bjjproblems.com — every take, since 2013
Every snarky take on real BJJ news.
Sep 3, 2026, 07:46 AM
Kevin James Recalls 'Panicking' in His First BJJ Class: 'I Was Basically Trying to Choke My Training Partner'
Kevin James, the actor and comedian who's been training jiu-jitsu long enough to earn a blue belt, recently sat down with Joe Rogan and described his first class in a way that every single person who's been to an opening session will recognize: he panicked. Not the casual "oh thi
Sep 3, 2026, 07:16 AM
Craig Jones's B-Team Resort Play Is Exactly Where Elite Grappling Was Always Heading
Craig Jones gave the first official tour of B-Team Jiu-Jitsu's new Zamaya Resort property in Tulum, Mexico, on September 17, and somewhere in a garage in Des Moines a guy named Todd just realized his entire business model has been wrong for twelve years. It's not even technically
Sep 2, 2026, 10:40 PM
Mikey Musumeci MMA Debut: Only 3 Weeks of Striking Training
Here's a timeline that should make you laugh and/or deeply concerned: On July 13, 2026, Mikey Musumeci announced his MMA debut target for late September 2026 at 125 pounds. The same month he's scheduled to defend his UFC BJJ 11 grappling title at the same weight class.
Sep 2, 2026, 10:10 PM
Josh Saunders: BJJ's Accountability Crisis
Accountability in combat sports moves slowly, if at all. So when Reddit users uncovered Nazi imagery in Josh Saunders' social media activity in early July 2025, the Australian ADCC veteran's response time matched the sport's institutional pace: nowhere fast.
Sep 2, 2026, 09:39 PM
Craig Jones vs Gordon Ryan: Pre-ADCC Camp Rivalry
Actually, it's worse than that. Jones didn't cancel—he's accelerating a September camp in Mexico because Gordon Ryan's running a closed-door session in Budapest three days before ADCC.
Sep 2, 2026, 03:44 PM
Gordon Ryan Sent Kron Gracie a Contract. Kron's Response Was: Keep Danaher Home.
Kron Gracie went after Gordon Ryan on social media—which, fine, normal grappling drama. But the real target wasn't Ryan.
Sep 2, 2026, 07:14 AM
Tyron Woodley Says He'll 'Beat Chimaev Like a Drum' at RAF Moscow — Then Reality Showed Up
On August 22, 2026, Tyron Woodley did something he hadn't done in seven years: he won a fight. At RAF 12, the former UFC Welterweight Champion stopped Joaquin Buckley, snapping a losing streak that had lasted since his UFC 228 victory over Darren Till in September 2018.
Sep 1, 2026, 03:34 PM
Wrestler Offers $1,000 to Anyone Who Can Take Down Islam Makhachev in Open Mat: 'Cage Control Doesn't Exist Here'
Georgio Poullas, the wrestler behind the viral "$1,000 Take Me Down" challenge series, did something on August 31 that nobody in combat sports usually does: he talked himself out of his own trash talk before anyone could argue with him. Speaking to BJJEE, Poullas said he would "r
Aug 31, 2026, 04:08 PM
Ben Kovacs on Craig Jones and the Grappling Pay Ratchet
Ben Kovacs sits at the intersection of two things most people in grappling try not to think about simultaneously: money and honesty. As the general manager of FloGrappling and founder of the Guardian Jiu-Jitsu Foundation, he's the guy who has to explain why elite athletes are get
Aug 31, 2026, 03:37 PM
FloGrappling GM: CJI Was 'A Hugely Painful Time' — And the Pay Ratchet It Set Has Permanently Changed Grappling Economics
When Ben Kovacs, FloGrappling's general manager and founder of the Guardian Jiu-Jitsu Foundation, sat down on the Jits and Giggles podcast, he didn't mince words. The 2024 Craig Jones Invitational was "a hugely painful time." Not just for Craig.
Aug 31, 2026, 12:02 PM
$972 ADCC Mat-Side Tickets Are Wrecking Marriages
Blue belt, maybe purple. Makes decent money—$60K, $80K, whatever.
Aug 31, 2026, 11:31 AM
Mitchell Negotiates Musumeci at UFC BJJ 11—Still Underdog
Bryce Mitchell did something we don't see very often in combat sports: he looked at his opponent's entire gameplan and said, "Actually, can you not do that?" And Mikey Musumeci, the UFC BJJ Bantamweight Champion, apparently said yes. Here's what happened.
Aug 31, 2026, 08:00 AM
When a Blue Belt Tries Whiteboard Teaching for Jiu-Jitsu
Paul Wentworth, 44, has trained jiu-jitsu for eleven years across three separate periods—started, quit, came back, quit, came back again. On Tuesday evening, he brought a whiteboard to his rolling class.
Aug 31, 2026, 07:30 AM
Song Yadong Escaped Umar's Half Guard With a Slick Deep Half — Then Knocked Him Cold in R2 at UFC Shanghai
Umar Nurmagomedov walked into the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center on August 29, 2026, as the betting favorite, the undefeated hype train, the obvious next UFC Bantamweight title challenger. He had Khabib's last name and his gym's grappling pedigree.
