Jeff Glover has always been an innovator within the BJJ community which is seen through his flamboyant style. With positions such as donkey guard and his aggressive deep half, he quickly made a name for himself as a showman on the competition scene. However, since retiring from competition, he was teaching until his gym was closed due to Coronavirus. Because of this, he then turned to a new promotion, Money on the Mat which is a winner takes all tournament format.
In brief, the tournament works by people signing up for a bracket. For instance, if there are 8 people – they each pay a buy-in. The person to win this grand-prix then gets to keep the prize money, so effectively it’s like a poker table where you risk your own money to win from the others. However, as we know with BJJ there is not much luck and usually the best person will win.
There are no plans for the future of the tournament and Glover is just seeing how it goes. With all of the uncertainty it is very hard for BJJ promotions to run profitably if at all in the year 2020. There have already been reports of other BJJ promoters having to remortgage their homes to stay afloat.
Asked about the origins of the tournament, he says “My gym closed, Covid definitely nail in the coffin’d it. As the gym stopped working, I decided to start hosting tournaments and used the gym as the first venue. After that, I hosted the last 3 tournaments at a motorcycle club which has a spacious area where I lay a mat out”
“I’ve got a lot to learn. So far I’ve had a lot of problems with the higher belts, brown and black belts about different demands. Money expectations, rule expectations and it gets pretty tricky. I kind of like dealing with white and blue belts, they’re more humble in a way and they’re a little more willing to pay because it has to be profitable for me which is hard with picky-ass black belts”
Currently, the rules are 1 point for a takedown, sweep or reversal. 1 point if your opponent pulls guard. 2 points for a pass to side control, north/south or knee on belly for at least 3 seconds. 3 points for mount or a back take. Also, there are no heel hooks, slams or neck cranks allowed. At the end of regulation time, the most points wins (unless win by submission) and if it’s a tie then Jeff Glover’s word is final.
We also asked him about his decision to retire, and whether it was final. It seems Jeff is fully committed to his decision and take is quite seriously, adding “I’m pretty stern with my decision to announce and stay retired. It’s a version of respecting the game and the game is nothing to be joked around with. You’re either in it or your not and out of respect for Jiu Jitsu I don’t want to try to come back and take attention in that way, I’ve had enough attention as a competitor”
