Greg Souders is one of the biggest proponents of ecological training methods in Jiu-Jitsu right now, and he’s just agreed to a live debate on the topic with both Dan Manasoiu and Tom DeBlass. It’s an unusual prospect and not something that’s been done very much in the sport before, but interestingly DeBlass himself does actually have some experience in the area. He previously engaged in a live discussion with Rener Gracie about the infamous $46 million lawsuit, so he might be able to lend some assistance to Manasoiu. It’s unclear exactly what started the whole thing off, but Souders has been incredibly vocal about his beliefs on learning Jiu-Jitsu and even criticised BJJ instructionals recently.
The idea of a debate with Greg Souders about the use of ecological training methods in Jiu-Jitsu first surfaced when Dan Manasoiu issued the challenge publicly in a post to his official Instagram account:
It seems as though Manasoiu has taken issue with one or more things that Souders has said during his appearances on various podcasts. It’s not entirely surprising that ADCC veterans like Manasoi might take issue with some of the things that Souders has said, given that he’s been so critical of more popular or traditional training methods. In fact, the Mendes Brothers also recently spoke out about the topic and said that it isn’t a new approach at all. Manasoiu has taken it a step further than that though and he clearly doesn’t think very highly of anything Souders’ advocates for, or what he’s managed to do by following his approach.
It wasn’t long after that the original challenge that Tom Deblass got involved as well. Not only did Greg Souders agree to debate both Manasoiu and Deblass on ecological training methods in Jiu-Jitsu, but they even set a date for January 29th, 2025:
