Gordon Ryan recently shared some fantastic advice for young BJJ competitors, giving them the best way to actually make money in the sport. It’s certainly going to be welcome advice, because there is very little opportunity for anyone to make money by doing BJJ. The Craig Jones Invitational broke the mould last year when they paid out a million dollars each to two elite competitors who won their divisions, but that’s still a big exception to the rule. Outside of that single event, most major promotions max out at somewhere around $20-30,000 for tournament winners and less than that for a superfight.
Unfortunately the most prestigious world championships have even less prize money than that on the table. That leaves most BJJ competitors with the choice between a heavy schedule of single matches that will see them just about getting by, or taking a run at a few major tournament in the hope they end up winning. Most will choose a combination of the two, usually alongside another job, and still end up struggling while they establish themselves in the sport. That other job is usually teaching BJJ and even putting together seminars and instructionals, which is the main way that competitors make their money.
While the vast majority of BJJ competitors will struggle to make a living in the sport, Gordon Ryan is one of the few that has actually made a lot of money in his career. He’s one of the most successful competitors in the history of the sport and although he’s almost certainly earned more prize money than anyone else, even he says that it’s the other income streams that really make the difference. Ryan believes that between competition and teaching, a top competitor can actually become rich today. The only way to take it to the next level is to use Jiu-Jitsu as a platform to build relationships according to him:
”Young athletes – because jiu jitsu is a participant based sport, meaning that most people who watch it actually participate in it, and it is not a spectator sport yet, you will not make nearly as much money as pure athletes in other sports from competing. Because of the fact that most people who watch jiu jitsu actually participate in jiu jitsu, most of your money will actually come from teaching. Between competing and teaching, a select few can become rich, but none can become wealthy. The true value of jiu jitsu insofar as wealth isn’t the money you’ll make directly from jiu jitsu. It is the relationship you’ll build from jiu jitsu. If you can use jiu jitsu as a mechanism to build relationships, you can escape the financial prison that is the life of a jiu jitsu athlete. Nickel and diming people is a great way to make quick cash. Building long-term and trustworthy relationships with SOLID people is how you use jiu jitsu to become wealthy. Solid relationships will make you far more money in the long run.”
Gordon Ryan shared his advice for BJJ competitors on how to make money in the sport in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
