Keenan Cornelius Fires Back At IBJJF After Controversial Decision Ends His Climb To The Top Of The Podium

In the black belt heavy weight semi-finals, Keenan Cornelius took a loss by referees’ decision. It was controversial to say the least, as the most notable position in the match was when Cornelius took the back of Patrick Gaudio. After the decision, he could be seen wagging a finger at the IBJJF logo on the side of the mat.

Today, Keenan Cornelius is taking to social media to let the IBJJF know where he stands:

“To all the people messaging me saying I was robbed, there is a very specific word that is thrown around in the rule book that is the root of all the flaws in the @ibjjf reffing system. And it’s the word “opinion”. They state throughout the rule book that certain positions and points will be awarded based on the referees opinion. The rules are layed out clearly. However the amount of time required to count the position as being secure, the threat of a submission actually being real and not just an attempt to get an advantage, or if a takedown or sweep occurs while passing out of bounds, all this give refs an opportunity to flex their “opinion” in a result that is unpredictable for the athletes and the fans. Half the time it will be awarded the points or advantage and half the time it will not. You may have to stabilize a position for 3 seconds or maybe 13 seconds you never really know. However, training my entire life, to go compete at a tournament against the best in the world to have my matches decided by some random fucking ref who not only has never actually contributed to jiujitsu from a technical stand point OR competed at the level at which he is refereeing and having to submit my winning or losing to his “opinion” that nobody gives a fuck about has left a very very bad taste in my mouth over the years. This worlds where in a match where one foot lock was attacked each and sweeps were exchanged equally and the only significant position was when I took the back and had to hang on for well over the 3 second mark to secure my points. In what world can your opinion see that as me losing. Only in a severely biased one. I don’t know the refs names whose opinions have way too much control over my career and I don’t want to. But whoever they are I think they are severely unqualified and biased in their job. And I hope they live out their sad little lives as blackbelts that will always get tapped by purple belts who are actually good. I’ve fought for the @ibjjf for the last 8 years. And they don’t even have the balls to post my match result on their instagram. There comes a time where silence is betrayal @ibjjf“

To all the people messaging me saying I was robbed, there is a very specific word that is thrown around in the rule book that is the root of all the flaws in the @ibjjf reffing system. And it’s the word “opinion”. They state throughout the rule book that certain positions and points will be awarded based on the referees opinion. The rules are layed out clearly. However the amount of time required to count the position as being secure, the threat of a submission actually being real and not just an attempt to get an advantage, or if a takedown or sweep occurs while passing out of bonds, all this give refs an opportunity to flex their “opinion” in a result that is unpredictable for the athletes and the fans. Half the time it will be awarded the points or advantage and half the time it will not. You may have to stabilize a position for 3 seconds or maybe 13 seconds you never really know. However, training my entire life, to go compete at a tournament against the best in the world to have my matches decided by some random fucking ref who not only has never actually contributed to jiujitsu from a technical stand point OR competed at the level at which he is refereeing and having to submit my winning or losing to his “opinion” that nobody gives a fuck about has left a very very bad taste in my mouth over the years. This worlds where in a match where one foot lock was attacked each and sweeps were exchanged equally and the only significant position was when I took the back and had to hang on for well over the 3 second mark to secure my points. In what world can your opinion see that as me losing. Only in a severely biased one. I don’t know the refs names whose opinions have way too much control over my career and I don’t want to. But whoever they are I think they are severely unqualified and biased in their job. And I hope they live out their sad little lives as blackbelts that will always get tapped by purple belts who are actually good. I’ve fought for the @ibjjf for the last 8 years. And they don’t even have the balls to post my match result on their instagram. There comes a time where silence is betrayal @ibjjf

A post shared by KEENAN CORNELIUS (@keenancornelius) on Jun 4, 2018 at 1:25pm PDT

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