Aaron “Tex” Johnson claims he suffered severe and permanent spinal cord injuries on September 25, 2021 during a Who’s Number One event.
Johnson competed against Orlando Sanchez in Nogi Jiu jitsu. During the match, Sanchez hit slammed Johnson’s back into the mat while Tex held him in a triangle choke.
While some competitions such as ADCC allow you to slam your opponent while he’s trying to submit you – others don’t allow it due to likeliness of injury.
Tex Johnson claims he suffered severe and permanent spinal cord injuries as a result of Sanchez’ tactics.
Johnson’s lawyers pinpointed in a post on their site that Orlando Sanchez is widely known as a dirty competitor. They went on to mention a sparring match he had with Sean Strickland which resulted in Strickland getting pissed off and trying to kick Sanchez to retaliate for the ‘dirty’ move he utilized.
‘Who’s Number One’ rules do not permit slams.
https://youtu.be/sTnvCknfPGA?t=184
The aforementioned post mentions that the referee made no attempt to clarify the rules prior to the event starting.
After Johson landed back first on the mat, the referee intervened to stop the grappling. Orlando Sanchez was immediately disqualified.
Tex Johnson alleges he was visibly frustrated and was grabbing at his lower back before leaving the mat. Johnson hasn’t competed professionally since.
According to Johnson’s lawyers:
“On Tuesday, July 18, 2022, an Original Petition was filed on behalf of Tex Johnson against Orlando Sanchez, FloSports, Inc. D/B/A FloGrappling, and Gabriel Martins seeking damages for the severe and permanent injuries suffered as a result of this incident.
The lawsuit alleges that Orlando Sanchez was grossly negligent and is liable for civil assault against Tex Johnson. The lawsuit further alleges that FloGrappling’s agents and/or employees intervened too late. The negligence claim against FloGrappling also includes allegations that FloGrappling did nothing to ensure that Orlando Sanchez was aware of the rules and warn of or enforce the rules.”
This isn’t the first time Flograppling found itself in this kind of situation. Roughly 5 years ago a F2W event ended after Vagner Rocha spartan kicked his opponent, AJ Agazarm, off the stage. While Agazarm never publicly explained what legal steps he took in order to receive compensation for the disqualifiable offense from Rocha, it’s long been rumored and confirmed behind the scenes that he did in fact receive a substantial settlement from Flosports, parent company of Flograppling.