The BJJ scene in Texas is getting a lot more volatile with the increase of tensions between New Wave and B Team.
Craig Jones has been steadily ramping up his trolling online, so much so, that some even suspect him of being the infamous reddit account that alleged Gordon Ryan is suffering from PED related issues affecting his throat and liver.
While R/BJJ is censoring all of the discussion pertaining to Ryan’s proclivities it’s become pretty much an open secret at this point with members of B Team publicly shading.
In the latest episode of El Segundo podcast, Jones denied he’s behind the leaks detailing that he’s more inclined to leak stuff publicly. He did so while wearing a T shirt on which the words C*ck are printed.
But besides the run of the mill drama, Jones made interesting comments on one topic – the IBJJF worlds. In many ways Worlds are to GI what ADCC is to nogi so it’s surprising any time a big name bows out.
“…With one of the Flo employees and tried to lure out some of the information about viewership. And I know definitely viewership is lower for IBJJF worlds finals than even an undercard on a WNO. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter. It just means not many people are watching it. But yeah, very, very interesting turn of events for Worlds this year.”
“I would argue that after USADA’s attack on no gi worlds the way they followed these guys to the gym, I’m interested to see what happens to athletes surrounding this event in terms of out-of-competition testing. Will they ever randomly out of competition test an athlete or were they only randomly out of competition tested guys that said they had maybe they were going to miss their flight and had to unfortunately miss the medal ceremony and the urine test.”
“But yeah, I’m really interested to see I would argue that the only reason you wouldn’t do IBJJF worlds if you were a Gi guy is if you were taking PEDs like the rest of us. That’s the only argument I could see. I don’t know why you wouldn’t do it. If you want to go down the history books, you want to be a Buchecha, a guy like that.”
Meregali previously saud he’ll never participate in IBJJF competitions again unless they professionalize the sport.
Meregali told MMA Hoje podcast:
“I put myself in a difficult position. I think there’s no way these guys won’t compete. Especially today with the media pressure. But they can say they’re short of money.”
Later he added:
“(They can) say Nicolas is a coward. (He’s) going to say Nicolas is afraid. (He’s) going to make up a story, ask for money. I’m going to play in the media. And then there’s this war. And that’s a risk. It’s a risk, but at the same time I can’t see it not working.”
Finally he added he’s done with IBJJF forever:
“My decision is forever. The only reason I would come back to compete in IBJJF would be if I saw that there’s a movement to professionalize the sport. Professionalize the sport in relation to the rules, professionalize the sport in relation to the payment, professionalize the sport in relation to streaming, in the media, in all the aspects of the sport. Because the work of the federation…”