Aug 30, 2026, 10:16 PM
Mikey Musumeci's MMA Debut: Separating Fact From Hype
If you've scrolled through combat sports news in the last two weeks, you've seen it: Mikey Musumeci is doing MMA. Mikey Musumeci threw his first punch on July 13.
Aug 30, 2026, 08:25 AM
The Stalker Who Tracked Danielle Kelly to Kingsway
If you're a serial online harasser contemplating whether to escalate to real-world stalking, here's a pro tip: Danielle Kelly trains at Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu in Austin, Texas. Not because you should show up—quite the opposite.
Aug 30, 2026, 07:54 AM
Ashton Kutcher's 15-Year Black Belt
Here's what everyone saw: Ashton Kutcher on The Tonight Show in January 2026, doing a textbook sweep while Jimmy Fallon laughed and the audience applauded for thirty seconds. Quick demo, quick joke (Kutcher said Machado gave him the belt "out of pity" for his age), quick pivot to
Aug 30, 2026, 07:16 AM
Dillon Danis Pulled Out. Mike Perry's Shoulder Followed.
When Dillon Danis pulled out of Duel Arena 1 early in fight week with an injury, Mike Perry faced a choice that no fighter wants to make: turn down a check and watch the main event fall apart, or accept a short-notice replacement bout against a different—and more dangerous—oppone
Aug 29, 2026, 09:10 PM
Jordan Burroughs: Can Elite MMA Wrestlers Actually Compete
Jordan Burroughs, 38, two-time Olympic gold medalist and one of the few wrestlers who actually translates his dominance into combat sports, was asked a straightforward question in August 2026: Can elite MMA fighters genuinely compete with elite wrestlers at the highest level? His
Aug 29, 2026, 04:51 PM
Tyson Fury Finally Admits MMA's Grappling Loses Him
Tyson Fury, heavyweight boxing champion and occasional MMA commentator, recently said something that should not have surprised anyone with functioning knowledge of combat sports: MMA "loses him" the moment the fight hits the ground. Let that sentence breathe for a second.
Aug 29, 2026, 04:21 PM
ADCC Bracket Slots: The Withdrawal Cycle
ADCC announced two open bracket slots this week. And if you've been paying attention to competitive grappling for the last eighteen months, you know exactly what this means: another round of last-minute scrambling, another set of athletes suddenly "reconsidering their training ca
Aug 29, 2026, 03:51 PM
CJI Raised the Price. ADCC Can't Afford to Lower It.
When Ben Kovacs, FloGrappling's General Manager, described Combat Jiu-Jitsu International's impact on the grappling landscape as a "hugely painful time," he was being diplomatic. What he actually meant: One competitor showed up, proved athletes were worth real money, then disappe
Aug 29, 2026, 07:46 AM
Dillon Danis Withdrawal: Combat Sports' Accountability Gap
When a fighter pulls out of a main event two days before weigh-ins, everyone loses something. Except the guy who pulled out.
Aug 27, 2026, 04:00 PM
The Olympics Pitch That Scares the Majors
Rigan Machado, a 9th-degree red belt and one of the foundational voices in American jiu-jitsu, recently called Olympic inclusion "a genius idea" and "fantastic." He's right. He's also right about something else: the major organizations will try to block it.
Aug 27, 2026, 03:30 PM
Cejudo Pins Merab in 36 Seconds at RAF 12 — Revenge, Takedown, and Crossover Title
Henry Cejudo walked into Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland on August 23rd knowing exactly what he was doing. Weeks earlier, he'd lost a decision to Merab Dvalishvili in their first encounter—a fight that had gnawed at him for one reason: he knew he could do better.
Aug 27, 2026, 12:25 PM
UFC BJJ Recruits ADCC's 88kg Champion
You know that moment when someone tells you they're really committed to a relationship, and then you catch them making out with your rival at a party? That's essentially what just went down between UFC BJJ and ADCC, except with significantly higher stakes and without the social a
Aug 27, 2026, 11:54 AM
Meregali Refuses MMA: Grappling Stays His Domain
Every time a grappler wins something big, the question arrives like clockwork: When is he going to MMA? Gordon Ryan was supposed to be untouchable at 170.
Aug 27, 2026, 09:53 AM
JiujitsuNYC Removes Student With Harassment History
A video from JiujitsuNYC in Jackson Heights, Queens—run by Professor Alvaro Tautiva on Northern Boulevard—went viral this week for all the wrong reasons. In it, an instructor executes a textbook takedown on a newly enrolled student, transitions to knee-on-belly control, and holds
Aug 27, 2026, 09:23 AM
Rickson Gracie's PRIDE Story Remains Unverified
In the retelling of MMA history, there's a story that shows up everywhere: Erik Paulson, the pioneering cross-trainer and link between the Gracie family and early American MMA, claims he sat in on negotiations between Rickson Gracie and PRIDE FC. The story goes that Paulson watch
Aug 27, 2026, 08:52 AM
Ryan Garcia Got Tapped by a Grappler on Live TV and Handled It Like a Pro
The moment a boxer meets a real grappler, they learn something no amount of footwork or hand speed teaches them. Not a beginner-who-also-boxes.