bjjproblems.com — every take, since 2013
Every snarky take on real BJJ news.
Jun 2, 2026, 08:47 AM
Khamzat Chimaev Lost His Middleweight Belt and Decided Light Heavyweight Was the Answer
Khamzat Chimaev experienced something he hadn't tasted before in his professional career: a loss. And not just any loss—a split decision defeat to Sean Strickland, a 4-to-1 underdog, at UFC 328 in Newark.
Jun 2, 2026, 08:17 AM
Erich Munis Lost His Own Weight Class At Brasileiros Then Won The 14-Man Absolute The Same Day
When the dust settled on the IBJJF Brasileiros, one result sat in the data that nobody quite knew what to do with: the men's super heavy black belt final that Erich Munis lost, followed immediately—same day, same venue—by the absolute title that he won. The super heavy final came
Jun 2, 2026, 07:29 AM
Paddy Pimblett Made a Content Creator Physically Vomit in Sparring — There Is Video
When this went down recently—back on May 13th—it seemed like the kind of gym story that would die the moment the session ended. British TikToker Dean Alex showed up to Next Generation MMA in Liverpool to spar Paddy Pimblett.
Jun 1, 2026, 10:56 PM
The Death of Medet Zheenaliev — Kyrgyzstan Fighter Who Drowned Saving Four Teenage Girls
When the news came through about what happened at Lake Issyk-Kul, it moved quietly through the grappling world—the kind of story that doesn't trend, doesn't get a thousand takes, but lands differently on people who understand what combat sports actually asks of the body and mind.
Jun 1, 2026, 10:26 PM
BJJ World Champion Brenda Larissa Named 14 Years of Alleged Abuse by Melqui Galvão
The Brazilian jiu-jitsu world faced a reckoning it couldn't ignore. The machinery of institutional response had already been set in motion—the IBJJF and CBJJ announced a permanent ban on April 28, the same day police arrested Melqui Galvão in Manaus.
Jun 1, 2026, 09:55 PM
Brenda Larissa Is the Second Named Competitor On the Record Against Melqui Galvão — and She Kept Competing Through All of It
Brazilian jiu-jitsu had one of those moments where the sport's internal machinery finally breaks down in public. Melqui Galvão was arrested on April 28, and by the next day, both the IBJJF and CBJJ had issued permanent bans.
Jun 1, 2026, 09:25 PM
Arman Tsarukyan Demanded 3% Of RAF And Rewrote The Playbook
Something strange happened on The Ariel Helwani Show. Arman Tsarukyan went on air and negotiated a contract in real time, with no apparent embarrassment, telling the grappling press that Real American Freestyle was "worth 15" before he showed up.
Jun 1, 2026, 08:55 PM
Strickland's 76% Takedown Defense vs Chimaev's 55% Takedown Success — What The UFC 328 Math Actually Showed
When UFC 328 went down at the Prudential Center in Newark on May 9, the betting line told one story while the grappling stats told another. Sean Strickland was a +310 underdog at FanDuel heading in.
Jun 1, 2026, 08:24 PM
RAF's Global Conquest: Everywhere Except Where Wrestling Fans Actually Are
Here's the thing about Real Arena Fighting's expansion strategy: they've figured out how to build a combat sports promotion on every continent except the one where wrestlers congregate. RAF has events in Japan, Brazil, Singapore, London, the Philippines, and now — finally, finall
Jun 1, 2026, 07:53 PM
Andre Galvao Was Already Back On The Mat At Atos On April 18 — Then He Issued His Written Denial Of Alexa Herse's Allegations Four Days Later
There's an order these things are supposed to follow. Deny through your lawyer.
Jun 1, 2026, 07:23 PM
Tsarukyan Reveals He Spends $500K-$700K Per Month — Mostly on Watches Up to $250K Each
The UFC's 2 lightweight contender just told a podcast he spends $500,000 to $700,000 a month, mostly on watches he buys himself after training sessions. The promotion's main concern, separately, is that he might win a title and leave.
Jun 1, 2026, 06:25 PM
UFC Launched Amateur BJJ 'Opens' With Submission-Only Black Belt Finals — Because Decisions Weren't Broken Enough
The UFC did something unexpected: it launched an amateur BJJ circuit and immediately solved a problem that's plagued sport jiu-jitsu for two decades. Make winning non-negotiable.
Jun 1, 2026, 05:54 PM
Rafael Lovato Jr. Returns to Jiu-Jitsu After 14 Years — A Three-Time World Champion Discovers His Calling Again
The jiu-jitsu world got a reminder that some legacies don't stay retired. Rafael Lovato Jr., the three-time IBJJF World Champion and ADCC bronze medalist who'd been away from competitive grappling since 2012, stepped back onto the mats for UFC BJJ 9 on May 26th to face Horlando M
Jun 1, 2026, 05:24 PM
Kade Ruotolo Met His Hardest MMA Test — How a 22-Year-Old Submission Machine Faced 15-6 Veteran Hiroyuki Tetsuka
Kade Ruotolo walked into Lumpinee Stadium on May 15 to face Hiroyuki Tetsuka: 21 professional fights, an 87% finishing rate, and a fresh TKO of Shinya Aoki on his record sheet. At the time, it represented exactly what the booking suggested — the moment where a submission phenom's
Jun 1, 2026, 04:23 PM
Chimaev Posted Striking Footage Instead of the Grappling Tape That Was Supposed to Destroy Strickland
About a month before UFC 328 went down in Newark, Khamzat Chimaev made a decision that would haunt the lead-up to his middleweight title shot against Sean Strickland. On a Tuesday four days before the fight, he posted a 26-second sparring clip to social media.
