In a recent episode of The White Monster Podcast, British grappler Owen Jones didn’t mince words when discussing what he sees as a glaring double standard in the jiu-jitsu community. While Brazilian competitors frequently emphasize respect and tradition, Jones argues that their actions after victories and their fans’ behavior tell a completely different story.
Jones, who coached Faris Benlamkadem, pointed to specific instances where the disconnect between preached values and actual conduct became impossible to ignore.
“They’re always big on this respect thing,”
Jones explained,
“but then all of a sudden after they win, they’re out here screaming in my face saying, ‘Yeah, this is Brazil. This is Brazil. F*** you.’ And then they’re threatening to end me and I’m getting DMs about ending me.”
The irony wasn’t lost on Jones when he contrasted this behavior with the criticism competitors like Faris Benlamkadem receive for trash talk before matches. Faris Benlamkadem has become known for his promotional antics. This includes declaring war on Brazil and talking smack to build interest in his matches.
Yet when Faris Benlamkadem showed up at Who’s Number One and encountered Brazilian competitors, Jones witnessed the supposed paragons of respect throwing middle fingers and shouting obscenities at them before any competition had taken place.
“I’m just sitting in the corner and I have the sixth place guy throwing up the middle fingers up at me saying, ‘F*** you,'”
Jones recounted.
“Faris (Benlamkadem) walks up. They’re like, ‘F*** you, Faris. We despise you.’ And I’m like, ‘This is the respect that we’re trying to, you’re trying to say you have?'”
Jones argues that there’s an inherent contradiction in the Brazilian approach. It’s considered acceptable and even celebrated when Brazilian competitors talk trash after securing a victory.
But when grapplers like Faris Benlamkadem promote matches beforehand, they’re vilified as disrespectful. The double standard extends to the fans as well. Jones received threats simply for being associated with someone who dared to build hype around a match.
The Brit emphasized that talking before a match actually requires more confidence and puts competitors at greater risk.
“It’s very easy to like just go into every match and be like, ‘Oh, well, we’ll see. I respect my opponent,'”
Jones said.
” When you put yourself in the position to look like the fool in a situation where you talk smack, you build up your confidence, maybe you talk a little trash and you lose, you’re almost putting yourself more at risk than anybody else.”
Jones sees the trash talk as part of the entertainment value that modern jiu-jitsu desperately needs. He pointed out that Faris Benlamkadem‘s promotional tactics directly resulted in getting called out by Rafeel Lovato Jr. This jumped Faris Benlamkadem significantly up the rankings. Not that anyone actually cares about Flograppling rankings.
“The proof is in the pudding,”
Jones stated simply.
