Suspensions for the use of illegal substances by the best athletes in BJJ have been pouring in recently. Roberto Cyborg Abreu was caught after the IBJJF No-Gi World Championship and Mica Galvao after the IBJJF World Championship. This will not prevent either of them from competing at the upcoming BJJ Stars tournament. Poland’s Adam Wardziński will also perform in the tournament in the Open weight category, and the prize is 200,000 Brazilian Reals which is approx. $40,000.
This Saturday, the BJJ stars tournament will be held, which is referred to as the biggest tournament in the history of Jiu Jitsu in Brazil. There has never been a tournament where you could win so much money. The winner of the tournament wins up to 200,000. Brazilian reals. It is over 40 thousand. There is a lot to fight for, so it is not surprising that the best BJJ gi competitors have been invited to the tournament.
Among the 16 invited grapplers there was also a place for the best heavyweights – Adam Wardziński . The Pole has had a very good run and a victory in the PAN AMS final over Fellipe Andrew. The whole BJJ world was talking about this fight. It is safe to say that Nicholas Meregali, who won double gold medals at PAN AMS in an amazing style, is missing from the invitees. The absence of a New Wave Jiu Jitsu competitor is a big surprise, but the presence of Mica Galvao and Roberto Abreu may be even bigger.
Mica and Cyborg were recently suspended by the IBJJF. While Cyborg was disqualified during the Worlds in the No-Gi, Mica Galvao was hailed as the youngest IBJJF world champion. The Brazilian from Manaus defeated Tye Ruotolo in the final to claim gold at the Gi Worlds in June. The 19-year-old athlete tested positive for clomiphene in his system. After the IBJJF World Championships, Mica won the silver medal at the ADCC World Championships in Las Vegas.
The news of the one-year ban came after the BJJ Stars fight card was announced. Users have repeatedly asked if Mica Galvao will be performing at the tournament. The organizers clearly stated that they do not operate under the IBJJF federation, and Galvao’s exclusion includes competitions under the banner of the largest BJJ federation in the world.
So, do IBJJF drug tests and suspensions make sense?
IBJJF is a money making machine. Medals from these events are prestigious and count in the world of BJJ, but probably no one remembers Gordon Ryan starting at IBJJF competitions. Would “King Gordon” be satisfied with a medal and flowers for taking part in the competition?
If players are free to compete in other tournaments, the IBJJF ban doesn’t make sense. Probably, half (if not more) of the competitors taking part in the ADCC 2022 World Championships could fail doping tests.
Testing players by one federation does not make any sense, but it also destroys the beauty of this sport. One would like to add Kaynan Duarte to this list of BJ stars, but remember that he was caught in 2019 after winning Worlds and served a year’s suspension (also losing the championship title). So, at the gala in Sao Paulo, there will be contestants with an active doping ban and competitors who do not take doping, at least on paper.
The gala in Sao Paulo will take place this Saturday (April 22, 2023) and will start at 19:00 local time (just after midnight in Poland). Soon we will know the tournament ladder and the first pairs. We keep our fingers crossed for Adam Wardziński’s performance.
Source Grappler info.
