In a revealing interview on FloGrappling’s podcast, Ben Kovacs, co-founder of Guardian Project, disclosed that the UFC failed to follow through on a promised charitable donation to his jiu-jitsu nonprofit organization.
Kovacs, who has been training jiu-jitsu for 19 years, founded Guardian approximately 10 years ago while working at Twitter. The nonprofit now operates 27 academies worldwide with over 500 children training jiu-jitsu daily free of charge. During the podcast, Kovacs contrasted the genuine charitable efforts of jiu-jitsu star Craig Jones against what he described as an empty PR gesture by the UFC.
“One of the coolest things I saw with Craig is when he went to Peru, he actually started following one of the kids featured in the episode on Instagram and started DMing him back and forth. He’s legitimately friends with this 17-year-old kid who was one of the first kids in the program. He’s not just doing it for a PR stunt,” Kovacs explained.
“Whereas when the UFC came to visit Guardian in LA, they came, they brought the fighters, and then as soon as it was done, they’re like, ‘Oh, we’re going to make a donation.’ And then they never did. They just ghosted. It was a PR stunt.”
A while ago we covered how (then) UFC champions Belal Muhammad and Alexandre Pantoja took time out to teach jiu-jitsu to young students in Los Angeles. Backed by local law enforcement and martial arts coaches, the initiative offered free instruction to neighborhood youth, aiming to make martial arts more accessible. For Pantoja, the moment echoed his own journey, calling it one of those priceless yet deeply valuable experiences that define true championship. Muhammad echoed that sentiment, reflecting on how early exposure to martial arts had transformed his life and could do the same for others. Both were warmly received, with Pantoja recalling how they were treated like heroes.
This revelation comes at a time when major organizations are increasingly involved in the jiu-jitsu space. Kovacs is trying to restore Flograppling‘s reputation after a decade of mismanagement. Flosports, Flograppling’s parent company, alienated a great number of fans with deceptive business practices and strongarming people with their copyright system for a decade.
Guardian Project focuses on providing free jiu-jitsu training to underserved communities worldwide, with schools in locations including Peru, Mexico, Vietnam, and Ethiopia. According to Kovacs, the organization functions as “a VC for nonprofit jiu-jitsu,” finding worthy projects to fund with resources like gis, mats, and instructor stipends.
