¶ M16 Open and Building BJJ Superstars
A good martial artist does not become tense , but ready . Essentially , at this point , the fight is over , so you pretty much flow with the goal . Who is worthy to be trusted with the secret to limitless power ? I'm ready .
The m16 open is going down and I'm going to be there , and I wanted to talk about how some of these I guess local shows build the superstars that we see at CJI , ADCC , all of this . So this is a local show which is in South Australia .
It was set up by Adam Jones , the better Jones brother , older brother of Craig Jones , and also Miles Simpson , his business partner in the M16 gym . And yeah , it's awesome , man . This is their 15th show . Oh , wow , and it's growing and evolving . It's awesome , man . They've been there . This is their 15th show . Oh , it's , it's growing and evolving .
It's , it's awesome . I really wanted to kind of break it down to shine a spotlight on something which is creating the superstars we see now .
It brings ? Does it bring competitors from all over the country ? Yeah , does it bring anyone like is it open to international fighters ?
I believe so , but I think the difficulty there obviously is that they have done some really awesome super fights and had , I guess , international level
¶ The Evolution of M16 Tournament
competitors . So originally you know they were like how do we get Declan Moody fights in the ADCC format ? You know , submission only , and originally the way it started was 50 bucks . Each winner takes all Right on . You know , 16-man tournament , let's go . And you know , I think they started in um , like just in a in a gym .
I think they just started in the M16 gym , in their gym , wasn't ?
it yeah .
And then they moved to a slightly bigger venue and they went to the rec center and then it's just . It's just grown because also the spectator base has grown and they've also been able to get people from interstate . Like they had Jake O'Driscoll come from Perth and they brought him over and then they had your boy inside Hill Hook .
He beat why does his name escape me ? He got submission of the night at CJI against Lucas Lucas Cannard . They had him in for a super fight , which was awesome , and so obviously they are competing with some of these big international shows in terms of when Australia's top elite grapplers are available .
But the reason why I really want to fucking talk about it is you would not see Declan now as this monster if it wasn't for these guys putting in the groundwork .
Yeah , you know , like yeah , declan was a . He was like a . I remember watching him compete at Subversion
¶ Declan Moody's Rise to Elite Status
and he had that reputation as being , you know , one of the toughest guys on the circuit locally . Yes , and he was this boy from South Australia . Yes , and he was tall and skinny . Imagine , yeah , and he tall and skinny .
He was Imagine , yeah , and he was more of a gi guy too , yeah , in the earlier days .
Yeah , and , and I mean I guess you know to , to clarify for those who don't know he's , he's competed in last ADCC . Yeah , he competed on um . What ? What did he do most recently , I think ?
it was I Recently won .
He destroyed the field for the Giles trials .
Yeah , but he is also . I think he's part of team um team Alley-Own .
Right on yeah .
Like . So he will be competing at the AIGA championship later in the year with all the other superstars .
Yeah , he's absolutely gone to the top . Yes , and he's a . He's a B team guy now . Yep , been there for a few years , it seems he has . He's been training on and off . He's graced the Bulletproof for BJJ podcast . He was of a level that he got to sit on the couch . That was actually before we had a couch , that's true , sit at the desk .
He had a chair .
Yeah , no , but he really has gotten to the top of the game hasn't he ?
He's elevated himself and it's awesome to see and awesome to see . And I think what we don't appreciate is what's it take to get somebody from very good locally like the best guy in your town , the best guy in your state and then maybe one of the best guys in your country to be , you know , top five , top 10 in the world . What does that take ?
And what it takes is some hardworking motherfuckers working the back end , putting themselves out , paying money . And so I was speaking with Adam . So you know I wanted to go and support because I'm like man , this is great . I also want to see the event because it looks great on social media . I'd love to be there physically .
And he was like our whole goal was trying to give grapplers opportunities to compete and not pay money . It's so wild that jujitsu guys , to get good , they have to keep giving money to tournaments , even if they're elite , they're not getting paid to show up , not paid anything . If anything , they have to pay their flights , pay their ACOM .
It's such a big investment . The amazing thing that M16 does and I don't know if how many , because we have other shows in Australia where it's like caged grappling and , like you know subversion . They have grappling nights . I don't know if they're paying athletes to show up .
Not all of them , no , but I mean , and that's , I think that's kind of the crossover , isn't it Like that ? The traditional jujitsu competitions weren't designed to be a spectator event ? No , but I mean , and that's ,
¶ Paying Athletes: New Tournament Business Model
I think that's kind of the crossover , isn't it Like that ? The traditional jujitsu competitions weren't designed to be a spectator event ? No , it was a sports tournament Experience , and so it's yeah , and so it's like well , it's for the athletes , and so , if you want to have the opportunity to compete , we've organized this thing and you can come and compete .
Whereas I think what Subversion did which was cool was see , and it sounds like M16 have done the same thing where they've seen , oh , there is a market for , like , spectators want to come and watch high-level grappling , yeah , and they'll pay and they'll buy things and drinks and food and fucking merch , whatever .
So let's make it a spectator event , yeah , which means that now we can pay the athletes . It's like a total flip on the model . Yeah , yeah , it's mad Cause .
I mean , yeah , like I'd love to go to that shit too , yeah , I mean , back in the days I actually was part of like the Boa super eight , where they brought out Satoshi and they brought out a bunch of different Brazilians and top level guys and they had it on an elevated platform , which is kind of dicey if people are going for takedowns , but they loved to
do it for the spectacle and I had like a super match , whatever .
Did you yeah ?
But I think I was only purple belt at the time . But regardless , did you fucking win , cody ? I fucking lost in the dying seconds . Wow , I was winning . You got subbed . No , no , no , I got swept to mount Like you know it was . You know I was doing all right . I didn't get footlocked , which is what my main opponent's goal was Like .
That's what he was famous for .
Yeah .
And what a shit gun . Yeah , no , I was , should have won . Well , maybe I was up , I got a couple of sweeps or something , so it might've been four nil or six nil and then swept to mountain . Couldn't get the fuck out done .
But the great thing about it was it brought this idea of we could get international guests to come to Australia and they could actually get a decent amount of money for putting on a show , you know , and yeah .
So , bro , I think what has been amazing about the growth of jiu-jitsu in Australia is that you get something like these guys , adam Jones and Miles Simpson , and they are like we want to build the Adelaide scene , and I really believe that's what they've done , as much as
¶ Tournament Details and Prize Structure
they create competition . So this comp coming up is there's going to be a four-man 88-kilo category and then the main event is an under 80-kilo eight-man tournament for $1,000 . Right on Now some people might be like oh , $1,000 , like what's that ?
Like , if you're just some , if you're an up-and-coming jiu-jitsu athlete , even if you're very good , $1 thousand dollars is fucking nothing to sneeze at . Like .
No , you'd be happy for someone to buy you a sandwich .
You know what I mean .
Free sandwiches . Yeah , you mean , those little packets of acai are like on the house . This shit's catered . We cannot miss this comp . I'm going to , I'm going to go straight into camp for the next three months , but this is the reality of it , isn't it ?
I think we've been a bit spoiled by CJI and shit Like that's really boosted in a way , our sort of like . You think about this like before CJI was ever conceived of in our minds . Right , $10,000 to win ADCC seemed pretty good , crazy . That was the best you could do . It's elite Besides , whatever . Some the odd .
Maybe Abu Dhabi pro or spider invitational you know , these events that come along like a meteor every every fucking 10 years . But it was like , oh , wow , 10 G's . Now it's like , oh , a million dollars to win . It's kind of just blown everything out of the water .
But we can't forget that that is like CGI still at this point is just one promotion that has still only played out once . It's probably going to play out a second time . But all of those little comps that are fucking getting together a purse of whatever they can is really like , really means a lot to a lot of grapplers who get nothing .
Yeah , and and I think that's the thing that like Adam was saying to me is is like we want people to know if they're coming from interstate , they're coming from Perth , they're coming from New South Wales , we will pay for them to get here . I can't guarantee them the purse , but they're going to make sure they're not out of pocket .
Even Even some MMA fight promotions won't do that . They expect you to pay everything to get there .
Yeah .
And then you hope to recoup it through your winnings . Right ? Nothing kills the vibe of jiu-jitsu worse than a calf
¶ Tribute to Luke Marco
cramp . You're rolling , you're going hard , you've got the calf cramp . You don't want to tap , but it is killing your jiu-jitsu . Why is that ? You're dehydrated . You need a hydration solution and I got you . That solution is Sodi . Sodi is the perfect blend of electrolytes that taste amazing .
That's going to keep the water in your muscles so you can roll hard and not get cramps . Go to Sodi S-O-D-I-Icomau . Use the code Bulletproof15 . You get 15% off . No more cramps . Delicious hydration , get some . And they have had some top-level talent come through . And so I think what we forget is when we see those stars at the CJI or the ADCC .
Where the hell did they come from ? And I would say it is shows like the m16 open , where you get a guy like declan moody , or you get a lucas canard , where it's like this is where those guys like really kind of cut their teeth , yeah , before they broke through , you know , and and I think it's it's very impressive .
