In terms of growing the popularity of the art, and providing a professional avenue for athletes. Yes!

Also, I would like to see a non-profit organization provide tournaments as a counterweight to the ibjjf shenanigans.

Beltchecker might be able to provide a base for that. Who knows? Give it a few years and this platform will be huge.

I suggest a title for the Beltchecker Tournament Series: Copa de Tatu

Probably not. I do enjoy watching them though, most of the time anyway. FTW has had some cringe announcers that have made the broadcast unbearable on a few occasions.

I hit mute much of the time with F2W, but lately, their commentators have been pretty good. ADCC had great announcing in 2019 that added to the action and pointed out positions/submissions setups or strategies that I was unaware of it hadn’t thought of which never happens in other events.

To answer the OPs question, yes the pro belts will be worth much more than the Ibjjf medals. IBJJF will be an amazing accomplishment for hobbyists and old guys, but not the world class athletes.

I had no issues with the announcing last night. I’m probably just too used to the more toned down commentary of Big10 wrestling and FTW sometimes has man-children behind the mics. You made a good argument as well, I think if that is going to happen, it won’t be for many years.

Part of my background is Live Event Planning and Management, and formerly serving as a National Tournament Director, I've been looking to put on high level events that would carry the prestige of the IBJJF minus the obvious bias and limitations..... But do I feel like the F2W, WNO, and others will overtake the IBJJF? No.

For starters, it's the sheer number of participants in the IBJJF events. In a regular year prior to Covid, you could have as many as 1000+ people sign up for every belt category, those other events take who they deem are the top 40 people (or rather, the top 8 headliners and a bunch of locals to fill out a card).

I'll get heat for this I'm sure, but a lot of those events also focus on the no gi, leg lock only guys, and honestly, to me that game is getting boring.... Look, when the DDS guys are starting to sweep and look for moves other than leg locks, that's gotta tell you something. While I hate that the IBJJF treats leg locks like they're how you'll catch ringworm or MRSA, I appreciate how the participants are doing other shit in the competitions (i.e. lapel and collar attacks). I'm not saying that I don't want leg locks, I'm saying that I would like a diversity in the sport scene. I LOVE how the ADCC calls their event, Submission Grappling, so that everyone from BJJ, Judo, Wrestling, CACC, Sambo, etc can all show their talents.... But if you're doing a BJJ event, compete in a Gi, and open up the game (btw, that mean for me, no advantages, no guard pulls, and I love the idea of 10 minute matches with 8 mins no points/2 minutes points live.... Or Sub Only).

Truth is, there won't be a ruleset that everyone will love, however, if you are showcasing a BJJ event, it should be in the Gi, every other event should be called Submission Grappling featuring people from all the disciplines, and it can be no gi.

Final thought, as to why I don't feel that the other events will overtake the IBJJF.... I think that (and again, just my opinion) lately, those events are resorting to dramatic marketing storylines ala Professional Wrestling, rather than just having the best people fight it out. We BJJ/Sub Grappling participants don't need (IMO, at least I hope not) Pro Wrestling hype to want to see the best guys fight it out.... We KNOW who the best guys are. If they are doing that style of event promotion to attract the casual/non practitioner viewer, for starters, those people won't care, won't know who those people are anyway, and could give a shit about that stuff (example, how many Conor Mcgregor fanboys have actually started MMA training because of watching a Conor fight at a local sports bar? That style of hype doesn't actually grow the sport IMO).

Those are my takes.

100% Ray. A lot of the promotion is tacky and unnecessary. No one needed to cultivate any drama to get people excited for Roger v. Buchecha.

I much prefer the Pro shows as an older grappler first they actually pay you but it is a single match against a known opponent. I do the IBJJF just because that in my age bracket they tend to actually get guys showing up at the bigger ones but I prefer the SJJIF / NABJJF as an organization as the let Black Belts compete free plus they treat the competitors with respect and actually listen to constructive criticism and solicit it from them

I am not sure if they will overtake them, but I hope, as a community, room for all the events is allowed.

I'm glad someone finally said it!

The only way to "overtake" BJJ IMO is if an alternative (probably run on Big Oil money) is promoted enough to gain legitimacy as a proper sport organisation.

But that is usually a total clusterf* as evident by the trials and tribulations now with IMMAF trying to get recognised.

(did you know they want to introduce COLOURED BELTS for amateur MMA? Well now you know...)