Fastest Brown Belt Ever??? 5 months: Justin Flores aka Rousey's Judo Coach.

[EGDM]

Lol. With his background and competition experience this guy would smash 99% of people here, and their coaches. I'm more surprised that he cares enough to be ranked in BJJ.

 

[Papawash]

I remember Travis Stevens also had a fast road to a BJJ black belt. Dudes like him and Flores are the exception and are legit af.

 

[AnotherOldGuy]

Josh Barnett never trained BJJ for any length of time, but they gave him a black belt anyway (I'm guessing they didn't bother making him take a test, more a "here, wear this"). Some would say that was wrong, because he only trained catch. Jon Jones on the other hand started as a BJJ white belt (at a time when he was already UFC champ), and different people complained that was sandbagging.

No matter what you do people will complain. With Ishii people complained that he was given a BJJ brown belt almost instantly despite only having trained judo. But if he'd competed as a BJJ white belt people would also have complained that he was sandbagging. Same I suppose with Flores.

Really, there's no way of handling a world class grappler coming into a different belt style that will please everyone. If that world class competitor is given a high rank then many will say its undeserved. If they start at white belt and spend a few years dominating white and blue belts then they're sandbagging. Choose your poison.

 

[MadSquabbles500]

EDIT: Thread title should read FASTEST BROWN BELT EVER and not purple.

Justin Flores, better known as Ronda Rousey's judo coach, just received his BROWN belt in roughly 5 months. What's more interesting is the fact that it was over 9 courses. Flores is a world class judoka and was a solid amateur wrestler as well so that definitely helped. Thoughts? Think it's legit? Reasons why or why not?

Didnt Andres Galvao give Satoshi Ishii his brown belt after a few rolls? Ishii is a Olympic level judo.

 

[GSPSAKU]

Didnt Andres Galvao give Satoshi Ishii his brown belt after a few rolls? Ishii is a Olympic level judo.

2008 Olympic Gold Medalist so yea, I'd say he was Olympic level/calibre

 

[flikerstance]

So he should be able to go into a comp as a white belt and just dominate everyone? That won't benefit him or anyone. I thinks it's fair that he got his brown belt when he did. With all that experience he should have it. I bet he beats most brown belts anyway.

you cant go by comps hell i was a blue winning brown belt tournaments in 2010 and relson didnt promote me to purple till end of that year im sure that guy isnt going to bjj white belt tournaments if hes done wrestling or judo at a top level

 

[Calibur]

There aren't exactly many coral belts and if you get it from a coral belt, it's a safe bet he's seen his share of worthy students. Doesn't say they are more skilled but definitely gives more credibility in terms of lineage instead of some McDojo with a 1 degree blackbelt.

Lol. I stand by what I said.

 

[Matsukaze]

That guy must be a beast on the mat. good for him

 

[Kenny from MD]

You base his belt on one of two things- technical ability or character as a martial artist. Pretty sure he can check both of the boxes off. If anyone is outraged by this, go take his belt from him. I'm sure he'd be happy to prove his worth on the mat.

 

[Big Nasty Edison]

Literally no fucks given. If he has that level newaza and can smash equivalent BJJ people, then that's the rank he deserves. I could care less if he doesn't play the latest trend sport BJJ guard. If he's smashing BJJ purps in the gi in newaza its all good.

 

[Uchi Mata]

The fact that he got it from Santos just makes it even harder to question IMO. Fabio Santos does not bestow rank lightly.

 

[winterbike]

Josh Barnett never trained BJJ for any length of time, but they gave him a black belt anyway (I'm guessing they didn't bother making him take a test, more a "here, wear this").

Yeah and how did that turn out? Dude showed up wearing weird boots and a speedo, and tried to keep Dean Lister in some kind of useless weird hold. I stopped watching right after that, it was too shameful.

 

[QingTian]

I've got no problem believing he can be a BJJ brown in 9 sessions, and only not a higher rank because there is a lot of BJJ specific stuff. But for sure he is smashing purples.

