winning gold at 125 lbs.

Full results and more highlights from the no gi world championships are here.

Photo by Kadir Caliskan – United World Wrestling/Getty Images

IBJJF No Gi World Championships: Wrestlers steal the show at Blue Belt

While black belts naturally garner the most attention at BJJ events, a couple of blue belts made a lot of waves at the 2024 IBJJF No Gi World Championships.

Two wrestling champions competed at the blue belt level, which did lead to some clear mismatches due to IBJJF’s outdated ruleset. It was interesting to see regardless though.

Olympic wrestling champion Helen Maroulis officially switched and made her BJJ debut at the major event. While she lacked experience in the submission grappling ruleset, the three-time Olympic medalist used that elite wrestling to go 5-0 en route to a gold medal.

While Maroulis diving into BJJ is certainly intriguing, it was a different wrestling standout that made headlines for the wrong reasons.

Pat Downey, who has faced Gordon Ryan and dominated Luke Rockhold at CJI, also competed at blue belt despite his credentials as a professional grappler. Having experience against high level pros, it wasn’t a surprise that the US Open wrestling champion dominated the field of blue belts.

Downey won all five of his matches, including the final, where he put his opponent to sleep from front headlock. It was an impressive performance, but there were some taunting, and his opponent clearly didn’t take the loss well.

Soon after he woke up from the submission loss, Shamil Murtazaliev shoved and threw a punch at Downey, which led to a brawl between the two competitors. After the chaos ended, both Downey and Murtazaliev were disqualified and they forfeited what would’ve been the gold and silver medals.

Watch the clip below:

Despite technically not “winning” the tournament, Pat Downey was awarded his purple belt after his dominating five matches and not conceding a single point. This means he should be able to compete against slightly better opposition next time around, but Downey also swore off the IBJJF after the incident.

“This competition went better than I ever (could’ve) expected. I couldn’t have scripted a better outcome,” Downey wrote on social media. “With that being said, I’m very sad with how IBJJF handled my finals match.

“I’m also not a fan of them making money off of us athletes while paying nothing. For these reasons I will NEVER compete in this organization again. (f—) you IBJJF.”

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Join us for the 2024 IBJJF No Gi Worlds, with the BJJ event happening from Thursday to Saturday.

The 2024 IBJJF no gi world championship will happen in the next three days, starting TODAY (Thurs., Dec. 12, 2024) up to SATURDAY (Dec. 14, 2024). The Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) institution will end their calendar year with the major event, and will have thousands of grapplers competing for their prestigious world titles.

The no gi jiu-jitsu event will stream LIVE on FloGrappling, starting at 12:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, and will continue on to Friday and Saturday. A free live stream of the earlier matches is also available and can be seen on the video embedded below.

Preview: BJJ and wrestling stars to watch at IBJJF No Gi Worlds

Black belt divisions start from Friday onto Saturday and will be featuring several world champions, but there are also some very notable professional grapplers in the colored belts as well. Full brackets for the 2024 IBJJF No Gi World Championships are available here.

At black belt, there are several returning champions and other BJJ stars, including the likes of Cole Abate, Roosevelt Sousa, and Elder Cruz, along with ADCC 2024 vets Jacob Couch and Felipe Costa. The women’s side of things will feature BJJ champs like Mayssa Bastos and Elisabeth Clay. It will also mark the long overdue no gi debut of the most dominant force in the gi today in Gabi Pessanha.

There are also notable professional grapplers and ADCC veterans in the lower belts, with the likes of Dorian Olivarez and Achilles Rocha competing at brown belt, and Helena Crevar and Michael Pixley competing at purple belt.

Blue belt will also feature two champion wrestlers. Olympic gold medalist Helen Maroulis will make her IBJJF debut, while US Open champ and CJI vet Pat Downey will take a massive step down in competition from facing the likes of Gordon Ryan and Luke Rockhold. A bunch of hobbyist beginners are likely about to get rag-dolled by these champion wrestlers, but technically IBJJF is also partly at fault for these impending mismatches.

2024 IBJJF No Gi World Championships live stream

IBJJF No Gi World Championship: Results and Video Highlights

Thousands of competitors have joined the three day-event, with adult black belt divisions alone accounting for well over 200 grapplers. This results post will mainly focus on black belts, along with the few notable professionals and performances in the colored belts.

The long list of medalists and key highlights will be posted below, so keep checking back in the next three days.

Photo by PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP via Getty Images

Blue Belt

The two wrestling champions pretty much dominated the field. Three-time Olympic medalist Helen Maroulis won gold, but Pat Downey isn’t going home with a medal after a brawl in his final match. He did still earn his purple belt after though, so he’ll at least compete against better opposition next time.

