João Bisnaga says superfight events want influencers
The 2025 World Champion told VF Comunica he has proven himself on the mats and deserves bigger opportunities
2025 featherweight World Champion and Crown 2026 contender João “Bisnaga” Mendes told VF Comunica in an exclusive interview that superfight events are not giving enough opportunities to top-level athletes. According to the Alliance black belt, many promotions pick their fighters based on social media buzz and trash talk, while results on the mats come second.
His answer came after a direct question: even as a World Champion with wins over elite opponents, Bisnaga sees other athletes getting more attention. He started by taking some of the blame for his own image, then pointed to what he sees as the real problem.
“I understand that a lot of it is my own fault for not working on my media presence and not putting myself out there a bit more. I don’t think the media owed me anything. What I really think is that superfight events should give me more opportunities. I’ve already proven I have the jiu-jitsu, but a lot of the time these events want hype and trash talk. They want an influencer, not an athlete!” he said.
A World Champion still looking for a spot
His recent résumé backs up the complaint. In 2025, Bisnaga came into the World Championship as one of the lowest seeds in the bracket and walked out with his first black belt world title, beating Meyram Maquiné in the final by referee decision. That same year, he won the AJP Grand Slam in Istanbul.
In 2026, now competing for Alliance, he took bronze at both the Pans and Worlds. Both times he was stopped in the semifinals by Cole Abate, the same opponent he faced in last year’s Crown final.
Even with those results, Bisnaga’s name rarely shows up on superfight cards, which have become one of the main paydays for elite grapplers. On social media, his comments split fans. Some agreed with him, while others pointed out that events need an audience to be able to pay athletes.
Back-to-back Crown finals
The Crown, the IBJJF’s invitation-only tournament, is where Bisnaga has come closest to a major title outside of Worlds. In 2024, he beat Kennedy Maciel and Ademir Barreto to reach the final, where Diego “Pato” Oliveira took his back and choked him. In 2025, he got past Keven Carrasco and Eduardo Granzotto to make the final again, this time losing to Cole Abate.
The Curitiba native was the first athlete the IBJJF announced for the 2026 featherweight bracket. The eight-man field also includes Sam Nagai, the 2023 featherweight Crown champion, Jun Yong Cho, Mateo Cardona, Ademir Barreto, Will Wilson, Keven Carrasco and Rerisson Gabriel.
The 2026 Crown takes place on November 8 at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California, with $20,000 going to the champion of each division. After two straight silver medals, Bisnaga is going back for his first title.
Should superfight events care more about results than an athlete’s following? Let us know in the comments.
Read more
- Sam Nagai returns to the Crown to try to become the first two-time featherweight champion
- Will Wilson drops to featherweight for The Crown, wants the biggest names
- Rerisson Gabriel completes The Crown 2026 featherweight bracket
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