bjjproblems.com — every take, since 2013
Every snarky take on real BJJ news.
Jun 3, 2026, 10:06 AM
Chimaev Lost the Belt, Got Booked for Wrestling 23 Days Later, and Nobody Checked In
Something peculiar happened in combat sports that deserved more attention than it got. Three days after Khamzat Chimaev went into oxygen deprivation during his weight cut, lost his first professional fight, and watched his 15-0 record end on a split decision at UFC 328 on May 9th
Jun 3, 2026, 09:36 AM
Chimaev Lost His Title Saturday and Still Had to Honor His Wrestling Match Three Weeks Later
Khamzat Chimaev walked into the Prudential Center as a 13-0 UFC middleweight champion carrying something most title challengers don't: a pre-existing wrestling commitment he'd signed six weeks earlier. When he walked out that Saturday night—May 15, to be exact—as a 13-1 former ch
Jun 3, 2026, 09:06 AM
ADCC 2026's Replacement Superfight — And How Gordon Ryan's Exit Left Kaynan Duarte and Yuri Simoes Fighting in His Shadow
When Gordon Ryan announced his retirement just months before what was supposed to be his ADCC superfight showcase, he left the organization with more than just an empty slot on the September card. He left a roadmap of his dismissals, and ADCC filled that superfight with the exact
Jun 3, 2026, 08:35 AM
Back in May, ADCC Finally Settled Its Superfight Void: Duarte vs Simoes Gets the Vacant Belt in September
When the ADCC 2026 superfight matchup was announced on May 12, it landed with the kind of quiet finality that only major decisions in submission grappling can carry. Yuri Simoes confirmed for Tauron Arena in Krakow on September 12-13.
Jun 3, 2026, 07:31 AM
Three Athletes Walked Into Brasileiros Black Belt Finals With A Grand Slam On The Line — Pato, Dalpra, Pessanha Needed One More Gold
Three athletes walked into Ginásio Poliesportivo José Correa with the same résumé. Won Worlds in May 2025.
Jun 2, 2026, 10:44 PM
Max Holloway Trained For McGregor With No Contract Signed — 'It Sucks. You Don't Have Nothing Signed or Whatever.'
The UFC had already moved forward on nearly every front of a Conor McGregor comeback fight against Max Holloway—except the one that actually mattered to the fighter showing up to camp. The promotion had a video game cover courtesy of EA Sports.
Jun 2, 2026, 10:14 PM
Ian Garry Called in Demian Maia to Crack Islam Makhachev's Code — BJJ's Greatest MMA Mind vs. The Grappler Who Broke Everyone Else
About three weeks before Ian Garry's welterweight title fight against Islam Makhachev was set to shake up UFC 330 in Philadelphia, the real story wasn't about two fighters preparing for August 15. It was about a phone call that never should have surprised anyone but did: Garry's
Jun 2, 2026, 09:43 PM
Gianni Grippo Is 34, Waited 11 Years for His Next ADCC Invite, and Just Went 7-0 Without Conceding a Point to Get It
Something genuinely disorienting happened in a packed expo hall in Pomona. Gianni Grippo walked into the ADCC West Coast Trials at 34 years old, entered the -66kg division, and walked out 7-0 with an ADCC invitation in hand.
Jun 2, 2026, 09:13 PM
Mica Galvao Closed BJJ College And Launched Mika Jiu-Jitsu — Diogo Reis Already Out, Andrey Still 'Evaluating'
Something genuinely chaotic unfolded in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Mica Galvao started the week employed by his father's organization.
Jun 2, 2026, 08:42 PM
Melqui Galvao Allegedly Kept Intimidating Witnesses From Inside Prison
Brazilian state deputy Alessandra Campêlo made allegations that transformed what was already a serious case into something darker and more calculated. When Galvao was arrested on April 28th, the prosecution had something damning: a 13-minute audio recording of him apparently nego
Jun 2, 2026, 08:12 PM
Tom Hardy Has Been Training Jiu-Jitsu for 15 Years and Just Made Brown Belt — His Coach Explains How You Keep a Hollywood Star on the Mats
Your first instinct when you hear "Hollywood actor earns BJJ brown belt" is the same as mine. You've seen this movie.
Jun 2, 2026, 07:42 PM
Tom Hardy's BJJ Coach Reveals: Actor Has Been Training in Secret Since 2018
Celebrity BJJ belt stories follow a predictable arc. Actor gets intrigued, visits a famous gym, gets a photo with the instructor, leaves with a new belt.
Jun 2, 2026, 07:20 PM
San Diego Closed The Galvão Case For 'Insufficient Evidence.' A Second Atos Athlete Came Forward Anyway.
The tidy version of the André Galvão story was supposed to end on May 1, when San Diego authorities closed the case for insufficient evidence and no charges were filed. A named athlete inside Atos did not get the memo.
Jun 2, 2026, 07:11 PM
An Atos Black Belt Just Said Both Galvão Accusers Are Telling The Truth
For months, Atos had a tidy way to file the André Galvão allegations: jealous outsiders, disgruntled ex-students, a smear campaign. Then one of their own black belts opened his mouth.