Wrestler Pat Downey wins three matches, then gets disqualified after brawl

Olympic champ Helen Maroulis wins 5 matches and gold in switch to BJJ

FEMALE / ADULT / BLUE / LIGHTWEIGHT (136 lbs.)

Gold: Helen Louise Maroulis

Silver: Seika Rebecca Van Keuren

Bronze: Samantha Carolina Ojeda, Taylor Elaine Wingstrom

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Purple Belt

ADCC silver medalist and teenage phenom Helena Crevar competed at purple belt in her final juvenile division tournament and naturally dominated her opponent.

FEMALE / JUVENILE 2 / PURPLE / SUPER-HEAVY

Gold: Helena Crevar

Silver: Mae S Isaacs

ADULT / MALE / PURPLE / SUPER-HEAVY (215.00LB)

Gold: Michael Keith Pixley

Silver: David Lewis Wright Jr

Bronze: Hyan Nicolas S. Portella, Jonas Matthias Lustbader

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Brown Belt

ADCC vet Dorian Olivarez won gold at brown belt, as did two second generation grapplers in Vagner Rocha’s son Achilles Rocha and Andre Galvao’s daughter Sarah Galvao. AOJ teenage phenoms Mia Funegra and Ashlee Funegra also closed out their division.

MALE / ADULT / BROWN / LIGHTWEIGHT (162.6 lbs.)

Gold: Dorian Michael Olivarez

Silver: Luca Martone-Martel

Bronze: Noah Rodrigues Alves, Suleyman Samet Göktopal

MALE / ADULT / BROWN / HEAVYWEIGHT (202 lbs.)

Gold: Achilles Rocha

Silver: Sebastian Bishoy Morcos Attard

Bronze: Jacob Howarth, Tommi Oiva Juhani Toikkanen

FEMALE / ADULT / BROWN / LIGHT-FEATHERWEIGHT (114 lbs)

Gold: Mia Funegra

Silver: Ashlee Funegra

Bronze: Bethanii Elsa-Lee Baron-Heeris, Izabella Frezzo

FEMALE / ADULT / BROWN / LIGHTWEIGHT (136 lbs)

Gold: Sarah C. Firme Galvao

Silver: Zara Di Tofano

Bronze: Elizabeth Nicole Genge, Natasha Nikole Druggan

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Black Belt

Among the black belt standouts were Cole Abate who won his first no gi world title at featherweight. Elder Cruz, won silver in his super heavyweight division, and won gold at the absolute division.

In the female side of things, Mayssa Bastos won her ninth IBJJF world title across gi and no gi by taking gold at 114 lbs. Elisabeth Clay, who recently won double gold at the No Gi Pans, followed up by winning a middleweight world title just three months after giving birth.

Gabrieli Pessanha, who has won double world championships in the gi during the last four years, continued her dominance in no gi. Making her no gi debut straight into the world championships, Pessanha continued her golden streak by winning double gold again.

At the Master 1 division (30 to 34 years old), BJJ legend Joao Miyao won gold to add to his long list of titles.

ADULT / MALE / BLACK / ROOSTER (122.6 lbs.)

Gold: Everton Celio de Souza Teixeira

Silver: Lucas de Souza Castro

Bronze: Christopher Duyquan Tran, Nobuhiro Sawada

ADULT / MALE / BLACK / LIGHT-FEATHER (136 lbs.)

Gold: Zachary Kaima’alili Kaina-Kokubun

Silver: Marcos Antonio Gomes Guedes

Bronze: Rodnei Barbosa Gabriel Jr., Shoya Ishiguro

ADULT / MALE / BLACK / FEATHER (149 lbs.)

Gold: Cole Anthony Abate

Silver: José Julián Espinosa Flores

Bronze: Marco Vinicius Mendes Brito, Sam Matthew Mc Nally

ADULT / MALE / BLACK / LIGHT (162.6 lbs.)

Gold: Lucas Sette C. Valente Tobias

Silver: Gianni Paul Grippo

Bronze: Carlos Henrique Costa Campos, Yigit Hanay

ADULT / MALE / BLACK / MIDDLE (175.6 lbs.)

Gold: Alexandre Joaquim de Jesus

Silver: Fabyury Khrysthyan Texeira Freitas

Bronze: Arley Pacheco Damaceno Brandão, Mateus de Moraes Coelho

ADULT / MALE / BLACK / MEDIUM-HEAVY (188.6 lbs.)

Gold: Wallisson Oliveira Souza

Silver: Francisco de Assis Lemos Lo

Bronze: Gabriel Castro Vieira Lima, Sebastian Rodriguez Williams

ADULT / MALE / BLACK / HEAVY (202 lbs.)

