On Episode 167 of the Simple Man Podcast, host Nicky Rod opened up about his ADCC experience while speaking with guest Nick Mataya, a rising competitor who recently won the East Coast ADCC Trials.
Rod was direct about the transformative impact the tournament can have. “You get into ADCC Worlds, like that’s you have a successful run, that that’s life-changing,” he said.
Reflecting on his own breakthrough, he added, “Like, for me, that was my thing. I won Trials and I was like, ‘All right, I have success at this tournament. I went in there with the intention to win. I only got second in my first attempt, but changed my life forever.'”
He emphasized that even early victories can shift a competitor’s trajectory.
“Even the first like two matches, beating previous champions or guys that are really, really known, they’re like, ‘All right, now you can say I want this number to compete,'” he explained. “You get consistent work, consistent competition, getting paid. Changed my life forever.”
When Mataya asked whether simply winning Trials marked the turning point, Rod confirmed that it did and went on to describe the financial reality that followed.
“Winning Trials was a start, because I had a good following,” he said. “I had like maybe 30 or 40,000 followers after Trials and I was like, ‘All right.’ I think I was charging like five thousand dollars per event. So every time I stepped on the mat it was $5,000. And then after placing second at Worlds, it was like it started multiplying.”
During the conversation, co-host Ethan Crelinsten talked about the financial side of competing. He pointed to the numerous opportunities that success at ADCC can unlock for Mataya.
“You already really built up a lot of demand for yourself and I feel like that’s the hardest part of it all,” he said. “Like everyone’s willing to train and compete and win as much as they can. But the getting your name to be a draw is like the toughest challenge. You’ve already done that. So there’s, you know, WNOs, Polarises, lots of super matches lined up for you already.”
