Ben Kovacs, General Manager of Flograppling and founder of the Guardian Jiu-Jitsu nonprofit, recently appeared on the White Monster Podcast where he made bold claims about his company’s role in the jiu-jitsu business landscape. His statements come at a time when Flograppling faces mounting pressure from well-funded international competitors and a changing market dynamic.
The Ecosystem Claim
“What a lot of people don’t understand is that by having a flo membership you’re creating a lot of this ecosystem to happen,” Kovacs stated on the podcast. “Flo is paying IBJJF and ADCC and you know all these different partners rights fees. You know Polaris, BJJ stars. The only reason these events exist or a main reason they exist is because FLO is either doing the production for them or FLO is actually writing them a check in order to have the rights to put on FLO.”
This sweeping claim suggests Flograppling is the financial backbone of competitive BJJ. However, a closer examination reveals a more complicated picture.
The International Money Problem
“You look around at these different tournaments being put on, especially these like international big super fight type things and there, you know, you’re not 100% sure where the money comes or some benefactor who’s really wealthy who can afford to sort of not treat it as a business, but it’s more of a hobby, but it’s kind of a business.”
Over the past year, ACB resumed BJJ shows, AIGA gained steam in Kazakhstan, and ADXC emerged from Dubai. These promotions, financed by oligarchs and oil-rich nations, offer prize purses far larger than Flograppling can provide. None of these competitions stream on Flograppling, yet they continue to thrive and attract top talent.
“People are like, ‘Oh, I made, you know, $182,000 to go fight for four minutes on this, you know, event over in wherever it was across the world. So that’s my new market price for grappling,'” Kovacs complained. “And you’re like, ‘Well, not quite how it works.'”
“I think like people do see that or a lot of the athletes see that and they think, ‘Oh, Flo’s got money.’ Or they’ll see like, ‘Oh, Flo raised $10 million in their last financing round or whatever and they’ll say, ‘Oh, Flo can pay me.’ And they don’t actually want to be partners. So, they’re like, they’re just trying to sort of squeeze out what they can from their match. They’re not trying to give back.”
The Financial Reality
While athletes may perceive FloSports as flush with cash, the company’s financial picture tells a different story. According to Crunchbase, FloSports has raised $79.4 million across four funding rounds, with lead investors including Warner Bros Discovery, DCM Ventures, and Causeway Media Partners.
FloSports announced a Series D funding round in April 2025 led by Dream Sports, an Indian sports technology company, bringing total funding to over $100 million. Dream Sports operates Dream11, the world’s largest fantasy sports platform, suggesting FloSports may be pivoting toward sports betting integration rather than mainstream monetization.
Examining the “Ecosystem” Partners
IBJJF: The International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation generates substantial revenue through membership fees, competition registration, and event attendance. The federation existed long before Flograppling and operates independently. Flograppling has done little to influence IBJJF rules or spectator experience, with “walk-overs” still occurring when competitors refuse to face friends in finals. Many stars like Mackenzie Dern, Buchecha, Rodolfo Vieira, Gilbert Burns, and Kron Gracie left for MMA careers.
ADCC: The Abu Dhabi Combat Club predates Flograppling and nearly moved to UFC Fight Pass last year. ADCC has maintained prestige and athlete hype despite static prize money.
Polaris: Polaris just returned to Flograppling after spending years on Fightpass. If we know anything about Polaris, it’s that it’s failing to generate interest even when they feature big names. Just a couple of months ago, Danaher’s disciple Helena Crevar lost at Polaris but barely anyone in the community is aware of this and there’s no hype behind the girl who defeated her, because almost nobody is even aware this happened.
BJJ Stars: A profitable Brazilian promotion attracting around 8,000 subscribers per event. BJJ Stars remains independent and has been courted by UFC without success. It is suspected that Flograppling has continued employing their former General Manager, Ricardo Ammendolia, solely to avoid losing BJJ Stars.
Legal Troubles and Reputation Issues
Flosports settled a class action lawsuit regarding California’s Automatic Renewal Law covering renewals from August 2018 through June 2023 in multiple states. A separate $2.625 million Video Privacy Protection Act lawsuit involved using Facebook pixels to track users’ video views without consent.
Of course, on top of the subscription fee, you also get plenty of ads.
Beyond legal troubles, the company employed Hywel Teague, who infamously raised approximately $17,000 from the BJJ community for a documentary about red belts that never materialized. Despite promising to release unfinished footage in 2017, the project remains unreleased. Though Teague was later dismissed as general manager, Flograppling still occasionally hires him for commentary.
Flograppling also mishandled the Craig Jones Invitational 2 broadcast. The company tried to launder it’s reputation through the beloved event, only to private it during peak interest in hopes of getting subscribers off of it – and then reposted the whole thing to youtube anyway.
Competition from UFC and CJI
CJI offered $10,000 to competitors and $1 million team prize. UFC BJJ launched with exclusive athlete contracts offering $15,000 per win plus bonuses. A UFC BJJ executive publicly criticized CJI prizes, backfiring due to lackluster UFC BJJ event excitement.
Who’s Number One Struggles
“The conversations about things like WNO are more like, ‘Hey, like can we put these events on? Can they be fun? Can they help move the sport forward? And can we just not lose so much money on them?'”
“I think, you know, 2026, we probably have to have some hard conversations with some athletes and just say, ‘Hey, we’d love to have you on the card, but you know, we we have to do it a little bit more economically than we’ve done it in the past or we have to change up the format a little bit to be more exciting for the fans.'”
“This isn’t a money-making endeavor for flosports right now to be honest. You know there are other verticals in flo I would say that do better than grappling. Grappling is almost like a labor of love for flosports.”
The Bottom Line
Kovacs’s claim that Flograppling finances the entire BJJ ecosystem appears exaggerated. Major organizations such as IBJJF, ADCC, and BJJ Stars exist independently. Polaris returned to Flograppling out of necessity rather than choice.
Flograppling faces challenges: international competitors with deeper pockets, legal settlements, UFC competition, and struggling flagship event. Nearly a decade to establish dominance in BJJ streaming has not translated into market control.
As international promotions offer six-figure purses and UFC expands grappling presence, Flograppling’s position at the BJJ table appears increasingly precarious. The question is whether the BJJ ecosystem still needs Flograppling at all.
