What I Learned From Having 15 Matches In 5 Days

The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Photo by Walo Jay

When I first agreed to compete at the Professional Grappling Federation (PGF) at 205, my first thought was “205 pounds? Try not to suck”.

My second thought was “Fuck it, what’s the worst that can happen?”

That, I think, became a good mindset to have over the longest and most challenging Jiu-Jitsu event that I’ve ever been a part of. It was 5 days long and I made the finals (despite weighing about 188 pounds), meaning that I had 15 matches.

Some of my opponents were undersized like me, but some had cut 20+ pounds of weight to do this event.

There are levels to this game.

My goal for PGF last week was simply to prove to myself that whatever the weight class, whatever the ruleset, and whatever happens, I have world-class Jiu-Jitsu.

Here’s what really happened at summer camp…

I mean, PGF.