East Coast Jiu Jitsu Academy’s Shay Montague came into 2023 fresh off a brown belt World No-Gi title and was aiming for another World title in the gi. In 2022, Shay won the Europeans, Pans, and Brasileiros in the rooster weight division. He was well on his way to winning every major tournament that year, but it wasn’t to be, as he took third after losing to Reno Niwa in the 2022 Worlds semifinals by one advantage. 2023 proved to be his year, however, as Shay won gold in dramatic fashion. In his final match he was down 2-0 with about 10 seconds remaining when he took the back and scored the winning points of the contest. We caught up with Shay to talk about his Worlds gold medal, his recent black belt promotion, and much more.

Talk a little bit about how you originally got started in jiu-jitsu.

I got into jiu-jitsu through watching mixed martial arts. I used to watch so much UFC and decided I wanted to try the sport but when I googled all the gyms around me all the people in the photos looked super scary and I was too scared to go. But I kept watching the sport and then started watching the BJJ highlights of guys like Jacare and other good BJJ athletes doing MMA. So I decided maybe jiu-jitsu gyms would be less scary and went to one of those instead. Eventually I tried my hand at MMA but realized being punched is no fun so decided to only do jiu-jitsu.

You have a very unique style of jiu-jitsu that’s both aggressive and technical. Which competitors were your main inspirations coming up through the belt ranks?

Since white belt I have religiously watched jiu-jitsu so I have too many inspirations to list, but my first heroes were definitely the Mendes brothers and the Miyao brothers. I used to watch all their highlights and go back and watch all the matches they had had before I started BJJ. I remember going back and watching old matches like Joao Miyao versus Caio Terra where Joao was doing squid guard, the matrix, and inside bolos before all these positions even had names. Another competitor I really liked watching as I came through the ranks was Tomoyuki Hashimoto. He had such a unique and different guard and did so many innovative positions. I think my unique style comes from trying to amalgamate as many of those guys positions into my own game while also training without a major gym which forced me to try unique things and experiment with my own positions more because there was less of a clear blueprint laid out in front of me.

More local inspiration comes from my friends like Ellis Younger, Darragh O’Conail, Marcus Phelan, and Sam McNally. Whenever I got to roll with those guys I would try to copy all the things they did to smash me and ask them so many questions. Lastly I think a lot of my more weird and crazy bendy guard retention comes from rolling with my first coach Martin Donaldson so much. He’s like a heavyweight with mad pressure and outside passing so I was constantly trying to come up with some bendy strange ways of stopping him just smashing my guard to bits. My first three years were just me going home after being passed to bits and trying to figure out a way I could stop it.

In 2022, you won every major IBJJF championship except the Worlds. What did it mean to you to win that title in 2023?

It felt super good to be able to win Worlds this year. It was nice to be able to win each of the majors at brown and especially nice to win Worlds this year as I think it was an especially stacked brown belt rooster division. Sometimes I think the smallest divisions are overlooked a bit since the jiu-jitsu looks so different and sometimes the divisions can be smaller so winning such a tough division made me feel extra proud. Also I wasn’t able to compete as much this year as I would have liked because just before No-Gi Worlds last year I hurt my knee quite bad in a freak accident. I managed to compete and win No-Gi Worlds but had to take a bunch of time off after it to let my knee heal so it was nice to get a big competition in and win it before being promoted.

You were recently promoted to black belt by Darragh O Conaill. How did it feel to reach black belt and what did it mean to you to be promoted by Darragh, who has done a lot to help grow jiu-jitsu in Ireland?

Getting my black belt felt super cool. It was nice to have my mum and some of my friends and students from home be there to witness it. Being promoted by Darragh means a lot to me too because he’s such an inspiration to me. He essentially started the BJJ scene in Ireland and taught himself jiu-jitsu and created students who could compete at a world level. That is something I would love to emulate in Scotland, to create the vibe and community of East Coast Jiu Jitsu Academy and also help coach students to a world level is something I aspire to achieve here one day. Darragh is an example that with dedication and smart thinking you can achieve almost anything anywhere and to have him recognize my BJJ as being black belt level meant a lot to me. A lot of my competition confidence comes from my trips to East Coast and seeing what they could achieve and then developing the belief through their help I could do the same.

The black rooster weight division has gotten tougher every year. What is your assessment of the current state of the division and how do you feel you’ll fit into it?

The rooster division right now is in one of its most exciting phases ever. There are so many sick athletes competing all with different and unique games and styles. Some of the matches and runs people have had this year have been so cool to watch. I just can’t wait to jump in and try to solve some of the problems the top guys pose. There are so many matches I’m excited to have and I think being able to compete against the best of the best will help propel my game to new levels. I think the division has finally started to get the recognition it deserves which is really nice to see!

When do you plan to make your IBJJF black belt debut?

I’m planning on doing three of the four no-gi majors this year starting with No-Gi Pans and finishing with No-Gi Worlds. Even though I prefer gi to no-gi at about a ten to one ratio it’s cool to be able to do well in both so I hope I can go to those comps and win some golds. After that all my attention is aimed at gi season. I always enjoy IBJJF comps a lot so I’m just buzzing to get as many big ones in as possible and have as many exciting matches as I can.