Jacob Rodriguez has now been banned from training at B-Team Jiu-Jitsu amid serious misconduct allegations. The news was first revealed to the public by an anonymous source on social media, and his removal from the team has since been confirmed by both B-Team and Rodriguez himself. Not only is Rodriguez one of the most successful competitors on the team but he is also the younger brother of co-founder Nicky Rodriguez. He was also slated to be the most likely candidate for the team’s entry at under 88kg in the Craig Jones Invitational 2 lineup, but will no longer be considered for the opportunity.
The public allegations include that Rodriguez ‘had a hidden photo vault on his phone containing explicit images of multiple women who train at the gym’ and that this was reported to key figures in the gym’s ownership, Craig Jones and Seth Belisle, who made the decision to ban him as a result. The full public allegations can be found below:
Jits Magazine reached out to B-Team Jiu-Jitsu for comment when the anonymous allegations were made public and will update this article if and when it is received. Shortly afterward, Jones and the team did share the following statement on their official Instagram accounts:
It’s refreshing to see that a major team in the sport has taken allegations like this so seriously, and that they have taken immediate action on them. Jacob Rodriguez also shared his statement on being banned from B-Team and although neither him nor the team have confirmed or denied the allegations, Rodriguez did admit to ‘unhealthy interactions with women in the gym’ in his statement. He did not share any further details beyond that concerning the allegations themselves but his full statement, and the transcript of it, cam be seen below:
“You may have heard that I have been banned from B-Team, and thos is true… Essentially I’ve had some unhealthy interactions with women in the gym and this has now led to me seeking help through therapy just for my p*rn addiction that I’ve had for quite some time now… Seeking help through therapy for the past few months as well as just further building my relationship with my beleifs, my religion, and just kinda changing my lustful ways and working towards being a better person… That’s the update on where Jay Rod has been.”
