Seth Belisle‘s journey from corporate executive to co-founder of B Team Jiu-Jitsu and president of the Craig Jones Invitational represents one of the most unique partnerships in modern grappling. Despite never being a professional athlete, Belisle became the business mastermind behind one of the sport’s most successful teams and revolutionary events—projects that have changed how athletes are compensated across the entire grappling landscape.
B Team Jiu-Jitsu is now undergoing a major transformation. Craig Jones and Belisle are both stepping down from ownership, while the new leadership will consist of Nicky Ryan, Nick Rodriguez, Ethan Crelinsten, and Damien Anderson. The team is expected to rebrand under a new name as it moves forward without its original founders.
What makes Belisle invaluable to the original B Team isn’t his grappling ability—it’s his execution skills.
“Craig has great ideas. He’s a marketing genius clearly an elite athlete and I have experience of building teams and a corporate background that enables me to kind of execute some of the ideas that he puts in place,” Belisle explained on a podcast. “So he comes up with the ideas and I figure out a way to make it happen.”
This division of labor proved crucial when Jones proposed the Craig Jones Invitational. What started as a late-night text asking if Belisle could run an event with $3 million became one of the sport’s most watched competitions.
Jones brought his content creation ideas, wanting to show the world what the training room is like and that it can be fun. Belisle provided the business infrastructure to turn those visions into reality. Their partnership proved that elite jiu-jitsu teams could benefit from someone focused purely on operations and business development rather than requiring all partners to be competitors.
One of CJI’s biggest contributions has been elevating athlete compensation across the sport, with grapplers now earning $10,002 per competitor. Belisle takes pride in how their model has influenced other organizations to raise pay, creating a rising tide that benefits competitors throughout the community.
“Pay has been raised across the board from ADCC to flograppling to ONE FC all the athletes are getting compensated more than before,” he noted.
Their commitment to accessibility—keeping events free on YouTube instead of behind paywalls—demonstrates their intent to grow jiu-jitsu’s audience.
“We’ve turned down putting it behind a paywall and putting it on YouTube for free so we could show how big jiu-jitsu is,” Belisle explained.
Belisle’s status outside the competition circuit was an advantage. Since he wasn’t vying for podiums or sponsorships, he focused on building infrastructure and content that fueled both growth and stability. His efforts helped the team generate revenue while building large followings for their athletes.
The nonprofit arm of their efforts, the Fair Fight Foundation, uses CJI proceeds to build jiu-jitsu schools worldwide. It provides training opportunities for underprivileged youth.
“We’re partnering with Guardian to build schools around the world for kids to train jiu-jitsu for free,” Belisle shared.
With the upcoming CJI 2 in Las Vegas, Belisle clarified their relationship with FloGrappling, emphasizing the event’s independence and commitment to accessibility.
“CJI is going to remain live and free on YouTube. They’re not an official sponsor. They’re just a separate thing that Craig and I worked out with them because they have similar goals.”
He emphasized that the sport isn’t large enough yet to sustain exclusivity and that collaboration benefits everyone.
“We want all athletes across all promotions to be able to come and compete at CJI,” he stated.
The team format for CJI 2 aims to bring broader audience appeal, incorporating elements like team dynamics and strategic depth.
“We really get behind teams,” Belisle explained.
Looking ahead, Belisle envisions expanded collaboration.
“Maybe there’s a future state where Flo is doing a CJI invitational. Maybe it’s a trials to earn a spot on the Super Bowl of grappling the next year.”
