ADCC veteran and top coach Tom DeBlass has just been promoted to 4th degree BJJ black belt by his long-time coach Ricardo Almeida. He’s had a very long career in combat sports, competing in both professional grappling and MMA several times over the years and managing to reach the highest level in both. DeBlass has been a successful competitor since the earliest days, winning a bronze medal in the brown belt division of the IBJJF World Championship and a gold medal in the brown belt division of the IBJJF no gi World Championship both in 2007.
Although DeBlass competed in both gi and no gi competition early in his career, he soon found more success in no gi before transitioning to MMA. He took home a bronze medal from the black belt division of the IBJJF no gi World Championship in 2009 while winning ADCC Trials and making his debut appearance at the ADCC World Championship that same year. He focused on his MMA career after that and won his first 7 fights in quick success to earn himself a UFC contract, fighting twice for the promotion before leaving for Bellator and retiring from the sport shortly after that with a 9-2 professional record.
He continued to compete in professional grappling after that and won ADCC trials another two times, making several appearances in the biggest tournament in no gi grappling. Although DeBlass stopped competing, he still has a major hand in the development of the sport through several different avenues. He has coached several top competitors like Garry Tonon over the years and has stayed involved in the organizational side of ADCC trials as well. DeBlass continues to drive the sport to higher levels in many different ways and it’ll be exciting to see where he goes from here, particularly with the newer top competitors training under him like Jaidyn Mueller.
Tom DeBlass announced the news that he had been promoted to 4th degree BJJ black belt by Ricardo Almeida in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
