J-Rod Update On Not Training
Jacob “J-Rod” Rodriguez recently made an appearance on the Jitsu and Giggles podcast to give one of his first interviews since he was banned from B-Team for inappropriate behavior.
Sadly for Rodriguez, the ban from B-Team has led to him being without a gym and high-level training for the past few months.
“I don’t train at all… for like the past… for like maybe two or three months I think… so yeah no training at all that was really difficult.”
Jacob also stated that after the band, he has basically been blacklisted from every Jiu-Jitsu school in Austin, Texas. After the inappropriate behavior at B-Team, no other school in the city wants the stigma of allowing him to train at their gym.
“I can’t train in Austin specifically… anywhere worth going to. I think like I’ve reached out to there’s really like a handful of gyms that I would train at… but they’re just kind of like timid or whatever which I understand… from like a business perspective.”-Jacob “J-Rod” Rodriguez.
Why Rodriguez Believes He Was Banned
Jacob understood why he was banned and that it was a business decision on the part of Craig Jones and the other members of B-Team. If he were to stay on the team as CJI 2 was being set up, it would’ve likely scared away sponsors from putting money in the event.
“They have a lot of stuff going on with CJI and whatnot… imagine if CJI were to lose some like sponsors from CJI, it’s a lot of money to lose.”-Jacob Rodriguez.
It’s obvious that Rodriguez made a stupid decision and a ban was deserved, but being completely blacklisted seems like overkill. If he has learned from his mistake, he should be permitted to train again.
With time, maybe someone will J-Rod a chance and let him continue pursuing his career as a professional grappler.
You can watch his full interview on the Jits and Giggles podcast below.
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.