Jun 1, 2026, 03:53 PM
Paddy Pimblett vs Benoit Saint-Denis Made UFC 329 The Year's Most BJJ-Stacked Card—McGregor Noise Aside
When UFC 329 added Paddy Pimblett vs Benoit Saint-Denis at lightweight, it completed what quietly became the most BJJ-coded pay-per-view the company had built in years. Pimblett had been teasing the booking for weeks.
Jun 1, 2026, 03:23 PM
Tony Ferguson Books RAF 10 vs Tsarukyan — UFC Hall Of Famer At 42 Joins The Sixth Tsarukyan Wrestling Match In Six Months
When Ariel Helwani broke the news that Tony Ferguson had agreed to wrestle Arman Tsarukyan at RAF 10, the internet did what it always does: it checked the calendar and started doing math. The booking was set for June 13 at Chaifetz Arena in St.
Jun 1, 2026, 01:33 PM
McGregor vs Holloway 2 at UFC 329 Was the Most BJJ-Heavy Main Card in Years—and Nobody Saw It Coming
When Dana White confirmed McGregor vs. Holloway 2 for UFC 329 on July 11 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas during International Fight Week, the MMA world did what it always does when McGregor's name gets attached to anything real.
Jun 1, 2026, 01:03 PM
UFC BJJ 8's Injury Chaos — Two Short-Notice Replacements Changed Everything
Back in late May 2026, UFC BJJ 8 became a masterclass in how quickly a fight card can unravel. When the dust settled on May 21 at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas, two of the fights looked nothing like what the promotion had originally announced—and both changes came down to injuries a
Jun 1, 2026, 12:32 PM
UFC Winnipeg's Notorious Decision: When Sal D'Amato Struck Again and the Grappling Community Lost It
Back in April 2026, UFC Winnipeg delivered what will likely go down as one of the most talked-about scorecards in recent memory. When the judges' decision came down in favor of Jasmine Jasudavicius over Karine Silva in a unanimous verdict, the reaction was swift and brutal.
Jun 1, 2026, 12:01 PM
Joe Rogan Started Questioning the UFC — Fighter Pay, Chimaev's Timeline, and a Crack in the Alliance
Back in late May 2026, something shifted in Joe Rogan's relationship with the UFC. Not in a way that suggested imminent rupture or a permanent split from the organization that's defined his media presence for two decades.
Jun 1, 2026, 11:30 AM
SUG 30 Went Down on UFC Fight Pass — After 4.5 Years Dark, Chael's Comeback Landed With All the Drama You'd Expect
Back in mid-May 2026, Submission Underground finally showed up again. When this went down recently — May 17 in Florianópolis, Brazil — it marked the official return of a grappling promotion that had simply vanished for four and a half years.
Jun 1, 2026, 11:00 AM
Rerisson Gabriel Ended Diego Pato's Nine-Title Streak and Killed His Grand Slam Chase at Brasileiros
Back in late April, Diego "Pato" Oliveira walked into Barueri carrying a streak so absurd it had stopped being a conversation starter and become something closer to accepted fact. Nine consecutive IBJJF major titles.
Jun 1, 2026, 10:29 AM
ONE Championship's 2025 Submission Grappler of the Year Lost His Team in 152 Days
Back in late 2025, things looked perfect for Diogo "Baby Shark" Reis. On December 31, ONE Championship announced its year-end awards, and Reis took Submission Grappler of the Year — the kind of capstone that closes out a flawless competitive season.
Jun 1, 2026, 09:58 AM
Netflix Debuted MMA and Built a Theme Park Instead of a Sport Card
Back in May 2026, when Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions rolled out Netflix's first live MMA broadcast from Intuit Dome in LA on May 16th, nobody was quite prepared for what had actually been assembled. Nineteen days later, looking at what went down that Saturday night, the wh
Jun 1, 2026, 09:28 AM
Khamzat Chimaev Said 'I'm Not Going to Touch You'—Then Kicked Sean Strickland
Back in late May 2026, the combat sports world got a masterclass in how not to keep a promise. On May 8th, at the Prudential Center in Newark, Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland's UFC 328 press conference descended into the kind of chaos that leaves security personnel earning th
Jun 1, 2026, 08:57 AM
Werdum vs Dos Santos 3: Two UFC Heavyweights Admit Defeat to Grappling
When two former UFC heavyweight champions who built their legacies throwing hands at each other agree to meet on the mat—no strikes, no judges, just pure submission wrestling—you're watching combat sports come full circle. Except the circle is really a downward spiral, and everyo
Jun 1, 2026, 08:26 AM
Gina Carano Lost 100 Pounds to Fight Ronda Rousey on Netflix
When this went down back in mid-May 2026, it felt like the kind of celebrity MMA nostalgia card that shouldn't have worked—two former champions separated from active competition by roughly a decade, fighting on Netflix under Jake Paul's MVP banner. But what made the whole thing s
Jun 1, 2026, 07:56 AM
Nicholas Meregali Became The Sport's De Facto Whistleblower — And Why That Matters
Back in late April 2026, something happened in Brazilian jiu-jitsu that exposed a fundamental structural problem in how the sport handles allegations, accountability, and the people willing to speak up. When Melqui Galvao turned himself in to police on April 27th on a 30-day temp
Jun 1, 2026, 07:25 AM
Tatsuro Taira's 18 Wins, 10 Submissions, and the Night He Faced the Striker With the Highest Rate in UFC History
Back in May 2026, there was a matchup that looked like a textbook clash of incompatible styles — the kind of fight that gets booked because both fighters earned it, not because anyone expected a clean narrative to emerge. Tatsuro Taira, sitting at 18 professional wins with 10 by