There was controversy at the ADCC Dallas Open on June 15th, 2024, as police arrived to take statements and address a fight that broke out after the conclusion of a match. It’s unfortunately not all that uncommon for things to get out of hand at grappling events when tensions run high and one competitor does something the other might not like. That’s no excuse though, and as Jiu-Jitsu is pushing to become a professional sport this type of behaviour only serves to hold back the growth of the sport. It’s not hard to imagine that sponsors may be hesitant to have their name attached to events where this can happen.
Although most of the event was a success and there was plenty of high-level grappling on display, controversial moments like this can often overshadow that. The incident occurred immediately after a match in the repechage bracket of the over 100kg division, where Vince Barbosa and Jerhett Lee were competing for a place in the bronze-medal match. Lee was winning the match 3-0 on points but Barbosa was on his back and attempting to put hooks in to score the winning points, while Lee was lying flat on the ground to prevent it. The time ran out with Barbosa unable to score and as he stood up, he decided to step on his prone opponent’s back and walk across him.
This obviously didn’t sit well with Lee and the Mohler MMA representative immediately stood up and rushed at Barbosa, who competes under B-Team Jiu-Jitsu. The incident escalated very quickly from there as several more people ran towards them both, with some people looking to separate them and others looking to get involved. One man in particular, who commenters have alleged to be top competitor Kieran Kichuk, rips his hoodie off and runs into the crowd in order to throw a punch at someone. Although several people involved have been blamed for the incident occurring, this action is the one that many are focusing on as clear escalation.
This might not be the first time that a match at an ADCC Open has ended in unsanctioned violence, but it’s worth remembering that there’s nothing particularly special about any of these events that encourage this behaviour. Previous incidents have resulted in lifetime bans and ADCC head organizer Mo Jassim has already publicly disavowed this behaviour, as it’s clearly not something that the promotion supports. To his credit, B-Team co-founder Craig Jones has also spoken out and said that ‘This is situation is very dumb, my guy shouldn’t have punched anyone’ in a comment on Reddit.
