Olympic boxer Tony Jeffries recently decided to enter a BJJ competition for the very first time, and he even shared the footage of his debut. Although Jeffries managed to become an elite competitor in one combat sport, the difference between striking and grappling arts is huge. He also hasn’t competed in boxing for over a decade at this point, and only started training in BJJ at the age of 37. Regardless, Jeffries has thrown himself into the world of Jiu-Jitsu since then and has even managed to get some training in with one of the best grapplers in the world as well.
Jeffries represented Great Britain in the Olympics back in 2008, where he won a bronze medal at light-heavyweight. He then turned professional the following year and put together an undefeated 9-0-1 record before he retired in 2012 due to issues with his hands. Jeffries has had connections with other martial arts for quite some time, and he even served as both the boxing coach and cornerman for UFC fighter Brendan Schaub at one point. Although he was obviously aware of BJJ at the time, it didn’t pique his interest enough to start training in it and he was still focused on his life as a boxing coach first and foremost.
Fast forward to today and the Olympic boxer has been training in BJJ for two years, reaching a point that he feels comfortable making his debut in competition. He is still a white belt and entered the appropriate division, having two matches in his bracket. Jeffries won the first match by submission to cap off an impressive performance, but his second and last match was much closer. He couldn’t get the submission win there but he did manage to win on points, taking home a gold medal in the tournament and starting his fledgeling BJJ career with a 2-0 record at white belt.
Olympic boxer Tony Jeffries uploaded the footage of him making his BJJ competition debut to his official YouTube channel:
