In a recent podcast interview, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Leo Vieira delved into some of the most pressing topics in the sport – including exclusivity contracts.

With the rise of major grappling promotions, concerns have been raised about how such agreements could limit opportunities for top athletes to compete across various events.

As Vice President of ONE Championship’s grappling division, Vieira shared how it used to be before:

Going back to exclusivity, it was similar to the MMA contract, exclusively for everything – exclusively for MMA.

Then I talked to the Chatri (Sityodtong), and I said: “Chatri, this doesn’t work for grappling. What grappling? He doesn’t grapple three times a year; he grapples more times. Understand, the guy who is active is the one who makes the action exciting.”

Vieira acknowledged that the public perception of these contracts has often been skewed, with critics suggesting that they stifle athletes’ freedom.

He countered this narrative by explaining that ONE’s contracts aim to balance organizational needs with athletes’ desires for competitive freedom:

They started using the narrative that we made exclusivity and scared people.

I didn’t have a voice, you know?
The guys didn’t know, and maybe they’ll discover now what our contract really is.

Our contract is about freedom for the grapplers, not like MMA.
It’s completely different.

Our contract becomes exclusive if you are our champion.
If you have a belt, you become exclusive.

He added that athletes under contract are still free to compete in prestigious events like ADCC, CJI, and IBJJF – but are restricted from participating in competitions that might directly rival ONE Championship’s brand:

You compete in any event: ADCC, CJI, IBJJF – whatever.

You don’t compete in events that could compete with our brand, events that theoretically might do no-gi superfights.

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