Over the last year, we haven’t heard much from Daisy Fresh original Andrew Wiltse. The 1st Daisy Fresh black belt, which used to be active online, had abruptly stopped posting videos and updates. There were even Reddit posts asking where he was.
The 2020 No-Gi Pan Champion, Andrew Wiltse finally broke his silence, revealing a growing rift between him and his home gym. Here’s what Andrew had to say about the tension between him and his teammates Pedigo Submission Fighting Academy.
Wiltse Reveals Tension Between Him & Daisy Fresh
If you’ve watched recent episodes of Daisy Fresh’s YouTube channel, you’ll notice the Wiltse brothers are never featured. The oldest Wiltse brother, Andrew, explained in a post that they were being phased.
“Even when I was there all day, every day, I was phased out of Daisy Fresh YouTube videos. Just, like, I wasn’t invited on trips to camps, and I wasn’t informed about local tournaments or basically anything that everyone else knew.” -Andrew Wiltse.
It seems crazy that this is happening, but Wiltse addressed why this growing rift occurred. He claimed various things, including arguments and member disagreements about training methods.
Tension Over YouTube Channels
Wiltse also revealed that his YouTube page is the biggest reason for their tension. After the Flograppling Daisy Fresh series became popular, the Wiltse brothers created their YouTube channel.
This apparently upset members of the gym, who felt the channel was competing against their channel.
“People were upset that me and Bird (his brother) had our own YouTube channel. They thought we were competing for views or something silly but super harmful. We were flat-out told we were not allowed to record in the gym anymore. That’s why rolling videos stopped happening.” Andrew Wiltse.
Andrew also revealed that he was supposed to collaborate with a famous BJJ YouTuber at the gym. However, prominent team members prevented that.
“He made a story or post about it, and Daisy Fresh members messaged him and told him no, he wasn’t allowed to film there because he was direct competition.”-Andrew Wiltse.
These messages nixed the collaboration and left the Wiltse brothers irritated and upset.
The Clashing of Personalities
Andrew’s post also mentioned a clash of personalities between new and younger gym members.
“Daisy Fresh was very different when I started. There were a bunch of old members that were incredibly intelligent and reasonable and they kept the younger members in line and acted as role models. Those people really aren’t there anymore.”
Wiltse Dealing With Depression
Andrew also revealed that the tension led him into a severe cycle of depression. For an extended period, he wasn’t working or training.
Thankfully, he was able to kick his depression, and now he’s back to making videos.
Why Stay at Daisy Fresh?
If there is really this much tension between the two sides, it begs the question: Why don’t the Wiltse Brothers just leave and train somewhere else?
It’s understandable to have gym loyalty, but why stay if the rift between the two sides is this bad? If Daisy Fresh doesn’t want them to film or participate in team activities, they clearly don’t want them there.
The Wiltse brothers are talented grapplers and could easily find a new home in another gym. They could easily be part of another good team or build their own and be successful.
It sucks to hear sucks when things like this happen at gyms, but the best thing could be to move on. Daisy Fresh does their thing, and the Wiltse brothers do theirs in another gym.
Bobby is martial artist for almost 20 years with a BJJ black belt under Professor Sergio Miranda. He is also a karate black and former combat sports athlete, who loves all things grappling.
