Announcement: Jason Latona expelled from 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu.

We had to expel Jason Latona and take his ranking away. When I got to Singapore he claimed he was a purple belt in the gi. I rolled with him and said I couldn't acknowledge his belt and would start him off at white, later granting a blue.

After continually trying to wear purple ranked 10th Planet gear, and lying to people that he had 25 years of jiu jitsu experience, and complaining that he wasn't a purple belt in 10th Planet, I finally said I'd vet his claims of receiving a purple belt in 2001, and 2009, by 3 different instructors. I told him if he checked out, I'd help him more on the path to purple.

It turns out the person he claimed he received the purple belt from in 2001, didn't start jiu jitsu til 1999, and received a blue in 2006, purple in 2009, brown in 2012, and black in 2014. There was no way I could allow this lie to live any longer, and it was agreed that the best solution was to expel him from Evolve MMA and 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu, and strip him of any rankings while at Evolve and 10th Planet.

We could not let a person that has been training at the gym for upwards of 2 years to continue to train with us, as his presence was becoming an issue. Yes, this sounds familiar. It's happened before. Please earn your rank,
legally.

smh.

Why fake stuff? They eventually get found out when someone rolls with them.

He should've said he got his purple in 2015 from someone in a remote part of Brazil, deep in the amazon.

What a tool..

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Originally Posted by Daniel Siriphongs

Why fake stuff? They eventually get found out when someone rolls with them.

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There are several possibilities. He could've been a victim of one of those parasitic "fake bjj schools" out there, but with this guy in particular I don't think that was the case. So yeah, probably mental issues, self-esteem issues, a combination of both, who knows. Unfortunately there are a lot of people who have barely accomplished anything in life and feel better when they pretend to be someone they are not.

Sadly, this is a semi-annual scenario. If I've learned anything about BJJ over the last few years while perusing this board, it's all about integrity and humility, not fakin' and perpetrating. Hope this guy learns from his actions and moves forward cautiously.

Props to everybody that's legitimately leveled up. Respect.

Latona, do you know a woman in the IFBB with the last name. When I looked through the guy's twitter I saw who his sister is. I don't know if I am surprised.

I just started Jiu Jitsu online with you guys but I have a black belt in UFC.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Eddie Bravo

He should've said he got his purple in 2015 from someone in a remote part of Brazil, deep in the amazon.

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Like Blanka from Street Fighter??? LOL

You guys are funny with them comments! But all joking aside, I've been on the front line with 2 situations with students or training partners misrepresenting their belts- one at LA Headquarters, and one here in Singapore.

What I've learned is that if you take a person aside, man to man, and let them know to stop doing what they're doing- like nobody. No witnesses-nothing. Nothing to give the person a reason to continue lying past that point... If you do this, and they still believe they are that rank or belt, it's a them problem. You have to stop the problem right then and there, and part ways. Point blank.

It's not worth your time or any of your associates time to try to talk sense to someone displaying sociopathic behavior, as they don't care about the outcome, but the fact that you believe they are what they say they are. I'm done playing nice with people as people have mistaken this for weakness.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Slick Rick

You guys are funny with them comments! But all joking aside, I've been on the front line with 2 situations with students or training partners misrepresenting their belts- one at LA Headquarters, and one here in Singapore.

What I've learned is that if you take a person aside, man to man, and let them know to stop doing what they're doing- like nobody. No witnesses-nothing. Nothing to give the person a reason to continue lying past that point... If you do this, and they still believe they are that rank or belt, it's a them problem. You have to stop the problem right then and there, and part ways. Point blank.

It's not worth your time or any of your associates time to try to talk sense to someone displaying sociopathic behavior, as they don't care about the outcome, but the fact that you believe they are what they say they are. I'm done playing nice with people as people have mistaken this for weakness.

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This is very interesting and I'm learning from this, in terms of the inevitability that if I open a school one day this might happen. So you rolled with this guy, was it like he was not very skilled, maybe somewhat of a tough guy but a lot of areas lacking or was it like he had absolutely no business wearing even a blue belt? Like, if he claimed to be a blue belt would he MAYBE have gotten away with it? lol like how bad was that roll? I'd love to have seen the moment in a roll where you KNEW this guy was fake. I've rolled with some blue/purple/browns that I thought to myself 'they must be the type to just put in the bare minimum attendance, maybe kinda physically tough but got minimal skills', though I'd only ever think this privately and never suspected that they were fake. I imagine this guys game must've really been dogshit to want to start him off at white.

Not gonna lie...out of pure interest and boredom I searched this guy on facebook. Based on the bravado and epic douchery of some of his pics, I have a hard time believing that he's been humbled to the degree of even getting a blue. Thank you for sharing.