With ADCC drawing closer, Jozef Chen sat down on The White Monster Podcast with host Declan Moody to discuss the growing list of notable absences from this year’s event, framing it as a natural result of how the sport’s financial landscape has shifted.
Chen, who competes in the 194 lbs (88kg) division, pointed to the number of top names sitting out across the board.
“It’s kind of weird because a lot of the really good guys are not doing it, even like just as a whole,” he said. “Not even thinking about my division, but like 77..”
Moody then mentioned, “No Diogo [Reis], no Giancarlo [Bodoni].”
Chen agreed, saying, “No Ruotolo, no Tacketts.”
Despite the missing names, Chen is heading to Poland to compete, though he acknowledged the uncomfortable math of entering.
“I literally paid like 200 bucks for the registration to go compete at ADCC and it’s like there’s no guaranteed pay,” he said, before noting that the event still carries a degree of prestige.
The conversation kept returning to the pull of paid superfig ht organizations as the root issue. A competitor could go three matches, fail to medal, and leave with nothing, while those same athletes are now being compensated to compete on other platforms.
As Chen explained: “A lot of these superfi ght events, I kind of see jiu-jitsu going in this direction as a whole. I think that’s why a lot of the better guys are moving to these types of superfig ht organizations.”
Moody addressed a change in how top competitors view their value. When paid competition was not yet a realistic option, that calculation did not exist. Now it does.
Moody stated, “It’s hard to get out of bed if you’re not getting paid. You need sort of a reason. Obviously I love the sport and I want to compete, but it’s at a point now where I think competitors should recognize their worth as well.”
Rather than treating the absent names as a setback for the event, he pointed to it as a sign of where the sport is heading.
“There is money in the sport now, like huge amounts of money in terms of viewership and participation,” Moody stated. “There’s a ton of money coming into the sport and memberships and things like this and gear. It should scale up.”
Chen agreed and stated, “I just think this is kind of a symptom of it going in that direction, to be honest. It’s very promising.”
