The Gender Divide on Jiu Jitsu Shows and What We Can Do About It

Written by Lucy Dunnet, Tuesday 1st October 2024

Whispers that became conversations are now turning into shouts: why is there still a divide between male and female athletes regarding opportunities and pay on Jiu Jitsu shows?

2024 has been a year of progress for women’s Jiu Jitsu on the big stages, including the introduction of equal male and female athlete pay at ADCC World Championships 2024, and the intergender and “biggest super fight in female grappling history” at CJI. But every step towards equality in women’s Jiu Jitsu is tainted by the infuriating inequalities that remain. ADCC may have introduced equal pay, but there are still only three weight categories available to women, compared to the five available to men. And CJI? They have been idolised for the amount of cash they put into each of the athletes’ paychecks ($10,001 for every participant and $1,000,000 for the men’s division winner) which drove changes for ADCC’s pay; however, the only women competing at CJI were part of the super fights as there was no women’s division. For one of the greatest attempts to shake up the professional BJJ world and fight for fair athlete pay NOT to include a women’s division is disappointing, to say the least.  

More and more people are shouting about the excitement and technical brilliance of women’s Jiu Jitsu. In an article published by Jiujiteira magazine in 2022, they argue that not only do fans agree that women’s matches are often more exciting and explosive than men’s, but that women actually push the sport even faster than men, largely due to the “many uniquely female obstacles women are faced with on the mats and have to technically figure out how to overcome on a daily basis.” Ignoring the fact that two years later we are still having the same conversations, for men to continue to publicly state that women aren’t as exciting to watch, or worse, making sweeping statements like, “The best women currently and in the past aren’t as physical and aren’t as technical as men” increases the divide between male and female athletes in an unnecessarily competitive way. It is one thing to have small male trolls on Instagram hate on women’s Jiu Jitsu, but a much sadder thing to have top male athletes like Gordon Ryan actively not support equal pay and treatment of female Jiu Jitsu athletes.