Eddie Bravo appeared on Jake Shields‘ podcast at 10th Planet headquarters in downtown Los Angeles, where the two rolled and discussed the future of EBI amid ongoing talks with the UFC.
When asked about upcoming events, Bravo offered a direct update on the situation.
“We’re like in negotiations right now, negotiating budget type stuff,”
he said.
“People want more money nowadays. They want to cut my money. And we’re like, well, how much you going to cut? We can’t take that big of a cut. I’ve done it for over 10 years. If it doesn’t work out and they cut the budget so low that it’s not worth it, then I might get out. There’s enough tournaments out there. I’m not needed.”
Shields pushed back, suggesting Bravo had already proven everything he needed to, which led Bravo to defend the legitimacy of the EBI format and its overtime structure against long-standing criticism.
“Out of every single EBI tournament, the guys that ended up in the finals deserved it. There was nobody that gamed it to the finals. It’s never happened,”
he said.
“Think about it. If a guy games it like Keith Kirkorian, they claimed he would game it in the beginning because he always worked on the EBI overtime rounds first. So he got good on the back attacks. When he would do EBI rules tournaments, he would win in overtime. People like, oh, he’s only winning in overtime. Do you understand what’s going on? He’s winning in a rear naked choke sh0tout. Can you imagine how good he’s going to get once he gets the rest of his game rounded out? That guy is one of the best guys.”
Bravo acknowledged that stalling to reach overtime is not unique to EBI and occurs across grappling formats.
“Gaming the system to drag it to overtime to make it a wrestling match happens all the time. It happens in ADCC all the time. But at least in EBI, if you go to overtime and stall, it’s going to be a rear naked choke sho0tout. It’s not going to be a wrestling match.”
He also pointed to a past event involving Yuki Takahashi, where defensive success determined the outcome despite dominant positions from his own athletes.
“He won the whole thing by defense. I didn’t complain. I told my guys, you need better offense.”
On the reasoning behind his preferred rule set, Bravo made his stance clear.
“I could be wrong. I’m not always right. But combat jiu-jitsu with EBI overtime, jiu-jitsu with strikes, and if it goes overtime, we’re going to have a rear naked choke (). That’s what I think is the best.”
Whether EBI continues under the UFC umbrella now hinges on the outcome of the ongoing budget negotiations.
