Famous American DJ and record producer Steve Aoki has just taken part in the first Jiu-Jitsu lesson of his life with UFC veteran Diego Lopes. Aoki has been releasing music for around three decades at this point and has worked with many of the biggest artists in the world. Although music has been Aoki’s life for a very long time, he did have a brief sporting career as a member of his High School Badminton team. He’s been a fan of martial arts since the very beginning though, and he even named his first label Dim Mak records in honour of his childhood hero; Bruce Lee.
His experience in martial arts as a practitioner is basically zero though, other than trying out Muay Thai shortly before this. Steve Aoki already met Diego Lopes prior to this Jiu-Jitsu session and actually did a custom remix for his walkout at UFC 314. That has led to Aoki becoming the latest of many celebrity BJJ practitioners and even though he’s only had one session so far, he was very clearly hooked:
“I realize I know 0.0001 percent, but what I did learn was the inspiration and excitement to now step through the door. I’ve always been kind of fearful of it. I’ve been scared of it. I like to watch it on TV. I like to watch my f*cking friends do it. Now, I’m ready. So Diego (Lopes), it’s all your fault.”
There’s famous faces on the Jiu-Jitsu mats all around the world these days, and coming from a wide range of different fields. From actors and sportspeople to musicians and comedians, BJJ genuinely is for everyone. This isn’t even the first time that the music and MMA worlds have collided, and it won’t be the last either. It’ll be interesting to see if Aoki starts pursuing this further now that he’s got a taste of things, and there’s plenty of great academies to choose from in his home-city of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Iridium Sports Agency shared the footage of Steve Aoki having his first Jiu-Jitsu lesson with Diego Lopes to their official YouTube channel:
