BJJ Mundials NOT for Everyone/Black Belt World Championship Requirements

I suspected it would come along eventually as the sport grew. The IBJJF has announced that black belts will need to medal/win (it's unclear exactly how many) at other IBJJF events in order to quality for eligibility to compete at the world championships.
It may start at black belt, but you can bet it will eventually trickle down to other belts.
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In pursuit of this goal, we are requiring that Adult Division Black Belts who would like to register for the 2015 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship will need to have placed at other IBJJF tournaments prior to May 2015.

Because the World Championship is the most prestigious event of our Jiu-Jitsu calendar, it is important that only the most accomplished athletes have a chance for the title.
Athletes eligible to participate in the 2015 World will be:
- Black belts with minimum of 50 points in the IBJJF black belt adult ranking
- Former Black Belt adult World champions
- 2014 Brown Belt World Champions (all weight divisions)

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ON one hand, logistically, it means ONLY the elite of the elite will compete.
ON the other hand, it means that competitors must now increasingly travel to potentially accrue enough points to be eligible to compete at the Mundials.

If you look at the mechanics of the points system in Judo, only a player at the very upper echelon of USA Judo will get funding to travel to a limited number of international events in order to score enough points to be ranked/qualify for the Olympics/Trials.

Again, on one hand, I'm all for making sure only the elite compete at the black belt level.

ON the other hand, then we should do away with the gentleman's agreement.
If we're really here to ensure fans see the showdowns and elite level competition, then there can be no handshake or coin toss. There needs to also then be a break up or shakedown at some of the major powerhouse teams.

I predict some unforeseen long term effects/changes on BJJ as a result of this decision.

Judo has increasingly become an elitist sport in which a handful of US Teams put forth a handful of competitors as a few events each year to quality for the Olympics.
The recent changes also have meant that an increasingly small handful of countries overall produce competitors for the Olympics/World Championships as well.
For a grass roots level player from a small town, unless you are part of one of a handful of teams, you can go ahead and accept you will likely never compete at  even the national level.

What I've loved about BJJ (among other things) is that openness in the sport.
That any guy with the gumption and drive can show up and do the World Championships.
I like seeing guys from all manner of different teams show up with the patches on their back and compete at that level.

I think it will also mean that you will see more investment by competitors into the other IBJJF events throughout the year which I think is a fiscal reason motivating this decision, which they can then also stream/sell because there will be more high level names competing at the various Opens across the calendar.