bjjproblems.com — every take, since 2013
Every snarky take on real BJJ news.
Aug 31, 2026, 07:30 AM
Song Yadong Escaped Umar's Half Guard With a Slick Deep Half — Then Knocked Him Cold in R2 at UFC Shanghai
Umar Nurmagomedov walked into the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center on August 29, 2026, as the betting favorite, the undefeated hype train, the obvious next UFC Bantamweight title challenger. He had Khabib's last name and his gym's grappling pedigree.
Aug 30, 2026, 10:16 PM
Mikey Musumeci's MMA Debut: Separating Fact From Hype
If you've scrolled through combat sports news in the last two weeks, you've seen it: Mikey Musumeci is doing MMA. Mikey Musumeci threw his first punch on July 13.
Aug 30, 2026, 08:25 AM
The Stalker Who Tracked Danielle Kelly to Kingsway
If you're a serial online harasser contemplating whether to escalate to real-world stalking, here's a pro tip: Danielle Kelly trains at Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu in Austin, Texas. Not because you should show up—quite the opposite.
Aug 30, 2026, 07:54 AM
Ashton Kutcher's 15-Year Black Belt
Here's what everyone saw: Ashton Kutcher on The Tonight Show in January 2026, doing a textbook sweep while Jimmy Fallon laughed and the audience applauded for thirty seconds. Quick demo, quick joke (Kutcher said Machado gave him the belt "out of pity" for his age), quick pivot to
Aug 30, 2026, 07:16 AM
Dillon Danis Pulled Out. Mike Perry's Shoulder Followed.
When Dillon Danis pulled out of Duel Arena 1 early in fight week with an injury, Mike Perry faced a choice that no fighter wants to make: turn down a check and watch the main event fall apart, or accept a short-notice replacement bout against a different—and more dangerous—oppone
Aug 29, 2026, 09:10 PM
Jordan Burroughs: Can Elite MMA Wrestlers Actually Compete
Jordan Burroughs, 38, two-time Olympic gold medalist and one of the few wrestlers who actually translates his dominance into combat sports, was asked a straightforward question in August 2026: Can elite MMA fighters genuinely compete with elite wrestlers at the highest level? His
Aug 29, 2026, 04:51 PM
Tyson Fury Finally Admits MMA's Grappling Loses Him
Tyson Fury, heavyweight boxing champion and occasional MMA commentator, recently said something that should not have surprised anyone with functioning knowledge of combat sports: MMA "loses him" the moment the fight hits the ground. Let that sentence breathe for a second.
Aug 29, 2026, 04:21 PM
ADCC Bracket Slots: The Withdrawal Cycle
ADCC announced two open bracket slots this week. And if you've been paying attention to competitive grappling for the last eighteen months, you know exactly what this means: another round of last-minute scrambling, another set of athletes suddenly "reconsidering their training ca
Aug 29, 2026, 03:51 PM
CJI Raised the Price. ADCC Can't Afford to Lower It.
When Ben Kovacs, FloGrappling's General Manager, described Combat Jiu-Jitsu International's impact on the grappling landscape as a "hugely painful time," he was being diplomatic. What he actually meant: One competitor showed up, proved athletes were worth real money, then disappe
Aug 29, 2026, 07:46 AM
Dillon Danis Withdrawal: Combat Sports' Accountability Gap
When a fighter pulls out of a main event two days before weigh-ins, everyone loses something. Except the guy who pulled out.
Aug 27, 2026, 04:00 PM
The Olympics Pitch That Scares the Majors
Rigan Machado, a 9th-degree red belt and one of the foundational voices in American jiu-jitsu, recently called Olympic inclusion "a genius idea" and "fantastic." He's right. He's also right about something else: the major organizations will try to block it.
Aug 27, 2026, 03:30 PM
Cejudo Pins Merab in 36 Seconds at RAF 12 — Revenge, Takedown, and Crossover Title
Henry Cejudo walked into Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland on August 23rd knowing exactly what he was doing. Weeks earlier, he'd lost a decision to Merab Dvalishvili in their first encounter—a fight that had gnawed at him for one reason: he knew he could do better.
Aug 27, 2026, 12:25 PM
UFC BJJ Recruits ADCC's 88kg Champion
You know that moment when someone tells you they're really committed to a relationship, and then you catch them making out with your rival at a party? That's essentially what just went down between UFC BJJ and ADCC, except with significantly higher stakes and without the social a
Aug 27, 2026, 11:54 AM
Meregali Refuses MMA: Grappling Stays His Domain
Every time a grappler wins something big, the question arrives like clockwork: When is he going to MMA? Gordon Ryan was supposed to be untouchable at 170.
Aug 27, 2026, 09:53 AM
JiujitsuNYC Removes Student With Harassment History
A video from JiujitsuNYC in Jackson Heights, Queens—run by Professor Alvaro Tautiva on Northern Boulevard—went viral this week for all the wrong reasons. In it, an instructor executes a textbook takedown on a newly enrolled student, transitions to knee-on-belly control, and holds
Aug 27, 2026, 09:23 AM
Rickson Gracie's PRIDE Story Remains Unverified
In the retelling of MMA history, there's a story that shows up everywhere: Erik Paulson, the pioneering cross-trainer and link between the Gracie family and early American MMA, claims he sat in on negotiations between Rickson Gracie and PRIDE FC. The story goes that Paulson watch
Aug 27, 2026, 08:52 AM
Ryan Garcia Got Tapped by a Grappler on Live TV and Handled It Like a Pro
The moment a boxer meets a real grappler, they learn something no amount of footwork or hand speed teaches them. Not a beginner-who-also-boxes.
Aug 27, 2026, 08:22 AM
Bo Nickal's Unbeaten Wrestling Streak Ends at RAF 12 — A 21-Year-Old NCAA Champ Did It
Bo Nickal walked into RAF 12 in Cleveland on August 22 with the kind of resume that makes casuals ask why he bothers with wrestling at all. Three NCAA Division I heavyweight titles.
Aug 27, 2026, 07:52 AM
UFC Fighter Stan Dorsainvil Is Still Working Part-Time at Home Depot: 'Times Are Getting Hard'
Stan Dorsainvil made his UFC debut over the weekend of August 23rd and 24th, 2026. That's the part everyone hears—the big one, the card, the Octagon, the dream realized.
Aug 26, 2026, 09:28 PM
Pessanha Earns ADCC 2026 Spot After Guedes Withdrawal
ADCC is the Mount Rushmore of grappling tournaments. It's the one title that makes a grappler's career different.
Aug 26, 2026, 05:56 PM
Cejudo Pins Merab in 36 Seconds at RAF 12
Henry Cejudo pinned Merab Dvalishvili in 36 seconds at RAF 12 in Cleveland on Friday night. Let that number sit for a second.
Aug 26, 2026, 04:25 PM
Burns Challenges Covington to RAF Wrestling Match
Gilbert Burns has found his next chapter, and it's not in the Octagon. The former UFC welterweight title contender who hung up his MMA gloves in 2026 has been making waves in the grappling world, and now he's looking to settle one of his oldest scores—except not on the mat, and n
Aug 26, 2026, 03:54 PM
The BJJ Champion Who Just Choked Out a Gracie Is Calling Out Paddy Pimblett
Andrew Tackett put Jonnatas Gracie to sleep with a face crank at 1:44 of the first round at UFC BJJ 10 in Las Vegas on August 20. Fourth consecutive title defense.
Aug 26, 2026, 03:24 PM
Bryce Mitchell Challenges Musumeci at UFC BJJ 11
Mikey Musumeci—the reigning UFC BJJ Bantamweight Champion and one of the most technically complete no-gi grapplers alive—will face Bryce Mitchell, an active UFC fighter and wrestling-heavy bantamweight who has decided that mixing it up in pure grappling competition is a good idea
Aug 26, 2026, 12:55 PM
Mike Perry vs Dillon Danis: Duel Arena 1 This Friday
If you've been on the grappling internet for longer than a single scroll, you know exactly who Mike Perry and Dillon Danis are. And you know that putting them in a cage together is either the worst idea combat sports has ever had or the best three-minute investment of your Friday
Aug 26, 2026, 12:25 PM
Tom Hardy Brown Belt: Why Competition Scares Him
Tom Hardy has built his entire career on playing fearless characters—a warrior in Mad Max, a soldier in Dunkirk, a lethal symbiote in Venom. He started training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at 40 and, in a recent interview, admitted something most action stars won't: "I don't really like
Aug 26, 2026, 11:54 AM
Jordan Burroughs 11-0 at RAF 12, Calls Out Makhachev
Jordan Burroughs didn't just make his Real American Freestyle grappling debut on August 22, 2026, at RAF 12 in Cleveland. He announced it with the kind of audacity that only comes from someone who's spent fifteen years being right about everything: he won 11-0 against Sean Brady,
Aug 19, 2026, 07:06 PM
Tom DeBlass Raises Alarm on Youth Doping in BJJ
Tom DeBlass doesn't usually pull punches, but his Instagram post on August 17 landed harder than most people in the sport were ready to catch. The New Jersey-based black belt and gym owner, who's built a reputation for calling out nonsense in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, posted something
Aug 19, 2026, 05:30 PM
Islam Makhachev Holds Two Belts, Tests Gym-Loyalty Code
Islam Makhachev pulled out the gym-loyalty card on Mighty Cast with conviction that sounds unshakeable in the moment and complicated in practice. The principle: teammates who train together for years should not compete against each other.
Aug 19, 2026, 08:25 AM
Craig Jones Investigates Melqui Galvao Allegations
Craig Jones isn't a documentarian. He's not a journalist.