ADCC and IBJJF world champion Ffion Davies spoke to Grappling Insider about steroids and the changes she’d like to see in the culture of BJJ.
Already one of jiu-jitsu’s top competitors, Ffion Davies enjoyed a banner year in 2022, winning both the IBJJF Worlds and ADCC World Championships to firmly establish herself as the world’s top pound-for-pound female grappler.
And even though she has since suffered defeats against elite competition, the Wales native remains among the planet’s very best and looks to repeat her gold-medal performance this year at the 2023 IBJJF Worlds.
Davies recently chatted with Grappling Insider about a wide variety of topics, from her training under JT Torres at Essential Jiu-Jitsu, to changes she’d like to see in the culture of BJJ, to how she developed her outstanding top game.
Check out the full interview below.
Ffion Davies discusses the troubling parts of BJJ’s culture
In 2021, the jiu-jitsu community became aware of sexual assault allegations regarding former Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu black belt Marcel Goncalves and Abreu’s Fight Sports affiliation. That news led to a momentary outpouring of support for victims of predatory behavior in jiu-jitsu.
Now two years later, Davies is disappointed in the lack of concrete steps taken to curb this behavior or otherwise punish offenders:
“It is kind of disappointing just to see that people have generally forgotten or have decided to forget, I think is more accurate, because it’s convenient when someone is talented and good at sport. I think I’m not surprised by that, but I think there are some people who are holding onto it, bearing it in mind, just not as many as I would have liked to see… That’s not to say I am by any means perfect in my behaviors or who I interact with. I don’t know everyone’s back story and things like this. I would like to see sponsors taking more of a stand against who they are promoting… The time of action for that has passed now.”
Davies also takes issue with the prevalence of steroids and PEDs in professional jiu-jitsu. She says steroid use sets a poor example for younger generations and encourages them to use substances that are ultimately damaging to their health.
Because PEDs are banned in IBJJF competition, Davies views steroid use as outright cheating. But even in competitions like ADCC where athletes are not subject to testing, she believes steroid use amounts to cheating and reflects a weakness in mentality:
“For me, the fact that I compete in IBJJF, it’s cheating. And okay, ADCC, there is no ban against it, but to me, it’s still cheating… To me, it’s cheating, and I don’t like cutting corners in any way in life, and to me, that’s cutting a corner. I don’t need to. I don’t think I need to… I think it’s a weakness in your mentality… It’s a weakness in your mentality if you think that you have to take steroids. For me, I’ll look at someone, like OK they take steroids. Mentally they’re weak. That gives me an upper hand. That gives me confidence because they feel like they can’t do it just by the way they’re training.”
Davies would like to see certain changes in the culture of jiu-jitsu. Namely, she’d like to see athletes who reflect admirable values and integrity receive more recognition and attention, rather than those that promote problematic views or encourage steroid use.
When asked what she wants to see change in BJJ, she said:
“The propping up of certain egos in the sport and excusing behaviors just because they’re talented. This applies to the sexual assault cases that are happening, this applies to steroids, this could apply to many other things…
“For example, JT [Torres] … he’s such a great person, he’s such a brilliant athlete. He’s very unproblematic and will not get anywhere near the same sort of hype or respect that I feel like he deserves. And the people who display the worst behaviors somehow get the most [attention].”
Naturally, Davies has become an important voice in the BJJ community, particularly with respect to women in jiu-jitsu. Months ago, she criticized the UK-based grappling promotion Polaris for its failure to regularly include women’s matches on its cards.
She explained:
“I wasn’t shouting out about it because I was hoping to get on the card, I was kind of expecting that this is a bridge that was going to be set on fire because of this. It was just upsetting to see that, especially with a great show like that, was neglecting to have women on there.”
Polaris listened, though. In March, the promotion hosted a women’s grand prix that featured Davies and seven other elite competitors, including 2022 ADCC champion Amy Campo and IBJJF no-gi world champion Elisabeth Clay.
Davies says she was happy with Polaris’ response to her criticism and how the event played out:
The post ‘It’s a weakness in your mentality’ – Ffion Davies opens up about steroids and the culture of BJJ appeared first on Grappling Insider.“The fact that they did actually listen… It was nice to see because most don’t. Think about when you’re getting criticized, it’s really hard to swallow that maybe you were wrong and change. At first, I think they were kind of annoyed and then they were like, ‘Actually you’ve got a point.’ And they did do it and it turned out brilliant…
“It’s not because of me, don’t get me wrong, but I was proud of that.”
The post ‘It’s a weakness in your mentality’ – Ffion Davies opens up about steroids and the culture of BJJ appeared first on Grappling Insider.