Now I want to touch on something which is just probably not spoken about . Well , look , it was spoken about , but I want to say solemn rest in peace to Luke Marco .
So Luke Marco is a young , up-and-coming athlete who's considered to be real pride of up-and-coming talent in jujitsu in Adelaide and unfortunately he tragically died in a in a motor vehicle accident , uh only um some weeks ago .
So Adam is dedicating this show to him and is looking to make moves through the M16 open to keep his name alive and honor him , because everybody felt that kid's talent and felt he was going to be the next big thing coming up . Did he ? Did he train with Adam ? Yeah , they did training there . They did some training at M16 .
I don't believe that was necessarily his home gym , but he just was prepared to do anything . He was at basically all the seminars , all the tournaments . He competed on the M16 Open a bunch of times , super matches , whatever . He just was so willing to compete . Super young athletic , just golden heart . So it's what ?
a shame .
Yeah , huge loss there . So the awesome thing is that the community is banded together to be like nah , that was our guy and we want to make sure that his memory stays alive . So I'm excited to see it because it has grown .
It's actually going to be at an not an entertainment center , but they're actually going to have some booze , so it's going to be like adults' event , you know , like the kids can come in early but there'll be Booze like alcohol .
Yeah , oh wow , I thought you meant like booths , no , no . Booze like alcohol . Yeah , oh wow , I thought you meant like booths , no , no .
I mean Shit , they've got the acai stall there . No , no More professional than that . So they've got local sponsors and interstate sponsors . We're sponsoring , we want to support the show , and they've got a bunch of super fights on super matches , I should say . And then Jack will call me out the man with the large hog .
He just speaks on account of the people .
He's not the people .
Is it a daytime event or a nighttime thing ?
It starts at 4 pm , but it'll go through . They don't want it to drag because also , at the end of the day , it's a we all say that about Jiu-Jitsu comps .
¶ Event Format and Community Support
We're trying hard for this not to to drag out guys .
1am it's like definitely going to drag out now that you've said that no , no , well , I guess it's . It's far more controlled than a jujitsu tournament in terms of , like , there's less I know how many competitors they got , they know how long the matches are , and they've done it before , so it's actually it's not like just randoms . Yeah , it's professionally run .
They know who their refs are , they got the timekeepers . You know what I mean . So I think that this being their 15th show will mean that you know , from the way Adam had kind of outlined it to me , that they also want people to have an opportunity to go have a night afterwards . So if people want to go out afterwards , they can .
Or if people want to go from the event and go have dinners or drinks or whatever they can . But it's a good place to get the night kicked off . But I think , even like kids under 12 are free , so they have a section which is like all ages , so it's like a really inclusive environment . They've got their tiered seating because I think it's on a .
I have to check the venue , but basically there will be links below to the stream , so they'll be streaming it on YouTube and then there's also links to buy tickets . So if you're keen to get along and check it out , I think they still have some tickets left , but people still bought a bunch of tickets Right on . So , yeah , if you're keen to check it out .
I think it's definitely worthwhile , because this is the thing that builds the future stars and that's why it's worthwhile to get in , because what I love about it is you're like , yeah , I saw that guy when he was a blue belt and now dude's a star , taken over the scene , yeah , so I think that's that's a , that's a kind of exciting element of going to things
like this and supporting shows that support jujitsu culture .
Fuck , brian . Someone might even be able to run into you Fuck it support jujitsu culture .
Fuck bro .
And someone might even be able to run into you fucking . Well , maybe make sure you call him joey fuck , joey hawaii legend .
Well , you know how , he doesn't wear a hat and I wear this red hat and I got this beard and it's kind of a decided difference , point of difference . Actually , you know what adam said to me he's like , bro , we get your match . I'm like , oh , no , dude . No , he's like bro , that would be sick . He was like you could fight jo would be sick .
He was like you could fight Joey . I'm like nah , man , I'm like nah .
That'd be a great way to destroy the business .
I was like it's going to be over real quick . You know I'm winning that match . Come on now . It's not even a match .
Bro , I'll just fucking , I'll just fend you off for a couple of minutes , and and then Joey pounces Pounces the strong man comes out hard and fast and then just , of course , because I'm the one who hasn't been training .
But that's fine , that's fine . We'll leave that up to mystery . We'll leave it up to your imaginations . But if you are interested , check out the live stream . If you're checking this out , there's some really good matches on the card . But if you're local , you go get your tickets . Click the out .
Um , there's some really good matches on the card , but if you're local , you go get your tickets . Click the link below . There it is .