It’s the end of an era, as B-Team Jiu-Jitsu have now officially rebranded as Simple Man Martial Arts. It’s a move that’s been in the works for quite a while now, and it’s an important moment for one of the biggest teams in the sport. The change has only come about in the wake of one of their founders, Craig Jones, leaving the team as he steps away from competition. With a quarter of the leadership team removed and one of the most popular figures no longer there, it was time for the team to move on without him and become something new.
The new name was announced during the live broadcast of CJI 2, which was also the final time that B-Team were going to be competing together. At first it looked like it was going to be the perfect fairytale ending for the team, as they won the tournament in the very last round and were crowned the champions. Unfortunately it wasn’t without controversy though, as some fans and major figures in the sport disagreed with the decision and pointed to apparent contradictions in the ruleset. That disagreement was quickly settled when the unknown benefactor for CJI chose to also pay the New Wave competitors a million dollars in prize money regardless of the outcome.
It wasn’t quite the perfect outcome that B-Team would have wanted for their final outing as a team, but that chapter is now closed. With the rebrand to Simple Man Martial Arts, the remaining leaders Nicky Rodriguez, Nicky Ryan, Ethan Crelinsten, and Damien Anderson are now bringing the team branding in line with their popular podcast. That’s where the first half of their new team name has come from, but the second half points to a more subtle change. The founders already confirmed that they will be transitioning into an MMA team, and dropping ‘Jiu-Jitsu’ off their name in favour of ‘Martial Arts’ seems to suggest that this is still the plan.
The rebrand from B-Team Jiu-Jitsu into Simple Man Martial Arts was announced during the live broadcast of CJI 2 and the full event is available to watch on FloGrappling, click here to subscribe and watch.