Gold: Cássio Felipe Sousa Costa

Silver: Faris Dean Benlamkadem

Bronze: Calon F Eskeli-sabino, Jose Jurema Nascimento de Carvalho

ADULT / MALE / BLACK / SUPER-HEAVY (215 lbs.)

Gold: Marcos Carrozzino

Silver: Elder Alexander Cruz Hernandez

Bronze: Gabriel de Oliveira Haddad Duarte, Marcin Jan Maciulewicz

ADULT / MALE / BLACK / ULTRA-HEAVY

Gold: Lucas Valentim Alves Montalvão

Silver: Anderson Kauan Gomes Marinho

Bronze: Heikki Lauri Eemil Jussila, Roosevelt Pereira Lima de Souza

ADULT / MALE / BLACK / OPEN CLASS

Gold: Elder Alexander Cruz Hernandez

Silver: Devhonte M. Johnson

Bronze: Gabriel de Oliveira Haddad Duarte, João Pedro Nicolite Rocha

ADULT / FEMALE / BLACK / ROOSTER (103 lbs.)

Gold: Jhenifer Diogenes de Aquino

Silver: Mariana Cabral Rolszt

Bronze: Amber R Rymarz-Freitas, Thaís Loureiro Felipe

ADULT / FEMALE / BLACK / LIGHT-FEATHER (114 lbs.)

Gold: Mayssa Caldas Pereira Bastos

Silver: Sophia Joan Cassella

Bronze: Jessica Mallely Crane, Thamires Diógenes de Aquino

ADULT / FEMALE / BLACK / FEATHER (125 lbs.)

Gold: Cassia Remesar

Silver: Amanda Monteiro Canuto

Bronze: Ana Mayordomo Garcia, Emily Rosalynn Nicholson

ADULT / FEMALE / BLACK / LIGHT (136 lbs.)

Gold: Brianna Ste-Marie

Silver: Morgan Leigh Black

Bronze: Amanda Dean Bruse, Jaine da Silva Fragoso

ADULT / FEMALE / BLACK / MIDDLE (147 lbs.)

Gold: Elisabeth Ann Clay

Silver: Nadia Frankland

Bronze: Gabriele da Silva Schuck, Julia Boscher Seixas Pinto

ADULT / FEMALE / BLACK / MEDIUM-HEAVY (158 lbs.)

Gold: Salla Mari Simola

Silver: Caitlin Huggins

Bronze: Kennedy Paige Franklin, Nia Vivienne Blackman

ADULT / FEMALE / BLACK / HEAVY (169 lbs.)

Gold: Anabel Lopez Beard

Silver: Paige Ivette Borras

Bronze: Elizabeth Katherine Mitrovic, Maria Vitória Gonçalves Ruffatto

ADULT / FEMALE / BLACK / SUPER-HEAVY

Gold: Gabrieli Pessanha de Souza Marinho

Silver: Mayara Moreira Ribeiro

ADULT / FEMALE / BLACK / OPEN CLASS

Gold: Gabrieli Pessanha de Souza Marinho

Silver: Brianna Ste-Marie

Bronze: Anabel Lopez Beard, Maria Vitória Gonçalves Ruffatto

MALE / MASTER 1 / BLACK / ROOSTER (122.6 lbs.)

Gold: Eduardo Barboza da Silva

Silver: Robiel Zerazion Tesfaldet

Bronze: Jhonatas da Conceição Moraes Ramos, Samuel Joseph Micale

MALE / MASTER 1 / BLACK / LIGHT-FEATHER (136 lbs.)

Gold: João Ricardo Bordignon Miyao

Silver: Quang Le Ho

Bronze: Aidan L. Collins, Samuel Alejandr Franchi

MALE / MASTER 1 / BLACK / FEATHER (149 lbs.)

Gold: Hiago George Santos Silva

Silver: Ermilio Lucas Ferreira Lima

Bronze: Aaron V. Brooks, Mayis Nersesyan

MALE / MASTER 1 / BLACK / LIGHT (162.6 lbs.)

Gold: Gabriel Marangoni de Oliveira

Silver: Lucas de Araujo Gomes

Bronze: Alexander F. Seaver, Rafael de Oliveira Colonhese

MALE / MASTER 1 / BLACK / MIDDLE (175.6 lbs.)

Gold: Pedro Henrique Monteiro Palhares

Silver: Jackson Nagai Hatchwell Junior

Bronze: Francisco Antonio Iturralde Lara, Rodrigo Lopes Martins

MALE / MASTER 1 / BLACK / MEDIUM-HEAVY (188.6 lbs.)