 

[nhbfan8080]

Yeah and how did that turn out? Dude showed up wearing weird boots and a speedo, and tried to keep Dean Lister in some kind of useless weird hold. I stopped watching right after that, it was too shameful.

He shouldn't have got his black belt since he doesn't train in the gi. Flores otoh is legit.

 

[Dirty Holt]

I have rolled with this guy on multiple occassions, I think I can shed some light:

Calling this guy a "solid wrestler" is a joke. He was a state finalist in CA, and wrestled for Nebraska, a very good DI school. Way more accomplished than say a Justin Rader or AJ Agazarm.

Saying he got a brown belt in 5 months is a bit misleading. I rolled with him when he was a purple belt, and that was longer than 5 months ago.

A poster said he would beat 99.9% of people on this board and their coaches. I would agree with that. This dude is fucking tough. I watched him roll with a legendary black belt and Flores gave him every thing he could handle. I believe he has knee problems and it probably keeps him from competing, but the guy is a damn beast on the mat.

 

[GSPSAKU]

I have rolled with this guy on multiple occassions, I think I can shed some light:

Calling this guy a "solid wrestler" is a joke. He was a state finalist in CA, and wrestled for Nebraska, a very good DI school. Way more accomplished than say a Justin Rader or AJ Agazarm.

Saying he got a brown belt in 5 months is a bit misleading. I rolled with him when he was a purple belt, and that was longer than 5 months ago.

A poster said he would beat 99.9% of people on this board and their coaches. I would agree with that. This dude is fucking tough. I watched him roll with a legendary black belt and Flores gave him every thing he could handle. I believe he has knee problems and it probably keeps him from competing, but the guy is a damn beast on the mat.

The 5 months was from Justin Flores' own interview and he is a solid amateur wrestler. What would you call hiim? A great amateur wrestler? IMO, to be a great amateur wrestler one must have accomplishments to receive the term great but solid isn't deragatory by any means. Now if he was a state champion and National champ, he deserves the title great but that's just my opinion.

 

[Dirty Holt]

The 5 months was from Justin Flores' own interview and he is a solid amateur wrestler. What would you call hiim? A great amateur wrestler? IMO, to be a great amateur wrestler one must have accomplishments to receive the term great but solid isn't deragatory by any means. Now if he was a state champion and National champ, he deserves the title great but that's just my opinion.

He was a state champion in the toughest state to win, CA, which only has one division and the highest population of wrestlers of any state. I would say he was a great wrestler. The last time I rolled with him was in July, and he had on a purple belt.

 

[BJJ_Rage]

It depends on the person, if this guy ha enough ground skills why the fuck not? He's rondas coach so I would assume he's pretty good on the ground...there are however some world class Judokas that do not like he ground game that much, so wouldn't qualify. As a bjj brown... Then again comoetitve purple belts are wrecking machines and would fuck up most hobbiest black belts so bottom line who cares...

 

[Dogstarman]

I have rolled with this guy on multiple occassions, I think I can shed some light:

Calling this guy a "solid wrestler" is a joke. He was a state finalist in CA, and wrestled for Nebraska, a very good DI school. Way more accomplished than say a Justin Rader or AJ Agazarm.

Saying he got a brown belt in 5 months is a bit misleading. I rolled with him when he was a purple belt, and that was longer than 5 months ago.

A poster said he would beat 99.9% of people on this board and their coaches. I would agree with that. This dude is fucking tough. I watched him roll with a legendary black belt and Flores gave him every thing he could handle. I believe he has knee problems and it probably keeps him from competing, but the guy is a damn beast on the mat.

Thanks for shedding some light on this. I know it's controversial for some guys on here. This information coming from you should calm some guys down.

 

[karma2burn]

Thanks for shedding some light on this. I know it's controversial for some guys on here. This information coming from you should calm some guys down.

I'm not even sure why it's controversial. I mean if it was some random hobbyist like myself then yes I could see the issue. Just watching about 30 seconds of that highlight video was enough for me. There are times when a fast promotion is warranted and this would be one of them.