It’s apparent to anybody who follows Flograppling that they have their favorites who they like to cover in competition. This was no different at the IBJJF 2025 Euros and it was noticed by world champions Tommy Langaker and Tainan Dalpra.
Check out the instances of Flograppling’s biased coverage shown by Langaker and Dalpra below.
Tommy Langaker Calls Out Flo’s Coverage
In an Instagram post, IBJJF No-Gi World and Euro Champion Tommy Langaker gave his wrap-up of the 2025 European Championship. He enjoyed the event, but one thing that irritated him was Flograppling’s seemingly biased coverage.
Langaker presented two particular instances of Flo being biased in their coverage.
Diogo Reis vs. Shoya Ishiguro
The first instance of Flograppling showing favoritism that Tommy brought up was Diogo Reis vs. Shoya Ishiguro.
“As I was watching all these great fights, I was left with a few things that didn’t feel right. The first was Diogo Reis vs. Shoya Ishiguro, a great clash of great skill, solid guard passing and absolutely relentless guard control, but the way Flograppling commentators glazed up Diogo constantly and just seemed to ignore his opponent. This is something I feel is holding back the less profiled and up-and-comers in the sport. I understand there is a favorite but to give praise to someone that put up a solid fight and control.”- Tommy Langaker.
Kennedy Maciel vs. Cole Abate
The other match that Tommy brought up was a great match between Kennedy Maciel and Cole Abate. A great match, but Langaker felt Flograppling was pulling for Abate to win the match.
“The second one was Kennedy’s win over Cole Abate. Again, both are elite and experts in their division but then they put up the post “Kennedy survives Cole,” like WTF? He did not survive, he won. Give him the respect. I understand favoritism, but come on. Kennedy is highly accomplished and has been in plenty of these situations. He won and did not survive.”-Tommy Langaker.
Tanquino Backs Up Langaker’s Claims
2x world champion Agosto Tanquino commented on Langaker’s post and agreed with him on Flograppling’s biased coverage.
The biased media has been there for so many years, I lost count of how many times I’ve suffered the same thing. It’s not just Flograppling; most of the BJJ media right now is completely biased. Thank you for posting this!”- Tanquino.
Is Anyone Surprised?
This complaint about Flograppling shouldn’t really be a surprise to anyone. It isn’t just Flo, but every organization and promoter has their favorite athletes that they like to push.
BJJ media have their biases just like every other major sport. This isn’t a good thing, but it’s just the truth. Flograppling has their favorites and they’re going to push them.
Bobby is martial artist for almost 20 years with a BJJ black belt under Professor Sergio Miranda. He is also a karate black and former combat sports athlete, who loves all things grappling.