UFC executive, MMA warrior, and BJJ blackbelt Claudi Gadelha has strongly spoken out about the state of Jiu-Jitsu and why she feels it’s still an amateur sport.
“I’m going to say something right now that I know will piss a lot of people off, but it needs to be said. The number one reason why Jiu-Jitsu is still an amateur sport, the number one reason why jiu-jitsu isn’t a professional sport yet, is because of the athletes,” she said. “You accept to be sold for free! You accept to go in there and put (on) the best performances of your life for a medal.”
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Her comments come not long after Nicky Rod told Demitrius Johnson that he won’t compete at IBJJF events because you have to pay to do them.
“There’s no money in it, I knew that early on. I only did Jiu-Jitsu so I could get paid. I mean I loved it, it was great fun and I think if I was doing anything then I’d want to be training Jiu-Jitsu,” he told Johnson.
In another post, the former UFC champ said that BJJ competitors are voicing that they should be getting paid.
“I see some Jiu-Jitsu competitors now finally voicing that they should be getting paid. If you work as a professional, you should be getting paid. Jiu-Jitsu tournaments where you pay to compete is for amateurs,” she added.” If you are a black belt professional world champion-calibre, world-class athlete, and you’re high-performing in everything you do; the way you eat, sleep, behave, and you are not getting paid? You are being used, okay? How long more it’s gonna take for you guys to understand that? Jiu-Jitsu tournaments where you don’t get paid is for amateurs, okay? And you guys created the monster, you guys keep going out there and paying to compete.”
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This sure sounds like a swipe at the IBJJF.
