The 2024 Zagreb Open winner Jason Nolf has been charting newer waters for quite some time. Straying away from wrestling, the ex-NLWC star has made it clear that he isn’t afraid to explore other avenues of combat sport. The three-time NCAA gold medalist made his BJJ debut back in June and even picked up a major victory against seasoned jiu-jitsu star Andrew Simmons. Naturally, Nolf’s prospect at the Craig Jones Invitational seemed pretty slick. But that didn’t happen, nor was his opponent Tye Ruotolo happy about how their bout went at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.

The BJJ black belt star alleged that the wrestler had an unfair advantage during their fight. While Nolf allegedly admitted to his sly move to his foe, it seems like he’s also somewhat determined to play the joke all the way.

Jason Nolf comes clean, with a humorous twist

In the under 80kg first round, Jason was ousted from the race potentially to bag $1 million by Ruotolo. However, the controversial “greasing” debate has yet to subside across cyberspace. Even though Tye won the match with a resounding submission via a knee bar, he wasn’t happy about how Nolf seemed to have greased up his legs, making grappling a troublesome affair. But Nolf is also startled to see his opponent couldn’t see through the joke and has taken to Instagram to have a few more chuckles.

Captioned, “Some good never before seen footage from yesterday,” the post shows the wrestler squeezing out a ton of moisturizer from a bottle and applying it to his legs. The video clip makes it apparent that the whole thing is done in good humor and Nolf is trying to assert that he didn’t actually do it during his CJI match.

In a YouTube video uploaded by Athletes Ocean earlier today, Nolf was also heard talking about how the entire thing was just a miscommunication. He revealed that he had shaved his legs before the match and that’s why Tye was startled by how difficult it seemed to get a grip on the former. “I think just like as soon as I got sweaty, you know having smooth legs, it’s really hard, it’s really hard for them to hold on,” Nolf was heard saying. However, irrespective of how things transpired in Nevada, Nolf wouldn’t be looking to take a break from his MMA or BJJ career any time soon.

Nolf is already looking at the way forward

In the YouTube video, Jason also talked about his plans for the future. Mentioning that a few months of break is on the table, Nolf promised to bounce back stronger from the setback and get back to training as soon as possible. While he didn’t give a specific date as to when he will return to competing, he suggested it could happen later this year, maybe sometime around November. Along with that, Cael Sanderson’s student also mentioned that he would be working more diligently on his submission skills such as the front headlock submissions and rear-naked chokes in order to escape from tricky situations during matches in the future.

Jason’s CJI experience has also sparked a newfound love for MMA, and he was heard contemplating exploring the sport further. The extensive physical nature of the game has caught his attention, Jason admitted. What would want to see Nolf take up as his next big challenge in his illustrious career? Share with us!