Gold: Fábio Angnes Alano

Silver: Romario Gomes Teodoro

Bronze: Dylan Christian Whyte, Gialysson Adão Silva Freitas

MALE / MASTER 1 / BLACK / HEAVY (202 lbs)

Gold: Sergio Raimundo Rios da Silva

Silver: Stephen Gabriel Martinez

Bronze: Juan Marcel Viana, Samir Abdol Kader

MALE / MASTER 1 / BLACK / SUPER-HEAVY (215 lbs.)

Gold: Matthew R Secor

Silver: Keli Mendiola Manglona

Bronze: Carlos Tassone Rodrigues, Elias Passos Paulino Junior

MALE / MASTER 1 / BLACK / ULTRA-HEAVY

Gold: Wilson Bueno de Moraes Júnior

Silver: Rafael Reis Leite

Bronze: Renato dos Santos Tagliari, Thomas Christian Clarke

MALE / MASTER 1 / BLACK / OPEN CLASS

Gold: Sergio Raimundo Rios da Silva

Silver: Stephen Gabriel Martinez

Bronze: Rodrigo Lopes Martins, Wilson Bueno de Moraes Júnior

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Craig Jones gives BJJ stars a million reasons not to sign with the UFC.

With the UFC signing Mikey Musumeci and looking to lock up more Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) stars, Craig Jones has reminded grapplers not to just rush in to signing exclusive deals.

The inaugural Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) last August provided the highest prize money ever in jiu-jitsu, as it crowned two new millionaires. With news of the UFC trying to sign up more stars, Jones is giving grapplers a million reasons to keep their options open.

“This weekend is your reminder not to sign any exclusive contracts,” Jones wrote as he posted a photo of himself lying down on a pile of cash.

Craig Jones then announced that CJI 2 will happen on August 2025.

“I’m here for a massive announcement. This announcement comes at a very important time, given the boring ass grappling events that went on this weekend. But I have received funding for CJI 2,” Jones said on Instagram. “I can confirm August 2025 in Las Vegas.”

Jones also posted a photo on his Instagram stories, showing over $17 million in his account as “proof” that funding for the second event is a go.

The inaugural CJI event saw Kade Ruotolo and Nick Rodriguez receive $1 million each after winning 16-man tournaments at -80 kg and over 80 kg divisions, respectively. CJI matches also had three rounds with a 10-point must system for judging, as they tried to tap into the MMA fanbase.

Jones teased that CJI 2 could look very different.

“Get ready for a massive format change,” he wrote on the caption.

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Mikey Musumeci and Gordon Ryan continue to trade barbs about steroids.

Gordon Ryan is the biggest star in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) and uses that status to pretty much bend various organizations in the sport to his will in recent years. Ryan has routinely picked his opponents, dictated special rulesets at WNO and other promotions, and even convinced ADCC to create a new medal so he can beat their all-time record.

With his accomplishments and status, Ryan basically has a lot of people in BJJ under his thumb. Despite Ryan having a lot to say about him after UFC Fight Pass Invitational 9 (UFC FPI 9), Mikey Musumeci says he’s not bowing down to the “King.”

“Gordon, he calls me a little rat a lot and he’s not wrong,” Musumeci responded after his win at UFC FPI 9. “My Chinese zodiac is the rat, so he’s pretty accurate what he says. I am not a big person and I am a rat, right? That’s my Chinese zodiac so he’s right about that.

“I have nothing against Gordon. He’s grown this sport tremendously and I have the utmost respect for him. We’re both from the same town in New Jersey. Again, what I stand for and what he stands for are a bit different and I’m just keeping it real. I don’t want to just be fake nice and fake and just kiss everyone’s butt like everyone does in jiu-jitsu,” he said.

“So even if he’s mad at me for speaking up, I know he respects that l’m keeping it real and I’m not just bowing and cowing down to him. I have my views and things and other people have theirs. It doesn’t matter what anyone has, I just speak my authentic self.”

The crux of their differences, according to Musumeci, is steroids and how he believes that Gordon Ryan is a bad influence for the kids starting their path in BJJ.

“The people that took steroids in the past, awesome, good for you. That was your generation. Okay. Maybe you didn’t have the rules of steroids in your time, that’s awesome. But now, because it’s a new generation, take a stand and change the sport,” Musumeci explained.

“I have nothing against what you did now, but change the sport and help us grow the sport for the next generation,” he said about Ryan. “Maybe your generation, you did that, that’s fine. Now focus on the next generation and having kids not follow what you did hurting your body doing drugs.”

Gordon Ryan’s serious health issues before even turning 30 have been well documented. Although for the 29-year-old, he believes PED’s is all just part of what he’s willing to do to become “great.”

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