Save the Trash Talking for MMA?

On Sunday, a thread on Edwin Najmi’s Facebook post about the Brasileiro escalated pretty quickly when black belt Abraham Marte made a comment about how wild the crowd goes when “douchebags” fight. Namely Aj Agazarm. What seemed like a playful interaction between Marte and Agazarm quickly turned into Marte calling out Aj on his “bullsh*t,” with everyone reaching for the popcorn. Marte goes on to tell Aj to “drop the act, and be a good human,” so that nobody else will want to slap him (or Spartan kick him off a stage). Aj responds by saying that him getting kicked or slapped in a match does not define him and that the acceptance of others does not define him either. He related, “I am fulfilled from within myself, not in pleasing your standards or chasing some meaningless titles. Ask yourself, ‘What am I motivated by?’”

I had a chance to speak with Marte and had him elaborate on what made him start the thread and his thought process behind it. He related that he wasn’t trolling or trying to start anything, but is over people in the sport being shady and disrespectful. Moreover, he says that we as fans should shun that kind of behavior and embrace more positive aspects in the sport rather than buy into the negativity, shadiness, and douchebag attitudes ruining the scene.

I also reached out to Aj, who was more than happy to provide insight on the exchange, what he thinks of keyboard warriors and trash talking, and if ego plays a role in the way that he portrays himself to the public on social media. But, there was a catch – all of his answers were going to be in the form of emojis. Which, in fact, was not hard to understand and was much more funnier than I realized it would be.

On how he felt about being referred to as a “douchebag” by Marte:

😲😱😡🤔😐😃

Why he believes Marte thinks he isn’t a good person:

👱🏻 (AJ): 👱🏻🏆🎖

👦🏻 (Abie Boy): 👦🏻📉🕳

What he thinks of keyboard warriors and trash talking on social media:

📋📧⌨️😴💤

If ego plays a role in the way he portrays himself to the public:

😜

If he cares about what the fans think of him:

👱🏻 (More ev'ry day) 😘

SMOOCHIE 😛 BOOCHIES!!!

👱🏻 (AJ): 🌎🏆🏅🎖 WORL' CHAMPEEEEN

🎤⤵️

I get that this type of public “trash talking” amongst competitive athletes is common due to avenues like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and it’s a strategy to create hype. Sometimes it’s even hard to distinguish between what trash talking is real and what is a gimmick. This kind of behavior is especially prominent in MMA, where there is a villain and the “good guy/girl.” Perhaps this is where Jiu-Jitsu competitors have learned to adopt this mentality that Internet hype, perceived rivalries, and disrespect will get you more likes, more followers, and more interest to drive their egocentric attitudes.

The jury is still out on whether or not this behavior is good for jiu-jitsu. Yes, publicly calling out opponents does build hype. Despite it not being a positive one, it still attracts interest and viewership for that perceived rivalry match. On the flipside, this type of disrespect and lack of humility goes against the values of a true martial artist. After all, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is, first and foremost, a martial art more than it is sport-oriented.

But in the end, what do people really get out of all of this? Sure, all this Internet trolling makes for great memes and much anticipated heated face-to-face interactions, but what does it really do for jiu-jitsu? If we are trying to bring more attention to BJJ as a sport to grow it and make it more professional, I’m pretty sure Internet trolling and all of the doucebaggery that comes with it certainly does not help… but it is quite entertaining.