UFC Fight Pass came within inches of signing an exclusive streaming deal with ADCC and although the breakdown of that deal is common knowledge, UFC executive Ant Evans recently revealed the reason why. It would have been one of the biggest deals in BJJ history, as ADCC have been locked in with FloGrappling for a very long time and Fight Pass bringing them in board would have been a disaster for the platform. In an alternate universe where the deal goes ahead, the landscape of professional grappling would likely look very differently. Everything seemed like a done-deal at the time too, as the UFC even announced the exclusive multi-year deal at the beginning of 2023.
Evans explained that ADCC was a long-term goal for him and fellow Fight Pass executive Stephen Tecci, but it was a third man who threw a spanner in the works:
“Me and Stephen Tecci wanted to go after FloGrappling in the worst way, in the worst way we wanted to just smash them and we needed to get the crown jewel. Finally years after I left and Crowley (Sullivan) had been in charge, really Stephen Tecci had ran this all along, he ran it with me and then he ran it by himself with Crowley Sullivan taking credit for his work and the team’s work. That’s what happened.”
He also referenced the announcement that the UFC made, using it as evidence of how close the deal actually was to going through:
“They put out the press release. We’ve taken Abu Dhabi, Fight Pass now has every major BJJ in the world, blah blah blah, kicking a**, woohoo, that’s the press release.”
That’s when disaster struck according to Evans, and it was all down to an interaction that Sullivan had with former ADCC head organizer Mo Jassim and his partner:
“I heard he mistakes Mo’s wife for a prostitute… his girlfriend, for a prostitute.”
That obviously wouldn’t go down well with anyone, and Evans claims that this is what soured the deal:
“If somebody tried to f**k my girlfriend in front of me for money, I probably wouldn’t want to be in business with them any more… And that’s what happened.”
Although the exact reason has never been confirmed by either of the parties concerned, the silence around the deal breaking down has always been a source of interest. After the massive press release, ADCC turned around and re-signed with FloGrappling just 4 months later. The rest is history of course and ADCC has remained on FloGrappling since then, while UFC Fight Pass has pivoted to exploring their own in-house promotion with the launch of UFC BJJ instead.
The full clip where Ant Evans reveals why the proposed deal between ADCC and UFC Fight Pass broke down was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of the MMA History Podcast:
