Ryron Gracie and Andre Galvao’s match at Metamoris this past weekend was interesting to say the least.. Most of the match consisted of Andre being the agressor and Ryron defending. With no submission in the 20 minutes, it ended in a draw. With controversial statements said by both sides, a lot of fans got into the subject and starting defending which side they thought was correct. At the post-fight press conference Ryron Gracie had a very controversial statement which was: ”The [IBJJF] medal has zero value. It means as much as this tablecloth right here, but people still kill themselves to try to get those medals.” – Ryron Gracie. Being IBJJF Competitors ourselves we thought this was a very disrespectful statement. So we got opinions from high level competitors on the subject. Check out their thoughts below.

Victor Estima: I really think that of competing on Ibjjf it’s not worth it why would he want so bad to compete again one of our champions. To be a world champion is a achievement in life. It’s changes people’s life and give opportunities to many people to live out of their passion. If he says it isn’t worth it. I guess he has never needed to prove that. People are different so it might not have any value for him. This is his point of view but might not be the right one. Winning a world title at Ibjjf has change my life. I had a tough life. It was the only way to achieve success for me. Ryron has all the attention and has no need to win to get success as his Dad done that for him. I respect the Gracie family. I represent them with all my heart. I am happy and I raise my family with the results of the Competitions so I guess it’s worth my life.

Lucas Leite: I think this is very disrespectful. and the way his fight was against Galvao was like one rat[mouse] against one cat…..

Caio Terra: If people are killing themselves and they had the best black belts competing at it, it does have a lot of meaning which gives it value.
I think he probably meant to say something else, because by saying this, he’s basically insulting all the jiu-jitsu competitors, all of us who are doing his family a favor of spreading this art that they are credited for.
Anyways, he should compete in it and maybe he will find the value.

Samir Chantre: I think Ryron and everyone with his last name doesn’t need to do anything to be known, but we do! That’s what they don’t get. I don’t think I would be having the opportunity to give my opinion if I was hanging on my grandfather last name. Do you know who Mr Chantre was? that’s what I figured.

The medal itself may not mean much, but the visibility that you get from your win does, and a lot! People can only talk bad about IBJJF when they make a better, more organized and more visible tournaments than what IBJJF does.

Some people say it’s easy to play on the IBJJF rules and win, in my opinion, it is way easier to defend yourself only not to get submitted, let the guy get all the positions and draw!

Samuel Braga: I believe the value behind world championship has due all the top Jiu jitsu players and well known are competing at the event . Proving yourself among the best competitors create a values that no other tournament will do . If there was not importance on such event , He would not bring up the fact Andre galvao is top jiu jitsu player nowadays, Andre galvao and many others prove their value competing the world championship .

Beneil Dariush: How would he know? He doesn’t have any ibjjf medals.

Keenan Cornelius: I dont know the context of when he said that, but it sounds like he is trying to say that it is just a game and people shouldn’t be so serious about it. but medals are a symbol of accomplishment to prove to ourselves we are improving, winning, whatever it may be. just like the belts in jiu-jitsu are symbolic of experience and knowledge. Maybe its because Ryron doesnt compete alot but i think alot of serious jiu-jitsu competitiors would agree with me when i say its not about the medal anyways, the medal just is something to look back on and remind us what we went through to achieve our goals. personally every medal i have won just gets thrown under my bed and collects dust.(unless its silver or bronze, i throw those away at the first trashcan i see) i guess i can see where he is coming from if he is looking at it like that. however i dont agree with his mentality of competition about just defending.. thats really lame. and boring. its not hard to just defend in jiu-jitsu that why i personally like the point system more because you cant just just lay there if you are down on points you have to fight to get out which opens up submission opportunities.

Jeff Glover: He has his own style, and I love it. I think they both have something to offer the bjj world.

Kit Dale: A guy who defends 95% of the fight is losing 95%! of the fight.. He’s not lucky it wasn’t an IBJJF match.. That’s just convenient.. He’s lucky it wasn’t a street fight with no rules!.. defending the Guard with no real attempts of attacking is no where near as effective as side control/ knee ride/mount or back control and comp bjj teaches you to transition that way hence the point system is progressive to encourage moving forward to more dominant positions.. Galvao dictated that whole fight and is the winner by a mile in my books.. Sitting on your back trying harder to look like he wasn’t trying, more then trying to finish that fight was Ryron.. Then to quote that the IBJJF Medal is as worthless as this table cloth was extremely disrespect-able and stupid.. He lives in a world of trying to make $ through marketing a system that is full of broken promises.. In my opinion all the real bjj practitioners are the ones you see competition.. Putting there skills to the test against the best in the world.. Not trying to sell belts over the Internet and going into a submission only competition to not lose instead of win..

Which opinion/opinions do you agree with? What is your take on this subject?

Here is their match below: