Article by AJ CAMACHO

TEAM KCMMA

Photos courtesy of Art Of Mind Productions LLC unless otherwise noted

The mats at Next Generation MMA sit empty. Here in Frisco, Texas an event was supposed to be underway. It was to be the American Grappling Federation’s Brown Belt No Gi Invitational. At this gym, jiu-jitsu fighters from all over the region were to descend on this singular location to exhibit their special brand of techniques against one another in a no holds barred, submission only grappling tournament . The pack was to be expansive, tough, and deep with an 8 fighter bracket representing a broad range of schools and grappling styles. Out of this group, one fighter was to emerge as the winner and earn a $1,500 cash prize. Unfortunately, none of this would happen here. Unfortunately, this tournament would fall apart under a tumult of miss-communications and misunderstandings. The American Grappling Federation Brown Belt No Gi Invitational would be canceled.

(From left to right: Clay Hantz, Brian Stuebner, Kyle Calkins, Travis Conley, Will Durkee, and Randell Kennedy. Photo courtesy of Art of Mind Productions LLC)

PART 1 of 3: The American Grappling Federation Brown Belt Invitational 2014 Falls Apart

Invitational competitor Clay Hantz, Owner-Head Instructor Vagabond BJJ (Nova Unaio), recalls first seeing news of the A.G.F. Brown Belt No Gi Invitational. “I was just scoping out Facebook… and Brandon Quick (A.G.F. Promoter) had posted something about an Invitational [Tournament]. If you wanted to have your name considered then drop some information to him. I’ve known Brandon for quite some time so I just dropped him a line and told him I would like to be a part of it.”

(The bearded Clay Hantz waiting for the tournament to begin. Photo courtesy of Art of Mind Productions LLC)

Brown Belt competitors from throughout Texas and the Midwest applied to take part in the invitational. Though the application process seemed antithetical to the idea of an “invitational” tournament the process was not entirely unheard of, explains invitational competitor, Brian Stuebner Head Instructor at Springfield BJJ (Ciao Terra BJJ Assoc.), “Typically with an invitational, at least in my experience, you put it out there for people to submit names… they pick 3 or 4 people that they’re going to start with and then they leave it up you, the fans and the Jiu-Jitsu community, to fill the entire bracket. That’s a cool way to do it, but I think everybody does it a little bit differently. ”

(Travis Conley and Brian Stuebner. Photo courtesy of Art Of Mind Productions LLC)

With applications sent, now the potential entrants waited to see if their resume withstood the event’s vetting process. For some, their training camps had already begun, others waited for confirmation before realigning the priorities of their family, careers, and lives. “I sent [the application] in and then it was like two weeks later and I still hadn’t heard anything,” says invitational competitor Travis Conley of Kansas City BJJ (Renato Tavares Assoc.). “[After awhile] it’s like, ‘Well if my resume is not good enough, it’s not good enough.’ then I asked [Brandon Quick], I e-mailed him, ‘Hey did you get my e-mail?’ and [he responded], ‘No.’ So then I sent a screen shot of the e-mail he sent and then he said, ‘Oh yeah I got that, it’s still pending.’ whatever that means. Then, one or two days later [he sends a message], ‘Hey, you’re in.’

Communication over the initial line up of competitors seemed to be scattered, sparse, and inconsistently disseminated. Invitational competitor Kyle Calkins of Marcelo Garcia Dallas (Marcelo Garcia Assoc.) discusses the reveal over his admission into the tournament. “I found out I was accepted because they tagged me on Facebook and said, ‘Okay, now you’re a part of it. You’re the third guy [in the lineup].’ Then they sent a request for pictures and that was it.”

(Kyle Calkins in the Manto rashguard. Photo courtesy of Art of Mind Productions LLC.)

Even the confirmation of the lineup was wrought with confusion. Travis Conley received his confirmation after already seeing 8 other confirmed competitors on the A.G.F. Facebook page. Not wanting there to be confusion over his status in the tournament, Travis reached out to the promoters of the event. “I see on the A.G.F. page, eight competitors listed [already]. It’s an 8 man invite. So I just wanted clarification. I asked, ‘I just wanted to make sure that I’m in, I see that there’s 8 names. I’m number 9.’ I don’t want to be a sub. I understand you got to have subs and replacements, people get hurt. But I don’t want to be on standby, show up there, cut to 180 pounds and then [be told I’m just a sub.] So I just wanted clarification. It was a simple question and then [Brandon responded], ‘What you need to understand is I don’t run the A.G.F. page.’

A reoccurring theme among the competitors seemed to be the gap in communication between A.G.F. co-owners Brandon Quick and Chris Carlino. Many responsibilities seemed to be diffused between the two which may have allowed for missed gaps. Facebook was a common method of communication in conjunction with e-mails, text messages, and phone calls. The social maelstrom of modern telecommunication that brought everybody together ironically had become a component in the confusion. Without a consistent communication dissemination chain all pertinent tournament information was either nebulous or in flux. For some of the competitors basic details such as the weight restrictions, the bracket line-up, and even the submission rules were sometimes unknown or misunderstood.

Leading up to the tournament Clay Hantz had been training and cutting weight to compete at the 170lb weight limit that he believed was in place, “My notification that the weight [limit] had changed [to 180lbs]] was through Facebook and not a message, not a text, or an e-mail, or my coach. It was a post on the A.G.F. Website, not even through [the two promoters] but through the public tournament post. You know, I’ve been dieting… I usually walk around at 180lbs if not larger and it was kind of sucky because I had cut quite a lot a bit of weight for that. But I ate some pizza and everything was good, no big deal.”

“I weighed in at 166, 167 because I had been cutting since May.” confirms Kyle Calkins.

(Brian Stuebner. Photo courtesy of Art of Mind Productions LLC)

For some though, communication wasn’t as crucial since the general structure of the rules seemed to be well understood. Brian Stuebner explains, “As far as the communication goes, with the rule set that was being used and the type of application process I feel that most communication was done through updates on the fighters, ‘this guys’ out or this guys’ in’. Not a whole lot of communication [concerning]… how the tournament is gonna go. We were all aware that it was [submission] only and pretty much all A.D.C.C. (Abhu Dhabi Combat Club) rules, ‘all submissions are good, no slamming, no eye pokes’.”

With all of the rules accounted for, everybody trudged onward towards the competition date. The new 180lb weight limit spared some of the competitors from of a last minute weight cut and everybody else was seemingly now on the same page with the structure of the tournament and all of it’s allowed submissions. With the details understood, A.G.F. sent out one final message two days before the tournament was to begin. Despite the mixed clarity of the previous details, this new detail caught everyone off guard.

Apparently there was now a $125 registration fee due in cash at the door. Kyle Calkins recalls the group message that was sent via Facebook, “I found out about the registration fee in a Facebook message through Thursday night around nine o’clock about 2 days before [the competition].”

“The very first point of that [message] was the registration fee and the fact that it was a cash fee.” says Brian Stuebner.

Travis Conley sees the message, “[The message was] just a little reminder, the location, the times, all that stuff. Then the first things was, ‘Reminder $125 at the door.’”

(Clay Hantz. Photo Courtesy of Art of Mind Productions LLC)

The competitors spared no time sharing their grievance over this new discovery, with Clay Hantz being one of the more vocal in the message thread, “Everybody found this out at the same time, it was a mass Facebook message and I got it after half of the people [had seen it] and my response was, ‘What the fuck?’”

Travis was immediately confused, had he been negligent in observing this information? “So that’s the thing, you kind of think, ‘Did I miss something?’ and we’re all [wondering] if we missed something and then we all realized, no. None of us missed anything. And then [the promoters] are just trying to play it off saying, ‘I had fifty-five applicants, there’s people that have known…’ and he’s just posturing hard…”

Many of the competitors insisted that the registration fee was not part of the original arrangement. Even more shocking was the specific request that the $125 fee be paid in cash at the door. For some of the out of state competitors, like Brian Stuebner and Travis Conley, the trip was no longer a logistical financial reality for them. Leaving your family and/or dense personal work schedules behind for an up front financial loss and and the potential to now win less money (the prize money minus the registration fee) just didn’t work.

