‘I don’t like his arrogance’ – Keith Krikorian fires back at Derek Moneyberg
Decorated no-gi competitor Keith Krikorian spoke to Grappling Insider about controversial wealth coach Derek Moneyberg.
Derek Moneyberg has successfully drawn the collective ire of the BJJ community, and top black belt competitor Keith Krikorian is leading the charge in poking fun at the freshly minted black belt.
Earlier this year, Moneyberg – known for his questionable business practices, dubious social media following, and paid association with dozens of high-level combat sports athletes – surprised the BJJ world by announcing that he had been awarded his black belt after just three and a half years of training. According to Moneyberg, he amassed thousands of hours of training in private lessons with renowned figures such as Jake Shields, Gordon Ryan, and Royce Gracie.
Understandably, most BJJ fans doubted his claims. With no live rolling footage available and no competition experience to his name, few believed that Moneyberg deserved the black belt rank.
As social media was flooded with commentary and content lambasting Moneyberg, Krikorian joined in the fun. A three-time ADCC veteran who currently holds Polaris, Grapplefest, and Combat Jiu-Jitsu titles, Krikorian is widely recognized among the sport’s elite no-gi competitors.
Krikorian posted a few videos on his Instagram criticizing Moneyberg and the little footage of him training that’s available. Before long, Moneyberg reached out directly to Krikorian, threatening to sue him while claiming it’s “awkward” that Krikorian had recently come up short in the final of EBI 25 (after defeating a trio of top-flight professional grapplers).
Krikorian subsequently posted Moneyberg’s message to Instagram and has continued creating content making fun of the braggadocious wealth coach.
In a recent exclusive interview with Grappling Insider, Krikorian spoke about Moneyberg and why he’s motivated to expose him. Krikorian also spoke about his newfound love for content creation, growing his social media following, his beef with former foe Ash Williams, and much more.
Watch the full interview below.
“I don’t like [Moneyberg’s] arrogance. I don’t like how he doesn’t respect us, the community. He doesn’t respect our sport. At least not enough to do what we all know we need to do in order to obtain black belts, or to even get good at the sport – you have to train. You have to train with people you’re not paying.”
