Caio Terra talked to Brazilian BJJ media Protocolo BJJ (in Portuguese) about everything from the Worlds in California, IBJJF, cash prizes, Abu Dhabi and more.
BJJ Protocol: Caio, what is your opinion about what many athletes have been asking the IBJJF and CBJJ regarding their right to cash prizes?
Caio Terra: I think it’s cool that they are making a stand for something, but prize money is not the answer if we are concerned with the evolution of the sport.
Lets say they agree to give $5,000 per category. They would have spent nearly $100,000 with the black belts alone (male and female). For the competitors who live in the U.S., who are the majority of fighters that are winning the big events nowadays, it would be almost nothing because you spend this amount in a month here, so $5,000 would not change anyone’s day-to-day life.
A circuit is an excellent idea to give more relevance to the smaller events. Some may argue that this is just to benefit the IBJJF, but if you attend these you will see that they close the sign ups early on almost every tournament in the U.S., as they fill-up the quota of athletes that they could have.
$100,000 for the IBJJF is an amount that could be invested much better, because then the sport can grow and reach out for sponsorships outside BJJ or the usual kimono brands, perhaps this way in the future we will have a sponsorship of $25,000 to $100,000 per category.
Look at last year’s Pro league, nobody came to fight and it was worth $5,000… I would love to get paid, but it’s more important to prioritize the growth of the sport so the next generation and ours can live well from the sport.

BJJ Protocol: Caio, but you understand that not all fighters involved are already elite athletes? Should the IBJJF work for all types of competitors, or just the elite? >>> (you didnt have this part) There are real “up and comming” fighters out there that cannot afford to travel, is it not right to demand cash prizes for a sport with a professional circuit?
Is there a big problem with IBJJF’s marketing team? At the end of the day there are sports out there like cliff diving, air racing, etc that are sponsored by elite brands, even the World Pro Championship trials in Gramado this year had a major sponsor. Why can’t IBJJF get this sort of support, even with government laws helping sports? 

Caio Terra: almost all the top fighters have sponsorship and can travel at no cost. Sure some fighters are still rising and don’t have the same support, but realistically they either haven’t won a big tournament or they need to renegotiate the use of their image.
You quoted sports that have strong sponsorships from coorporations and the government. But who is sponsoring BJJ? The IBJJF does a lot less money than these organizations, in fact these are big companies and IBJJF is not. Everyone that fights in it, fights because they want too.
There is no better tournament to fight at. of course, errors still occur, but the IBJJF has by far the best organization. The flaw is not in the Marketing, its in the infrastructure. The Marketing has been tremendous, otherwise the sport wouldn’t have grown like it has. The IBJJF must invest, but not on money prizes. They must invest in making this a clean sport which sponsors will want to invest in.
BJJ Protocol: And what should the investment be?

Caio Terra: If they took 100,000 out of every big tournament and use to invest, they could start with a refereeing program, professionalizing referees, giving them a wage, and where to study daily, a referee school. Several referees live in LA and could attend these. They could travel around the country during the weekends to referee events as there is one almost every weekend.
With this new circuit, they could increase the amount of events in Brazil, Asia, Africa and Australia. Specially Asia and Brazil.
They could get together with the government after the olympics to help bring a big event like the Mundial back to Brazil in a big venue. Although this would not be possible at the moment due to the lack of security in Brazil.
It’s important to invest in the growth of BJJ, the marketing does not have to come back to the fighters, it should be put into those that are not familiar with the sport.
The IBJJF has today people with wages, working on the evolution of the sport and their brand.
BJJ Protocol: Do you think the football model would work in Jiu Jitsu? If the search for top sponsorship was done by the academies (teams), and their respective marketing teams. They would have the opportunity to help their fighters this way.
Caio Terra: No, because no company wants to invest in a sport that people don’t take seriously. And when a team breaks, where does the money go?

BJJ Protocol: So the IBJJF/CBJJ are a federation or a company?
Caio Terra: Obviously they are a company. However they are a good company in a way. Without them we would be nothing because they are much more organized than any other federation. Abu Dhabi is a joke.

BJJ Protocol: So the main purpose of the federation is to make a profit? Is the IBJJF better than Abu Dhabi beyond the “name” (reputation)?

Caio Terra:. Of course they want to make money, but they also do a very good good job of developing the sport. IBJJF is much better. Abu Dhabi is still far behind, they are relevant only because they have money. I won the trials 3 times and am still waiting for my plane tickets. Where are they?
The World Pro of Abu Dhabi is a circus and the clowns are the fighters.
Those who have been know what I’m talking about. Nevertheless several of our athletes always compete there, I have nothing against that because fighting is always good, to travel and fight is good for them, but for me I’ve done plenty of both so it makes no difference.