bjjproblems.com — every take, since 2013
Every snarky take on real BJJ news.
Jun 1, 2026, 07:53 PM
Andre Galvao Was Already Back On The Mat At Atos On April 18 — Then He Issued His Written Denial Of Alexa Herse's Allegations Four Days Later
There's an order these things are supposed to follow. Deny through your lawyer.
Jun 1, 2026, 07:23 PM
Tsarukyan Reveals He Spends $500K-$700K Per Month — Mostly on Watches Up to $250K Each
The UFC's 2 lightweight contender just told a podcast he spends $500,000 to $700,000 a month, mostly on watches he buys himself after training sessions. The promotion's main concern, separately, is that he might win a title and leave.
Jun 1, 2026, 06:25 PM
UFC Launched Amateur BJJ 'Opens' With Submission-Only Black Belt Finals — Because Decisions Weren't Broken Enough
The UFC did something unexpected: it launched an amateur BJJ circuit and immediately solved a problem that's plagued sport jiu-jitsu for two decades. Make winning non-negotiable.
Jun 1, 2026, 05:54 PM
Rafael Lovato Jr. Returns to Jiu-Jitsu After 14 Years — A Three-Time World Champion Discovers His Calling Again
The jiu-jitsu world got a reminder that some legacies don't stay retired. Rafael Lovato Jr., the three-time IBJJF World Champion and ADCC bronze medalist who'd been away from competitive grappling since 2012, stepped back onto the mats for UFC BJJ 9 on May 26th to face Horlando M
Jun 1, 2026, 05:24 PM
Kade Ruotolo Met His Hardest MMA Test — How a 22-Year-Old Submission Machine Faced 15-6 Veteran Hiroyuki Tetsuka
Kade Ruotolo walked into Lumpinee Stadium on May 15 to face Hiroyuki Tetsuka: 21 professional fights, an 87% finishing rate, and a fresh TKO of Shinya Aoki on his record sheet. At the time, it represented exactly what the booking suggested — the moment where a submission phenom's
Jun 1, 2026, 04:23 PM
Chimaev Posted Striking Footage Instead of the Grappling Tape That Was Supposed to Destroy Strickland
About a month before UFC 328 went down in Newark, Khamzat Chimaev made a decision that would haunt the lead-up to his middleweight title shot against Sean Strickland. On a Tuesday four days before the fight, he posted a 26-second sparring clip to social media.
Jun 1, 2026, 03:53 PM
Paddy Pimblett vs Benoit Saint-Denis Made UFC 329 The Year's Most BJJ-Stacked Card—McGregor Noise Aside
When UFC 329 added Paddy Pimblett vs Benoit Saint-Denis at lightweight, it completed what quietly became the most BJJ-coded pay-per-view the company had built in years. Pimblett had been teasing the booking for weeks.
Jun 1, 2026, 03:23 PM
Tony Ferguson Books RAF 10 vs Tsarukyan — UFC Hall Of Famer At 42 Joins The Sixth Tsarukyan Wrestling Match In Six Months
When Ariel Helwani broke the news that Tony Ferguson had agreed to wrestle Arman Tsarukyan at RAF 10, the internet did what it always does: it checked the calendar and started doing math. The booking was set for June 13 at Chaifetz Arena in St.
Jun 1, 2026, 01:33 PM
McGregor vs Holloway 2 at UFC 329 Was the Most BJJ-Heavy Main Card in Years—and Nobody Saw It Coming
When Dana White confirmed McGregor vs. Holloway 2 for UFC 329 on July 11 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas during International Fight Week, the MMA world did what it always does when McGregor's name gets attached to anything real.
Jun 1, 2026, 01:03 PM
UFC BJJ 8's Injury Chaos — Two Short-Notice Replacements Changed Everything
Back in late May 2026, UFC BJJ 8 became a masterclass in how quickly a fight card can unravel. When the dust settled on May 21 at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas, two of the fights looked nothing like what the promotion had originally announced—and both changes came down to injuries a
Jun 1, 2026, 12:32 PM
UFC Winnipeg's Notorious Decision: When Sal D'Amato Struck Again and the Grappling Community Lost It
Back in April 2026, UFC Winnipeg delivered what will likely go down as one of the most talked-about scorecards in recent memory. When the judges' decision came down in favor of Jasmine Jasudavicius over Karine Silva in a unanimous verdict, the reaction was swift and brutal.
Jun 1, 2026, 12:01 PM
Joe Rogan Started Questioning the UFC — Fighter Pay, Chimaev's Timeline, and a Crack in the Alliance
Back in late May 2026, something shifted in Joe Rogan's relationship with the UFC. Not in a way that suggested imminent rupture or a permanent split from the organization that's defined his media presence for two decades.
Jun 1, 2026, 11:30 AM
SUG 30 Went Down on UFC Fight Pass — After 4.5 Years Dark, Chael's Comeback Landed With All the Drama You'd Expect
Back in mid-May 2026, Submission Underground finally showed up again. When this went down recently — May 17 in Florianópolis, Brazil — it marked the official return of a grappling promotion that had simply vanished for four and a half years.
Jun 1, 2026, 11:00 AM
Rerisson Gabriel Ended Diego Pato's Nine-Title Streak and Killed His Grand Slam Chase at Brasileiros
Back in late April, Diego "Pato" Oliveira walked into Barueri carrying a streak so absurd it had stopped being a conversation starter and become something closer to accepted fact. Nine consecutive IBJJF major titles.
Jun 1, 2026, 10:29 AM
ONE Championship's 2025 Submission Grappler of the Year Lost His Team in 152 Days
Back in late 2025, things looked perfect for Diogo "Baby Shark" Reis. On December 31, ONE Championship announced its year-end awards, and Reis took Submission Grappler of the Year — the kind of capstone that closes out a flawless competitive season.
Jun 1, 2026, 09:58 AM
Netflix Debuted MMA and Built a Theme Park Instead of a Sport Card
Back in May 2026, when Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions rolled out Netflix's first live MMA broadcast from Intuit Dome in LA on May 16th, nobody was quite prepared for what had actually been assembled. Nineteen days later, looking at what went down that Saturday night, the wh
Jun 1, 2026, 09:28 AM
Khamzat Chimaev Said 'I'm Not Going to Touch You'—Then Kicked Sean Strickland
Back in late May 2026, the combat sports world got a masterclass in how not to keep a promise. On May 8th, at the Prudential Center in Newark, Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland's UFC 328 press conference descended into the kind of chaos that leaves security personnel earning th
Jun 1, 2026, 08:57 AM
Werdum vs Dos Santos 3: Two UFC Heavyweights Admit Defeat to Grappling
When two former UFC heavyweight champions who built their legacies throwing hands at each other agree to meet on the mat—no strikes, no judges, just pure submission wrestling—you're watching combat sports come full circle. Except the circle is really a downward spiral, and everyo
Jun 1, 2026, 08:26 AM
Gina Carano Lost 100 Pounds to Fight Ronda Rousey on Netflix
When this went down back in mid-May 2026, it felt like the kind of celebrity MMA nostalgia card that shouldn't have worked—two former champions separated from active competition by roughly a decade, fighting on Netflix under Jake Paul's MVP banner. But what made the whole thing s
Jun 1, 2026, 07:56 AM
Nicholas Meregali Became The Sport's De Facto Whistleblower — And Why That Matters
Back in late April 2026, something happened in Brazilian jiu-jitsu that exposed a fundamental structural problem in how the sport handles allegations, accountability, and the people willing to speak up. When Melqui Galvao turned himself in to police on April 27th on a 30-day temp
Jun 1, 2026, 07:25 AM
Tatsuro Taira's 18 Wins, 10 Submissions, and the Night He Faced the Striker With the Highest Rate in UFC History
Back in May 2026, there was a matchup that looked like a textbook clash of incompatible styles — the kind of fight that gets booked because both fighters earned it, not because anyone expected a clean narrative to emerge. Tatsuro Taira, sitting at 18 professional wins with 10 by
May 31, 2026, 10:50 PM
Buchecha's UFC Vegas 116 Loss Exposed The BJJ-To-MMA Problem That Won't Go Away
Back in late April, when Marcus Buchecha stepped into the octagon against Ryan Spann at UFC Vegas 116, the most decorated gi competitor of his generation had roughly ninety seconds to make his case that elite jiu-jitsu still scales in mixed rules. He got the opportunity.
May 31, 2026, 10:03 PM
RAF 7's Security Gamble Against Dillon Danis—How a Wrestling Card Became a Containment Operation
Back in March 2026, Real American Freestyle learned an expensive lesson about risk management in combat sports. When RAF 7 rolled into Tampa on March 28, the promotion had already made a decision that said everything you needed to know about one of its competitors: they hired add
May 30, 2026, 12:31 PM
Gym Owner's Harsh Feedback Philosophy Backfires as Students Quit
There's a gym in your area. There's probably more than one.
May 29, 2026, 08:44 PM
Mario Lopez Earns Brown Belt as Galvao Seeks Redemption
Mario Lopez earned his brown belt the way most serious grapplers do: by showing up, putting in years of work, and winning a major tournament. The IBJJF Master North American Championship doesn't hand out medals for showing up early.
May 29, 2026, 05:44 PM
Ffion Davies Returns to UFC BJJ 9 After Title Loss
When you lose a championship, the standard play is to disappear for a while. Cry into your açaí bowl.
May 29, 2026, 03:17 PM
Renato Moicano's YouTube MMA Event Draws 600K Views
When you cut out the middleman, you get the product without the filter. That's the pitch Renato Moicano just proved—and then immediately disproved.
May 29, 2026, 12:00 PM
Tainan Dalpra & Gabi Pessanha Chase IBJJF Grand Slam at Worlds 2026
When you're the last two athletes standing in a four-tournament gauntlet, the Grand Slam stops being a hypothetical achievement and becomes a very real, very exhausting reality. That's where Tainan Dalpra and Gabi Pessanha find themselves one week out from IBJJF Worlds 2026 in Lo
May 29, 2026, 09:26 AM
Fowler vs. Johnson II: UFC BJJ Rematch Under Controversial Rules
That's how long Mason Fowler and Devhonte Johnson have been waiting for a do-over, and on June 4, 2026, they're finally getting one. Except it's not really a do-over.
May 29, 2026, 07:01 AM
Roosevelt Sousa Banned by USADA, UFC BJJ Books Title Fight
There is a specific kind of cognitive dissonance that happens when you watch a sport announce, with total confidence, that it has solved a problem—and then immediately creates the exact problem it just solved. Roosevelt Sousa knows that feeling now.