Ffion Davies is undoubtedly one of the most successful women in BJJ today, and she recently shared a message to her fellow female competitors and coaches in the sport. Davies is currently a first degree BJJ black belt who has been competing and winning at the highest level of the sport for around 5 years now. She’s achieved a number of things as a competitor that very few women have ever managed to do, and has even recently promoted her first person to black belt as well.
She’s set a number of records in the sport and is the most successful competitor to ever come out of Europe, male or female. Davies currently sits in the incredibly rare position of being the reigning champion of the world’s most prestigious tournaments in both gi and no gi grappling. She won the under 60kg division at ADCC 2022 in dominant fashion and she had already won a number of major no gi titles before this as well. Then, earlier this year she managed to add the IBJJF World Championship to her collection by beating all four of her opponents in the lightweight division.
All this to say that there are very few women in BJJ who are able to command higher fees for matches, seminars, and general instruction than Ffion Davies. Despite all of this success, she recently revealed that even she has suffered with impostor syndrome in the past. It’s a common problem of course and it can often lead to athletes not knowing their true value when it comes to selling their services. As Davies explained, a rising tide lifts all ships and if the world’s top female BJJ competitors are all able to charge the fees they are worth then the level of athlete just below them will also be able to charge what they’re truly worth as well.
Considering that women have only been able to compete at the highest level of BJJ just a little over two decades ago, the sport has come an incredibly long way since then. It can often be tempting to look at how far the sport has come and feel as though the hard work has been done, but Davies is right in her assessment. Competitors still undervalue themselves and what they bring to the table, and it doesn’t help that many promoters or coaches do the same. It’s hard to break that cycle but if everyone is able to do so, the sport will be significantly better off for women in the future.
Ffion Davies shared her message to women in BJJ about charging their worth and not accepting low pay in a recent post to her official Instagram account:
