Plans for new UFC grappling league to 'take over' BJJ revealed

Anton Tabuena

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Publish Date: 11/20/2024

Soon after the UFC signed Mikey Musumeci to a first-of-its-kind exclusive deal, the BJJ star revealed the MMA promotion's plans to "take over jiu-jitsu."

Coming from a chaotic end to his stint with ONE Championship, which he described as a "dysfunctional family," Musumeci says he has now signed the best deal of his life as the first exclusively signed UFC grappler.

“I feel like (UFC is) finally another platform that could expand our sport to people that wouldn’t typically watch jiu-jitsu,” Musumeci said on the Ariel Helwani Show.

“All I can say it’s the best deal I have ever had in my life,” he said about his UFC contract. “It’s incredible. They’re really treating me well. That’s why I’m so grateful to them and for what they’re going to do for jiu-jitsu. If I’m getting a deal like this, I know many future generations can."

The five time IBJJF world champ also warned that the UFC will ruffle a lot of feathers with their big plans to take over the industry. This would go beyond their current UFC Fight Pass Invitational events that Musumeci will be competing on next.

BJJ Phenom Mikey Musumeci signs with UFC, leaves ONE | The Ariel Helwani Show

UFC to start new BJJ league using their business model from MMA

While Mikey Musumeci said he wasn't allowed to talk much about the UFC's plans, he did reveal that they're starting a UFC grappling league that will basically follow their current model in MMA.

“For now, we’re just doing the Fight Pass Invitationals,” he said. “UFC has very big plans for grappling. I don’t think I’m allowed to talk about them yet. Just know that there’s very big plans for grappling coming from the UFC.

“(UFC is going to sign) everyone! They’re trying to take over jiu-jitsu like they have MMA. They’re going to do exactly what they did for MMA. They’re going to have a grappling league,” Musumeci said. “We’re just going to grow the sport even more than it has been rapidly growing.

Musumeci believes the UFC model of having one dominant organization can fix a lot of the issues he sees in BJJ, which includes "shady promoters" and athletes openly using performance enhancing drugs.

“I just need to freaking keep staying strong, while there’s a lot of people that are going to be mad at me for changing what the sport is now — with all these random tournaments and all these shady promoters, and all these things that promote steroids,” he said. “I want this all gone. I want to make this one platform for all of us.”

Can the UFC's business model work in BJJ?

It's still way too early to tell how everything turns out, but the UFC has the power to completely change the BJJ industry.

While the UFC's business model is incredibly successful financially, it also has its share of controversies, with labor issues and low athlete pay. The promotion is currently in the middle of a second class action antitrust lawsuit against them, after settling the first one for $375 million.

With the BJJ scene generally having even much lower pay than its MMA counterparts, perhaps UFC sees it as a low barrier to entry and a smart investment into another rapidly growing industry.

Competition is always good for athletes, so this will likely be great news for the top stars to have more promotion fighting for their services in the short term. Should the UFC eventually get a stranglehold on the entire sport like they do for MMA, it'll be interesting to see if similar labor issues eventually arise.