Add to this, A.G.F.’s stern tone in response to the disdain, the competitors were far from pleased with how the event was developing, Clay Hantz especially. “[Brandon] just singled everyone out and either questioned your integrity, or bold face lied, is how I saw it.”

The integrity of even Clay’s instructor, Bruno Bastos came under fire, continues Clay, “You know, I was ready to compete no matter what the circumstances. Even if it would have been a $500 entry fee, sure, I would have done it. But there’s just one of the things he said, ‘If you didn’t get any of the updates it was either because you were a replacement or I e-mailed, called, or texted your coach.’ So I texted my coach, I texted Bruno [Bastos], ‘Hey man, did you get a text, an e-mail, a call from Brandon Quick saying number one; that the weight limit was changed and number two; that there was a $125 entry fee?’ and [Bruno] said, ‘Absolutely not.’ And I can’t do that, I can’t associate myself, even if I benefit from you, I can’t associate myself with something that is based around a false platform. It was not an honest platform.”

For many tournament promotions, the approval from veteran and seasoned competitors is crucial to validating the credibility of their organization. By appeasing these veteran gym representatives they ensure the participation of their students, followers, clients, and peers in future events.

One could even go as far as to say that the presence of veteran competitors is synergistically essential to drawing in high volumes of gym members to your future tournaments as well as validating your own Tournament Promotion as a premiere organization. Midwest Grappling Alliance promoter Dave Jackson explains, “When we throw our tournaments, it is huge to find different ways to get the upper belts to compete. It’s more than just a clout thing. Sure, it’s nice to say you have higher level competitors at your tournament, but it’s more of an influence thing. The higher the legit, Brazilian jiu-jitsu upper-belt, the more influence he/she seems to have. They bring more people, more competitors, and therefore make the [promotional company] more money. Because of their years of competition, they are also integral to throwing a nicely run tournament as they can help with organizing, reffing, recruiting refs, recruiting other gyms they teach at or are involved with, and give great advice on tournament rules and dynamics.”

(Dave Jackson center. Photo courtesy of Dave Jackson.)

This appeasement philosophy didn’t seem to be at the core of A.G.F.’s invitational tournament. Instead of acknowledging that the ignorance of almost all the competitors pointed to a potential gap in communication, the A.G.F. Instead went on the offensive. They challenged not only the aptitude of the competitors to recall basic details but also challenged the heart of the competitors implying that real fighters wouldn’t relent or back down in the face of a $120 barrier.

Ironically, the potential cause for the communication break down may have been Facebook and it’s many methods of peer to peer communication. It was ironic because the group message that simultaneously informed the competitors of the registration fee was also the same tool that allowed for an ad hoc union of competitors to form. Through this group message post, the competitors collectively realized that they were not alone in their ignorance of the fee. That there was a collective absence of this information and they were not the individuals to be blamed. One by one, the competitors dropped out of the tournament choosing not to compete under the A.G.F banner. Some out of logistical difficulties with the seemingly last minute fee and others just due to the seemingly sour tone that the A.G.F. took in response to their protests.

Despite this, the A.G.F. Still had a couple of remaining competitors from the initial lineup and they intended to rebuild their tournament with them so that the tournament could continue. For those that dropped out of the A.G.F. tournament, their last few months of training were in vain.

CONTINUE TO PART 2 of 3: How To Make a Tournament In 48 Hours

UPDATE 8/12/14:

We reached out to A.G.F. for their perspective on the event and they provided us with the following statement, “Pretty much there was a miscommunication between us and several of the competitors about the entry fee. We failed to properly notify all of them that there was an entry fee. When they found out on either Thursday or Friday, most of the competitors withdrew from the tournament. We tried to waive the fee and save the event, but by the time this information was relayed to them, they had already begun making arrangements to have the event at another location.”