Grappling organization changes rules after women ditch jiu-jitsu tournament that matched them against men: 'I was sincerely scared'

Multiple female athletes dropped out of a women's jiu-jitsu tournament after they were slated to compete against males who identify as female. As a result of the backlash, the grappling organization changed its policy to exclude transgender athletes from women's competitions.

Martial artists Jayden Alexander and Ansleigh Wilk told Reduxx they were matched up against male competitors without any warning in a jiu-jitsu tournament.

Alexander, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt said that she was "so shocked [she] didn’t know how to respond.”

“I honestly never thought this would actually happen in a contact sport, especially not my contact sport,” she explained.

Wilk noted that she "hadn't been notified" she would be competing against a man and that her teammates were the ones who brought it to her attention.

"They kept asking me ‘are you fighting a man’ and I was honestly too focused on coaching the rest of the crew to really pay attention to my opponent,” Wilk recalled.

Wilk is a jiu-jitsu coach who has received multiple grappling gold medals [below] and even silver medals at the prestigious Pan IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship.

Both women competed against a man going by the name Cordelia Gregory, one of several men reportedly competing in women's jiu-jitsu tournaments under the North American Grappling Association.

“I realized very quickly I couldn’t muscle them like most girls,” Wilk added. “Well obviously, because it wasn’t a girl! Then not long after, I had to do a second match of which Cordelia threw a tantrum saying [he] ‘didn’t tap [out].’ I was sincerely scared [he] was going to punch me when I stuck my hand out to shake [his].”

Reduxx reported on X that in one of the women's divisions, "the only participants left competing were men."

According to Outkick, NAGA's initial policy stated that it "does not require biological women to compete against transgender women. Instead, [they] give the choice to the biological women and if they decline, they compete in a division only with other biological women.”

As of October 28, 2023, NAGA had appeared to officially change its policy to remove men from women's competitions entirely, giving them the option to compete against other men or not compete at all.

"We, as an organization, strive to ensure fairness, inclusivity, and respect for all competitors within our events," the updated policy began. "We will have divisions for only biological females. Transgender females will not be entered into these divisions," it continued.

"Transgender females must compete in the men’s division. We hope that the simplicity of this revised policy will help to avoid any future occurrences where transgender females enter women divisions. If NAGA staff is informed that a transgender female is in a women’s division, they will be given the choice to go to the men’s division or given a refund."

Former NCAA swimmer and activist Riley Gaines told Outkick that this showed "how powerful public opinion is."

"That is what we have needed to see ... When the gun goes off, you don’t jump off the block. That’s how you say enough is enough and really communicate the message that we’re not putting up with it," she added.

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