Ben Kovacs is the founder of Guardian, a popular BJJ charity that is supported by some of the biggest names in both Jiu-Jitsu and MMA, and he recently claimed that they were used as a ‘PR stunt’ by the UFC. The revelation came about because Kovacs has recently been hired as the new General Manager of FloGrappling, and he was taking part in a recent episode of their podcast. Although the bulk of the conversation was around his plans for the broadcaster’s future and what they do today, he did also talk about the great work that Guardian does all around the world.
Kovacs first referenced one of their most famous ambassadors, Craig Jones, to talk about how much he has supported the charity and how much he clearly cares about their mission:
“One of the coolest things I saw with Craig (Jones) is when he went to Peru, he actually… one of the kids that was featured there in the episode with him, he started following him on Instagram and he started DMing him back and forth. He’s legitimately friends with this 17-year-old kid who was one of the first kids in the program. He’s not just doing it for like a PR stunt.”
While that was Kovacs’ example of someone helping them in the best way, he was also able to give an example of the opposite attitude. He talked about the time that the UFC paid them a visit and he was far less complimentary about their actions:
“When the UFC came to visit Guardian in LA; they came, they brought the fighters, and then as soon as it was done they were like: “Oh, we’re going to make a donation.” And then they never did. They just ghosted. It was a PR stunt.”
The full interview with Guardian Project founder Ben Kovacs where he accused the UFC of using them for a PR stunt was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of FloGrappling:
