Celtics HC Joe Mazzulla Recently Had Jiu-Jitsu Fight, Jordan Walsh Reveals in Video

Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla is known to be an avid practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and he apparently tested his skills in a real competition.

During an appearance on Garden Report, Celtics guard Jordan Walsh revealed that Mazzulla recently took part in a BJJ match.

"Apparently, Joe just did a jiu-jitsu match in Connecticut. I missed it, but he did a fight, an official fight," Walsh said around the 16:45 mark (h/t HoopsHype). "We were talking about it, and I said, 'If you lose this fight, you lose so much respect in the community, in the locker room, and everything.' And so that was hilarious."

Walsh explained that he and Celtics star guard Jaylen Brown discussed the competition with Mazzulla and put a little pressure on him. While he doesn't know the result of the match, he has his suspicions about how things played out.

"Me, JB, and Joe were talking about it, it was Saturday, and I was with Joe and JB, and I said, 'What would you rather do on a Saturday than watch Joe get choked out on the mat? Like, what else would you want to do?' And so everybody was like, 'You’ve got a good point. We should definitely watch this,'" Walsh said. "Unfortunately, I missed it, but I haven’t seen him in the gym since, so it might be a bad sign. But I gotta definitely reach out to him and see how that went for sure."

Mazzulla told ESPN last year that he took up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 2017 and re-committed to his training upon becoming head coach of the Celtics in 2022 because he feels that it helps him connect with players better.

Walsh added that he suspects that Mazzulla chose a competition in Connecticut to make sure none of his players would make the trek to watch his match. Still, he won't let his coach off the hook if he wasn't victorious.

"If I find out that he lost... oh yeah. ... I might put him in a chokehold or something when I see him," Walsh said.