One of Tenth Planet’s top competitors Keith Krikorian will be returning to Combat Jiu Jitsu on June 5th in an attempt to become the world’s first double champion in the ruleset. The young no gi specialist has been at the top of his game for the last few years, even before being promoted to black belt by Richie ‘Boogieman’ Martinez in 2020. He has been a permanent fixture at the North American ADCC trials and ended up coming home with a silver medal at both the East and West coast trials leading up to ADCC 2019, losing to Ethan Crelinsten and Nicky Ryan in the respective finals.
When the trials for ADCC 2022 came around, fans were naturally starting to feel as though Krikorian might be forever the bridesmaid and never the bride when he lost in the very last matchup of the 66kg division once again. This time it was even more devastating as Krikorian had beaten two of the favourites to win the division in Ben Eddy and Gianni Grippo before he lost to the young AOJ prodigy Cole Abate. It was at this point that Keith Krikorian decided to try his hand at Combat Jiu Jitsu for the very first time and he stormed to victory in the Featherweight division by submitting three out of four of his opponents without the need for EBI overtime.
By finishing his 2021 in style, Krikorian set himself up for huge success in 2022 and he has so far remained undefeated. He first competed at Who’s Number One and won a convincing decision victory over Gabriel Sousa before finally managing to win a place at the ADCC world championships by defeating seven elite grapplers in one weekend at the West coast trials. Now Keith Krikorian will be looking to ride the wave of that success in to the Combat Jiu Jitsu Lightweight world championships as he looks to become the first ever CJJ double champion against tough opposition like fellow ADCC trials winners Ethan Crelinsten and Ashley Williams.
The full Combat Jiu Jitsu Lightweight Worlds 2022 event will be available to watch live on June 5th on UFC FightPass, click here to subscribe and watch.
