The 2013 IBJJF No Gi worlds witnessed a strange incident in the purple belt Senior III Ultra Heavyweight division as Brucenyam Jovoo threw a leg kick when his opponent Victor Ventresca went to shake his hand at the start of the match. Jovoo was immediately disqualified.
It was caught on video and sent out on Instagram by Budo Jake, the founder of Budo Videos and works with IBJJF TV, the company that streams the IBJJF events live online. Bellator fighter Brian Rogers detailed what happened to Ben Thapa on Twitter:
Jovoo claims affiliation from the Carlson Gracie Team in Chicago, but is unclear which of the many Carlson schools in the Chicago area he is claiming to train with, and he has competed several times at the IBJJF events that take place in the area. In 2010 I witnessed him compete in the Senior 3 Blue Belt division, come out in a fighting stance, feint two punches, and then drop for a takedown. He elevated his opponent and slammed him to the mat, which resulted in a disqualification.
Then in early 2011 he entered in the empty Senior 3 Purple Belt Medium Heavyweight Division in the Chicago Winter Open, but then later in 2011 at the Summer Chicago Open, where he entered as a Senior 3 Medium Heavy Blue Belt. Then he again entered as a Blue Belt in 2012 in the Chicago Winter Open, and has been a frequent sight at IBJJF competitions as an official score keeper.
Also in the new Rankings page Jovoo has not one, but two pages and even combined they do not cover his full competition record as reflected in the IBJJF’s own official results, as they don’t include anything past 2011. This raises questions about the IBJJF record keeping and how closely they are monitoring events for trouble makers or competitors switching divisions. While the score keeper position at IBJJF events is a volunteer position, it is still very surprising they would allow someone with this sort of history to hold any official position at IBJJF event.
Correction: Score keeper at IBJJF events is not a volunteer position, it is a paid position.