Bryan Callen is a comedian and actor, known for his roles in The Hangover and even the 2019 hit movie Joker. He is also half of the podcast, The Fighter and the Kid which features co-host Brendan Schaub. However, when it comes to Jiu Jitsu, Bryan Callen is also very, very ignorant – and dare we say it a loudmouth too.
In a clip from their podcast, Callen ignorantly claims that Ashton Kutcher would beat UFC fighter Conor McGregor in a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu match. Yes, that’s right – he believes Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher would defeat two-time UFC champion and MMA legend Conor McGregor.
Callen claims that Kutcher would win due to being a Rigan Michado brown belt – as well as being “bigger” than McGregor at 6’4. As anyone who practices BJJ knows, height is not really an important factor. It should also be mentioned that McGregor is extremely strong and conditioned due to being a professional athlete. Not only this, but he’s a legitimate brown belt himself and even pulled off an X-Guard sweep on Nate Diaz during a UFC bout. This is no easy task, as Nate Diaz has beaten the iconic Ryan Hall in a Gi match back in 2007. To put it mildly, Diaz knows his BJJ.
As seen in the video below, McGregor has some serious BJJ skills and can be seen sparring his coach John Kavanagh as well as BJJ starlet Dillon Danis.
Back to Callen, during the podcast he was laughed at by his comments by co-host Brendan Schaub claiming he was wrong and McGregor would win. Callen then backpedaled and claimed he was joking. However, his body language and previous comments looked like he was genuinely serious when first making the claims. To add to this, Schaub himself mentioned that Kutcher was good due to training under Michado.
This comment comes after Michado himself stated Kutcher would beat McGregor at BJJ. Why he said this? Who knows. Whilst Rigan Michado’s name should be held in high esteem, the reality is McGregor would destroy Kutcher at grappling. The probability is that Michado did this for self-promotion as there is no chance Kutcher could hang with a guy who trains 3 times per week, let alone McGregor.
As seen here, Kutcher is rolling with BJJ legend Craig Jones. Whilst it’s no shame in getting beaten by Jones, you can tell by the movement of Kutcher that his BJJ is not very good. That’s not bashing him, he’s probably a nice person – but his movements are not fluid and look closer to that of a white belt rather than a brown. For instance, his posture is constantly downwards, his guard passing is non-existent and his arm placement for the Omoplata is too obvious. There are internet conversations claming Kutcher does not spar, which makes sense due to being a high profile celebrity. This would also make sense judging the video which shows his lack of BJJ positioning.
To summarise, we’re not knocking Kutcher. If he likes to train BJJ then that’s great and many people can get a buzz out of training for various reasons. The reality is it’s probably wise for him not to spar to avoid injuries which could affect his career and he probably lives a busy lifestyle. However, for those like Callen to somehow think he could beat Conor McGregor is plain stupid and ignorant at best. With this in mind, it shows an insight into Callen’s thoughts – who is a regular on the Joe Rogan podcast and how little he knows about grappling.