Jun 2, 2026, 06:45 PM
ONE Inner Circle: When Oumar Kane Faced Malykhin in the First Heavyweight Title Defense of 2026
ONE Championship staged a rematch that had been simmering for months—a heavyweight title defense that brought together two of the most dominant grapplers on the promotion's roster at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok. Oumar "Reug Reug" Kane defended his ONE Heavyweight title against An
Jun 2, 2026, 06:14 PM
Mica Galvao Announced His Own Team, Then Shut It Down Before The Gear Was Even Printed
Here's the complete history of Mika Jiu-Jitsu: announced, then canceled, with no gear to show for it. The window between "I'm starting a team" and "never mind" was about a week.
Jun 2, 2026, 05:44 PM
Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson Tried Sumo Wrestling And Actually Meant It
Something unusual happened in the crossover-training space—the kind of thing that should have been a throwaway YouTube moment but turned into something worth actually examining. Stephen Thompson does not wrestle.
Jun 2, 2026, 04:43 PM
Ed O'Neill Explains Why Most BJJ Practitioners Never Reach Black Belt — 'They Just Stop Coming'
Ed O'Neill was 45 when he walked into the Gracie Academy in Torrance, California, for the first time. He trained under Rorion Gracie for sixteen years.
Jun 2, 2026, 04:13 PM
John Danaher on His Two Favorite Types of Students: 'Polar Opposites'
John Danaher sat down with BJJEE on May 30 and described his two favorite types of students as "polar opposites": total beginners learning fundamentals and advanced athletes refining nuances. That wasn't a hot take—that was just smart coaching.
Jun 2, 2026, 03:42 PM
Fabricio Andrey Chose Alliance Over Mica's New Team — Mica's New Team Didn't Last 72 Hours
Three years ago, Fabricio Andrey left. Not with a manifesto.
Jun 2, 2026, 03:12 PM
Joe Rogan Said Chimaev Has Been Winning Because He Hasn't Wrestled Anyone — Burns And Usman Were The Real Tests
Joe Rogan spent part of episode 2487 of his podcast, released April 22 with Action Bronson, explaining that Khamzat Chimaev was, in fact, a freak. Then he spent the rest of it explaining why we didn't actually know how big a freak yet.
Jun 2, 2026, 02:13 PM
GSP On Rolling With Prime Danaher: 'There Was Nothing I Could Do'
"Nothing I could do." That's how Georges St-Pierre, three-time UFC welterweight champion, Hall of Famer, BJJ black belt under John Danaher, describes what it was like to roll with his own coach in his prime. Not "tough rolls." Not "we had good rounds." Nothing he could do.
Jun 2, 2026, 01:43 PM
The Brasileiro Sold Out At 8,000 Entries: How Two AOJ Teammates Nearly Made Back-To-Back Grand Slams Real
Something genuinely rare happened in jiu-jitsu: the IBJJF's oldest major championship hit a ceiling nobody had seen before. The Brasileiro — ten days of competition across every belt level from kids to black belt — sold out at exactly 8,000 registered competitors.
Jun 2, 2026, 01:12 PM
Khamzat Chimaev's $200K Wrestling Bounty Met Reality—And Lost
Khamzat Chimaev made headlines that seemed to sum up everything wrong and right about the crossover fever gripping combat sports. On April 18, the reigning UFC middleweight champion (15-0) signed with Real American Freestyle, posted a $200,000 bounty for any Olympic wrestling cha
Jun 2, 2026, 12:42 PM
Ed O'Neill Has Been Training BJJ Under Rorion Gracie for 40 Years. His Answer to Why People Quit Is Three Words.
Ed O'Neill started training Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 1991. He had one of the highest-rated sitcoms on American television.
Jun 2, 2026, 12:12 PM
Kron Gracie Says His Father's MMA Advice 'Doesn't Work' — Rickson Reportedly Stopped Speaking to Him For Years Over It
Kron Gracie walked into a training session, tried the move his father told him to use, and his training partner snatched his leg and kicked back. The move was a front kick.
Jun 2, 2026, 11:41 AM
Fight 2 Win's 315-Event American Run — and Why It Took 11 Years to Book Brazil
When Fight 2 Win announced its May 23, 2026 event in São Paulo, it marked a quiet milestone that had been staring at the submission grappling world for over a decade: the promotion had just held its 316th show ever, and for the first time in eleven years, it wasn't in North Ameri
Jun 2, 2026, 11:11 AM
Gordon Ryan Said He Was 'Retired.' Then He Kept Showing Up to the Mat—and the Camera Caught Him
About three weeks after Gordon Ryan posted his retirement announcement, footage started circulating that told a different story entirely. The timeline is worth unpacking, because it matters.
Jun 2, 2026, 09:48 AM
F2W Finally Left North America. After 316 Shows, It Took Brazil to Do It.
Fight to Win hit a historic milestone — not because of what happened, but because of where it happened. Three hundred and sixteen shows.
Jun 2, 2026, 09:17 AM
Owen Jones Calls Out Mikey Musumeci: 'He Doesn't Deserve to Be the Face of the Sport'
Owen Jones said it on The Charles Eoghan Experience podcast last summer, and nobody really answered him. "I just don't like that they're trying to make him the face of the sport.