Wilson and Matt Win at EliteXC!!!

Congratulations to teammates Wilson Reis and Matt Makowski for extending their undefeated records at the HUGE EliteXC MMA event tonight!

Wilson defeated Justin Robbins from Matt Hughes' camp by choke, after completely dominating his 12-3 opponent. Wilson's Pro MMA record is now 4-0 and he'll be traveling to California next week to try and secure his second World BJJ title.


Wilson at the weigh-ins yesterday


Matt Makowski beat black belt Nick Serra (brother of Matt Serra) by TKO in just his 3rd Pro fight. Matt fought out of some tough positions to overwhelm Serra with his excellent Muay Thai.


Matt (left) faces off with Nick Serra at the weigh-ins

Brasileiro Photos

Before I get to the pics from this year's Brasileiro (Brazilian Championships), I'd like to thank Felipe Costa for all of his help. Aside from being an absolute beast on the mats- a Brazilian, European, and World Champion- Felipe is incredibly generous and an amazing instructor. Check out his website and the fantastic write-up he did at www.brazilianblackbelt.com

Now on to the pics! Unfortunately I was unable to get much of the black belts since I was competing too. But we did manage to get some good shots of Ryan's journey to the podium as well as my matches.


Training with Felipe Costa at one of the Brasa Academies


Ryan Hall finishes his first opponent with a triangle.


Ryan defeats the current Pan Am champion.


Ryan works his upside-down guard and wins his 3rd match.


Ryan takes bronze at the Brasileiro!


My first match, using a sweep to get the top position.


Finishing my first opponent with the cross choke.


My second match, against the eventual Champion.

Brasileiro Results

Congratulations to BJJ United Instructor Jared Weiner on taking home a bronze medal from the Masters Lightweight division. In the quarterfinals Jared beat Luciano Nunes 6-0 in a dominating performance. In the semi's he went up against Rodrigo "Feijao" (a multiple time black belt World Cup champion) and fought a tremendous fight before losing 4-0.

Today I competed in the Adult Lightweight division. It was my first time competing in Brazil as a black belt and I was super excited and in good shape. I won my first match by cross choke from the mount, after being up 12-2 on the scoreboard. In the quarterfinals I faced the eventual Gold medalist and lost. As always, it was a great experience and I took away some important lessons.

Stay tuned for pics, I'll upload a bunch of them as soon as I get home on Tuesday. Unfortunately video is not permitted at the tournament. I can't wait to get back and show some of the slick techniques I've picked up training with Felipe Costa and the Brasa team!

Update from Brazil

First, for those of you not on the email list, congrats to teammate Ryan Hall for bringing back a Bronze medal from the Brasileiro- A huge accomplishment! Make sure you sign up for the mailing list on the homepage for constant updates, not to mention a Free BJJ Instructional.

Now, on the the update. The schedule and brackets have been released for the Black Belt divisions. I will be competing on Sunday around noon (11am EST), while BJJ United head Instructor Jared Weiner competes Saturday afternoon. I am not familiar with either of our first round opponents, but there are very tough guys in both divisions. It's going to be a blast and I can't wait!

I'll do my best to check back with at least one more update after the tournament.

Temporary Schedule Change

* ATTN: ALL STUDENTS! *

As many of you already know, I will be headed to Brazil this Friday. As a result, I've modified the schedule for Friday May 2nd to Tuesday May 13th. The following classes have been removed from the schedule until we return to the normal schedule on Wednesday May 14:

-Tues and Friday 12pm Classes
-Wednesday's 7:30am Class

All other classes (Kids, Evening, Weekend etc.) remain as usual, so Train Hard!! Mr. Brian will be running the Children's classes, and Chuck will be teaching the Adult Fundamentals. If you haven't had the chance to work with Chuck, this is a great opportunity. He trains primarily in the morning and noons, is an advanced purple belt and has a wealth of experience and knowledge. I’ll be back before you know it with some new techniques and tricks to add to our curriculum!

BJJU Tournament Pics

Here they are, the best pics from this weekend's BJJ United tournament. Check below for full results and details on the great performances from the Paramount BJJ Competition Team!


Ryan working the cross choke



Steve Mckenna works for the submission



Chad gets ready for his first match



The Paramount BJJ crew hangs out between matches



Steve Miller works guard



Steve Mckenna looking for a choke in the finals



Brian ready to battle in the Finals



Eric takes the back in an awesome match



Steve Mckenna finishes the triangle choke



Eric wins his first match in the Open division

BJJU Tournament Results

Paramount BJJ brought 11 students to compete at the BJJ United In-House tournament this weekend- our biggest competition turn-out to date! Each and every student performed up to or above expectations, I couldn't possibly be more proud. Check out the results below and stay tuned for more pics!


Competitors get instructions before the Tournament


Brian Sieb - 2nd place, Blue belt Featherweight (won submission of the day with a superfast wristlock!)
Ryan O'Connell - 3rd place, White belt Featherweight (just started training this year!)
Matt Bauer - 3rd place, White belt Lightweight (lost his first match, and battled thru the consolation bracket with 3 straight submissions!)
Steve McKenna - 2nd place, White belt Middleweight (Steve decided to do the tournament yesterday! Still he won a total of 4 matches including a katagatame choke and triangle choke.)
Steve Miller - 2nd place, White belt Open weight, 3rd place Middleweight (Steve had a total of 6 matches and was very impressive. In the semi-finals of the Open he swept a much bigger opponent before finishing him with a cross choke from the mount.)
Eric Young had some wars in Blue Belt, losing an exciting 7-6 battle in his weight class and winning 6-2 before losing in the Open weight.
"Chef" lost a super close 2-0 match in Blue belt Middleweight, but showed strong passing and composure.
Evan Henderson lost a controversial 0-0 decision in a fantastic match in the White belt Lightweight.
Joe Marciano faced teammates in his weight class, so he jumped into the Open and lost a close 7-3 match to a big and very strong opponent, it was a war!
Mike Todd finished his first opponent with a guillotine choke before losing on points in the White belt Open weight division.
Chad Bender had a tough draw, losing to the Open Class champion in his weight class then taking on the same giant that Joe fought. Both matches were impressive, Chad showed that he's been drilling his techniques and its only a matter of time before they're unstoppable.


Paramount BJJ Competition Team at BJJU


Every single competitor from Paramount showed technique, potential, and most importantly heart- Not once did I anyone consider quitting, and almost everyone jumped into the Open just to get more practice. As I said I am very very proud of each student, I can't wait for the next tournament!