Guitarist and co-owner of Professional Grappling Federation Zoltan Bathory recently opened up about his commitment to supporting American Olympic athletes through a charitable initiative tied to his band’s 2026 tour.
During a recent interview, Bathory explained the reasoning behind directing a portion of ticket sales to USA Judo and BMX teams. His motivation stems from a lesser-known reality about American Olympic athletes: unlike competitors from most other nations, they receive no government funding.
“It’s not a well-known thing that, at least publicly… I mean I’ve been in the sport for my whole life so I knew this, but you know the Olympics are very unique in a way that if you’re a pro athlete you cannot compete in the Olympics,” Bathory said.
He continued: “The United States is a little bit unique because from all the major countries, the US have a law where the government cannot be involved with Olympic sports. So there has to be a separation and therefore the government doesn’t fund these Olympic athletes at all.”
This creates an uneven playing field where American athletes compete against state-sponsored programs worldwide. “When Americans win the Olympics, actually they’re winning on a shoestring budget and people don’t know this. It’s pretty much comes from donations,” he explained.
The reality hit home for Bathory when hearing stories from Olympic-level judokas he knows personally. “Some friends I know who are Olympians told me like, ‘Yeah, I have to call my boss and ask if I can take off some time so I can compete in the Olympics.’ That’s unfortunate to me. And I like, ‘What?’ So I’m like, ‘Okay, that we got to do something.’”
The Hungarian-born musician has deep roots in judo, having started training at age nine in his home country where the sport was state-sponsored and free.
“Judo is home to me, I grew up. Judo is sort of responsible for my success in life because it made me into a martial artist. I see the world through those goggles, right? So I feel like if anything, I owe something to Judo,” Bathory reflected.
His singer chose BMX due to his own background in the sport, leading them to support both disciplines. “We’re literally just donating a portion of the ticket sales that will move the needle for these guys. So that means they can go to extra training camps and they can get better equipment and all that stuff,” Bathory said.
