The European Championships of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation have been held in Portugal since 2004. Given that the competition is taking place in Europe, one would assume that most of the contestants would be European. However, that isn’t the case since Brazilians have dominated this BJJ competition more than most.
A while ago a competitor went viral after utilizing a highly illegal tactic to get out of a submission.
A video of the event which showed one competitor biting his opponent resurfaced. After releasing the submission, the opponent clutches at his leg and signals for the referee to approach. The referee then signals for the man’s leg to be examined by the medical staff.
Not only was there no subsequent disqualification, but the competitor who bit his opponent ended up winning.
The interaction between the referee and the white belt who is begging him not to bite the person, is maybe the most amusing section of the film. The referee seems to only respond to him by putting his finger to his lips in an apparent attempt to tell him to “just stop talking.”
This incident ignited fervent discourse and scrutiny among the audience online. People were confused why the competitor was not disqualified for his biting. Some of the comments were as follows:
“and the dude still won.. smh worst jj referee ever”
“That’s disgusting. He should have been disqualified.”
“Isn’t this DQ worth? Why the referee just ignored the bite?”
“Trash ref needs to be banned from reffing for life.”
The white belt’s audacious move evokes thoughts of past controversies within professional combat sports. One such notable instance involves the infamous altercation between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, where Tyson infamously bit Holyfield’s ear during their 1997 bout.
