Welcome to the BJJ Beat! On this recurring feature, we’ll tackle the biggest news from the professional grappling scene, and roll everything up in an easily digestible and familiar jiu-jitsu format.
Warm Ups
Craig Jones on CJI 2: If I hated New Wave, why would I give them Mica Galvao?
The biggest talking point in BJJ this past week has been about the judging controversy at CJI 2. There’s been about a five-year rivalry between B-Team and New Wave, since they originally splintered off the original Danaher Death Squad, so reactions about the razor thin decision in the finals match between the two
teams weren’t exactly surprising.
Craig Jones has since released a video to defend his promotion from any claims of “bias.” The BJJ star turned promoter claims that if he really hated New Wave, why would he give them one of the top pound-for-pound grapplers as a “wild card.”
“If I was going to be biased to my former team — DDS, New Wave — I would not have given them Mica Galvao,” Craig Jones said. “I gave them Mica Galvao, who in my opinion, is the number one grappler in the world. If I had any stake in a personal hatred for them, and I was invested in them losing this event, I would not have given them Mica Galvao. I want to make that abundantly clear.”
“Also, (New Wave) did complain about ATOS receiving two wildcards, so what did I do? Gave everyone two wildcards. Which team then took a second wildcard, Vagner Rocha?” Jones said about New Wave.
Jones also claimed there was “no bias” on the seedings, as he simply put the only two teams with two wild cards on one side of the bracket to ensure “fairness.” He said he “made it hard for B-Team” on the other side of the bracket by matching them up against fourth-seeded Daisy Fresh first, instead of weaker teams.
He went on to defend the “perceived” judging controversy, saying people just don’t really understand the 10-point must system very well.
“Everyone’s confused because they were like ‘wait a minute… New Wave won three matches, B-Team won two.’ Well guess what, in a UFC title fight, you can win three rounds and still lose the fight,” Jones argued, explaining 10-8s happen.
“The tiebreaker condition in a draw scenario is that the last round wins. Everything I did in molding the ruleset for this event was that so you could not just get up in a perceived way and then coast to victory. We wanted to weigh the last round heavy.”
One of the three CJI 2 judges on the card also explained that Nick Rodriguez was one-sided enough for a 10-8, but only gave Dorian Olivarez a 10-9 because he spend 3 minutes stuck on guard after his initial dominance.
Drills
UFC BJJ 3 set with 2 title bouts, Musumeci not getting ‘top 5’ opponent he promised
Craig Jones and Mikey Musumeci recently debated the merits of the UFC’s exclusive contracts in BJJ, with the CJI promoter noting how it will prevent Musumeci from facing the best grapplers in the world. Jones criticized UFC BJJ booking Rerisson Gabriel, who has never done no gi as a black belt before that title fight, and asked if Musumeci will finally face a top ranked opponent.
Here’s how that exchange went:
Craig Jones: Who’s your next opponent?
Mikey Musumeci: I’m not allowed to say.
Jones: What’s his caliber? Top 10?
Musumeci: Yes.
Jones: Top five?
Musumeci: Yes.
Jones: Has he competed in no gi before?
Musumeci: Absolutely.
A couple of days after that video came out, UFC BJJ revealed Mikey Musumeci’s next opponent, and his claims just doesn’t seem to line up. UFC has announced that Musumeci will defend his bantamweight title against at UFC BJJ 3 on October 2, 2025. His opponent? Keven Carrasco.
Contrary to what Musumeci implied, Carrasco mainly competes in the gi, and has yet to win a major title or even be ranked by any BJJ outlet. Carrasco’s best achievement is taking bronze at the 2023 IBJJF world championships in the gi.
Carrasco is certainly a talented grappler in his own right, after recently wining gold at the 2025 IBJJF jiu-jitsu CON and going 2-0 under UFC BJJ / UFC FPI. But unless he meant “top five” bantamweight in the still limited UFC BJJ roster, Carrasco just doesn’t have the credentials or the ranking Musumeci claimed.
Everything said, UFC BJJ 3 has actually shaped up really nicely, with two title bouts on the card. The second one involves inaugural UFC BJJ lightweight champion, Carlos Henrique, who defends his belt against a credentialed 3-time IBJJF world champion in Matheus Gabriel.
There are several other BJJ champions on the UFC BJJ 3 fight card, such as PGF champ Andy Varela, no gi world champ Cassia Moura, Filipino-American champs Alex Enriquez and Jalen Fonacier, and recent ADCC EMEA trials winner Ana Mayordomo.
UFC BJJ 3 fight card
October 2, 2025, UFC Apex, Las Vegas
- Mikey Musumeci vs. Keven Carrasco [UFC BJJ bantamweight title]
- Carlos Henrique vs. Matheus Gabriel [UFC BJJ lightweight title]
- Andy Varela vs. Daniel Sathler
- Cassia Moura vs. Alex Enriquez
- Jalen Fonacier vs. Pedro Nakano
- Ana Mayordomo vs. Shye Lilly
Move of the Day
BJJ star Tye Ruotolo wins MMA debut
One of the biggest stars in BJJ has successfully transitioned into MMA. Tye Ruotolo, who was previously the youngest ever BJJ world champion, won his MMA debut by submitting fellow prospect Adrian Lee (3-0). He showed decent striking for his experience, and eventually put Angela Lee’s brother to sleep with a second round rear naked choke.
Tye’s twin brother, CJI and ADCC world champ Kade Ruotolo, is currently 3-0 in MMA as well. The twin grappling phenoms are said to continue balancing both MMA and BJJ competition.
Rolls
Mica Galvao calls out Nicholas Meregali
Mica Galvao, who took home $250,000 from CJI 2 as the “wild card pick” of team New Wave, has now turned around to call out of the team’s biggest stars. He wants to settle his issues with Nicholas Meregali, and has asked to face the much bigger grappling champion.
Meregali has taken shots at Mica Galvao for PED use, and Galvao has since responded to call him out for a match.
Mica, who has routinely competed at 77 kg, is willing to again move up to face another bigger opponent. Meregali is at least two ADCC divisions heavier, and typically competing at 99 kg and higher. Meregali, a three-time IBJJF world champion, hasn’t competed since getting injured and losing in a massive upset at ADCC 2024.
Cooldown
B-Team rebrands to ‘Simple Man Martial Arts’
CJI 2 was the last time we will ever see B-Team and New Wave. New Wave has since rebranded to Kingsway, with the seemingly retired Gordon Ryan running the gym (and charging very expensive private lessons).
Craig Jones has since parted ways with B-Team, which has now been rebranded, with Nicky Ryan as the new head coach. The new team name? B-Team is now be called Simple Man Martial Arts, which is a nod to the Simple Man Podcast that the team’s stars, Nick Rodriguez, Ethan Crelisten and Damien Anderson, have hosted.
Review
To close things out, here are other interesting BJJ stories you might have missed:
- First 5 invites to ADCC 2026! – The ADCC EMEA Trials is over, with 5 BJJ stars (and two CJI vets) winning gold and securing a spot at the ADCC 2026 world championships.
- Mighty Mouse goes down to injury! – UFC legend Demetrious Johnson returned to high level BJJ competition, but unfortunately got submitted and injured.
- “The anonymous CJI donor” wanted to “make it right,” so he paid out another $1 million after CJI 2.
- Speaking of historic BJJ purses, Helena Crevar also won the “highest ever paying” prize in women’s jiu-jitsu.
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