Over the years, America has become a powerhouse of grappling. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu stars like Mikey Musumeci, brothers Tye and Kade Ruotolo, Dorian Olivarez, Helena Crevar, and Cole Abate are all proud competitors representing the USA. Unsurprisingly, these young stars share one thing in common – they are backed up and carefully guided by some of the greatest minds in Jiu-Jitsu, like John Danaher, the Mendes brothers, and Andre Galvao.
Known as one of the best and most accomplished Jiu-Jitsu competitors of all time, the Mendes brothers, Rafa and Gui, have played a significant role in the development of some of these athletes under their academy, Art Of Jiu-Jitsu (AOJ). In this article, let’s get to the grappling overtop as we talk about the AOJ’s American prodigy, Cole Abate.
Cole Abate’s Background
Cole Abate is a Texan Jiu-Jitsu rising star. Born on November 16, 2004, at 4, Cole was initially drawn into team sports like baseball and basketball. At a young age, Cole was already observed to be showing signs of competitiveness when playing sports.
By the age of 5, while working out with his father at a local fitness gym, they were approached by another gymgoer who, after a while, spoke about Jiu-Jitsu. The person turned out to be a Jiu-Jitsu purple belt practitioner whose passion for the sport drew Cole’s attention. Later on, after receiving an invitation, the young Abate decided to take on his first Jiu-Jitsu trial class.
Cole and his father were immediately drawn to training Jiu-Jitsu. While Jiu-Jitsu may be an individual sport when the time comes to fight in the competition mats, the essence of a team is still one of the most important aspects of a grappler’s journey on the mats. Honing your skills with your training partners is a symbiotic relationship that will guide and push you to the best of your abilities. The fact that Jiu-Jitsu is challenging and does not depend on your teammates to succeed when performing on the competition mats was one of the driving factors that led Cole to pursue grappling.
Under the tutelage of Rodrigo Pinheiro (one of the top athletes of his generation and is one of the best coaches in Texas), Cole immediately tore through the belt ranks, competing regularly, winning some of the most prestigious tournaments like the IBJJF European, Pan, American Nationals, and World Championships in the Kids and Juvenile divisions.
Because of these achievements, Cole’s talent was immediately noticed by Jeferson Mayca, promoter of the Copa Podio Jiu-Jitsu show. At that time, Mayca was developing an event called the Orange League, which aims to discover the top junior grappling talents throughout the world. 2019 was the year Cole’s talent was revealed to the grappling masses, particularly in Brazil, which is the event’s venue.
At 14, Cole was already seen as one of the upcoming prospects in the grappling world. To further his talents to the next level, with the support of his parents, Cole’s dream was granted in 2019: to train under the guidance of the Mendes brothers in their gym, Art of Jiu-Jitsu (AOJ) in California. Cole’s father had an opportunity to work in Costa Mesa then, which made it more reasonable for the family to move to California.
After arriving at AOJ in California as a green belt, Cole received all his adult belt promotions from Gui Mendes. Initially, Cole had his first adult belt promotion (blue) at age 15, followed by a promotion to purple belt two years later. After spending a year as a purple belt, Cole was promoted to brown belt. As he continuously tore through the colored belt divisions, even competing against world-class black belts since he was a blue belt, Cole was finally promoted to black belt on July 10, 2023, by Gui Mendes.
Competitive Journey
As mentioned earlier, Cole has been competing in different major Jiu-Jitsu competitions since childhood. As a colored belt, Cole has won the IBJJF World Championship American Nationals and has medaled in the Pan American Championship. He has been competing against the top grappling talent since he was 16 and was a blue belt then. Today, let’s take a closer look at Cole’s competitive journey over the years and the milestones that have defined his grappling career.
1) Who’s Number One (WNO) Championship
In 2021, Cole’s first major challenge against a world-class black belt-level grappling competitor was against a seasoned 10th-planet veteran, Geo Martinez. At the time, Cole was only 16 and was a blue belt. He beat Geo in the quarter-finals of the WNO championship.
2) A Run For The ADCC Spot
Already making a name for himself even at a young age, in 2021, Cole became the youngest male competitor to win the ADCC North American trials. There are only two ways to be included in ADCC, which is widely known as the toughest grappling competition in the world – to get a direct invite or win in the continental trials. Knowing that America is a wrestling powerhouse, Cole faced tough competition to win the trials against adult grapplers with wrestling backgrounds.
Cole beat seven competitors during his run in the North American East Coast trials, did not concede a single point in the process, and even submitted his first three opponents.
3) AIGA Champions League
AIGA is one of the most thrilling modern grappling tournaments today and has an exciting tournament format. It is a team vs team tournament consisting of 7 grapplers per team with weight classes similar to the ADCC Open. Each bout is scheduled for three rounds and five minutes, with a minute break in between. Grapplers from all over the world were invited to compete.
Cole was one of the competitors of Team Modolfo of North America. In the tournament’s semifinals, the prodigy Cole was matched against Rashid Kaitmazov of Dagestan, who submitted him in the first round via heel hook.
4) 2023 IBJJF Absolute Grand Prix
In 2023, Cole competed as a black belt in the IBJJF Absolute GP and won the match against Eduardo Granzotto. The IBJJF Absolute GP was one of the few tournaments Cole participated in in 2023.
5) IBJJF No-Gi Pan Championship 2024
Cole has been more actively competing this 2024, building momentum against the black belt competition circuit. The IBJJF No-Gi Pans was Cole’s first major black belt tournament win at only 19. In this journey, winning the Pans, Cole faced tough competition, competing against the likes of Gianni Grippo, a multiple-time IBJJF world champion.
Conclusion
While Cole already has a decade of competitive experience in his belt, it’s mind-boggling to think he has yet to reach his physical prime. With the potential to become one of the best grapplers of all time like his mentors, seeing what more Cole can achieve in the long run in his grappling journey will be compelling.
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