Dan Strauss is one of the most popular figures in the UK BJJ community and he’s just been promoted to third degree black belt after spending over 9 years at the rank. Strauss has had huge success in practically every aspect of the sport and has made a name for himself as a competitor, coach, podcaster, and commentator over the years. Not only has Strauss become known for his fantastic technical ability and knowledge of the sport, but he’s also been a huge proponent of unconventional strength training methods as well.
These two factors proved to be a great combination as early as 2011, when he won the European edition of ADCC Trials as a purple belt at 77kg. That victory booked his place at the ADCC world championship later that year and he came up against a huge challenge in his very first match. Defeating Claudio Calasans is a tough challenge for anyone and Strauss wasn’t able to get past that tough draw in the opening round. Regardless, Strauss had already made a huge impact on the sport in the UK at such an early point in his career and his status only continued to develop from there.
Strauss has gone on to compete on some of the biggest promotions in the sport like Quintet and Polaris, along with serving as a commentator there in the past as well. Strauss also trained competitors at Mill Hill BJJ and started The Raspberry Ape podcast throughout the years as well. His long-time coach and one of the pioneers of BJJ in the UK, Nick Brooks, sadly passed away in 2021 and as a result, David Onuma awarded Dan Strauss with the third degree on his black belt on his behalf.
Dan Strauss announced the news that he had been promoted to third degree BJJ black belt in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
