Nicholas "Nick" Rodriguez, commonly known as Nicky Rod (born August 30, 1996) is an American professional
submission grappler
Submission wrestling, also known as Submission grappling, Submission fighting a form of competition and a general term for martial arts and combat sports that focus on clinch and ground fighting with the aim of obtaining a submission through the ...
and
Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) athlete.
A former amateur
wrestler
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spor ...
, Rodriguez won in 2018 the
ADCC West Coast Trials to qualify for the
2019 ADCC Submission Fighting World Championships, where he won silver, while still a BJJ
blue belt.
He won silver again at the
2022 ADCC World.
Early life and education
Nicholas Pete Rodriguez was born on 30 August 1996 in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, raised in
Clayton, New Jersey, and attended
Clayton High School.
Wrestling career
Rodriguez began
wrestling
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...
in
sixth grade
Sixth grade (or grade six in some regions) is the sixth year of schooling. Students are typically 11–12 years old, depending on when their birthday occurs. Different terms and numbers are used in other parts of the world. It is commonly the firs ...
.
He qualified for the
NJSIAA championships as a
senior but did not place.
Collegiate career
After
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
, Rodriguez attended
Ferrum College, that has an
NCAA Division III
NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their st ...
wrestling program. In between his last match as a
high school wrestler and his first match as a
collegiate wrestler, he gained 50 pounds, going from 170 to 220 pounds. Rodriguez attended college for one year, during which he placed fourth at the East Regionals and had a record of 23 wins and 4 losses. He decided to pursue modeling career with
Wilhelmina Models
Wilhelmina International Inc. (NASDAQ: WHLM), formerly Wilhelmina Models, is a full service modeling and talent agency headquartered in New York City, United States. The company also has offices in Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami. Founded in 196 ...
.
Post-collegiate career
Rodriguez returned to wrestling on October 5, 2019, when he faced that year's
USA Wrestling
USA Wrestling (formerly known as the United States Wrestling Federation and as the United States Wrestling Association) is the organization that currently governs freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling in the United States. USA Wrestling is ...
World Team Member
Pat Downey in a super-fight under
freestyle rules at
Who's Number One
FloSports is an over-the-top subscription sports broadcaster and streaming service. The company is based in Austin, Texas, United States, and was founded in 2006. FloSports streams live sporting events to audiences around the world.
History
L ...
. He lost the match by
technical fall In amateur wrestling, a technical fall, or technical superiority, is a victory condition satisfied by outscoring one's opponent by a specified number of points. It is wrestling's version of the mercy rule. It is informally abbreviated to "tech" as b ...
.
Professional grappling career
2018
In 2018, Rodriguez was persuaded by a friend to attend his first
jiu-jitsu
Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...
class to stay fit. After two weeks of training, he attended his first
submission wrestling competition
and went on to win the advanced 230 pounds and absolute brackets. A few months later, he moved to
Renzo Gracie Academy with coach
John Danaher, who awarded him his
blue belt later on.
After a failed attempt to qualify for the
ADCCs, Rodriguez competed at the
IBJJF World Championship
The World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship (commonly known as the Worlds or Mundials) is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament held once every year by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation. It is widely considered to be the most important and ...
in the blue belt division. He defeated all three of his opponents to win the championship.
2019
As a
blue belt, Rodriguez qualified for the
2019 ADCC World Championships after winning the North American trials. He defeated three notable jiu-jitsu
black belts in Mahamed Aly,
Orlando Sanchez, and
Cyborg Abreu to make it to the finals, where he lost to black belt
IBJJF World Champion Kaynan Duarte
Kaynan Casemiro Duarte (born January 24, 1998) is a Brazilian submission grappler and Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) black belt competitor. Duarte is a two-time champion at both the ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship and World IBJJF Jiu-Jits ...
on points, earning him 2nd place in the tournament. He was promoted to
purple belt Purple Belt may refer to the following:
*Purple belt, a rank in martial arts (see Kyū)
**Purple belt (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu), a level in the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ranking system
*A road in the Allegheny County belt system
The Allegheny County Belt S ...
on the ADCC podium by his coach Jay Regalbuto.
Rodriguez became known by the nickname "Black Belt Slayer".
He competed against Duarte in a rematch at Fight 2 Win, which he lost. He also competed at the BJJ Fanatics Grand Prix.
2020
After his bronze medal finish at the KASAI Pro 7, Rodriguez was scheduled to face 2019
US World Team Member
Pat Downey at Third Coast Grappling IV in a special ruleset match on March 14. However, the event was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
.
He then competed at Third Coast Grappling: Kumite IV on July 11. He was eliminated in the first round.
In December, 2020, Rodriguez moved to Puerto Rico with the rest of his teammates to continue training under John Danaher.
2021
Rodriguez competed against
Yuri Simões in the co-main event of Who's Number One on March 26, 2021. Rodriguez won the match by decision. He was then invited to compete in an absolute grand prix at Third Coast Grappling 6 on April 3, 2021. Rodriguez defeated Pedro Marinho by decision in the opening round before losing a decision to Victor Hugo in the semi-final.
In July, news broke that the Danaher Death Squad were splitting up. Rodriguez elected to continue training with
Craig Jones,
Ethan Crelinsten, and
Nicky Ryan
Nicholas Dominick Ryan (born 14 July 1946) is an Irish music producer, recording engineer, and manager. He is best known as the longtime business and recording partner for the singer, songwriter and musician Enya alongside his wife, poet and lyri ...
. The four grapplers opened up a new gym in Austin, Texas under the name B-Team Jiu-Jitsu in August, 2021. Shortly afterward, Rodriguez was invited to compete at the
2022 ADCC World Championship.
On December 30, 2021, Rodriguez competed against
UFC
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...
veteran Steve Mowry at Fury Pro Grappling 3 and submitted him with a rear-naked choke at 5:30.
2022
Rodriguez faced Elder Cruz at Who's Number One: Jones v Marinho on January 21, 2022, and lost the match by split decision. Shortly after this, Rodriguez was promoted to brown belt in BJJ. Rodriguez competed in the over 99kg division of ADCC 2022, defeating Damon Ramos on points and submitting John Hansen with a rear-naked choke on the first day. On the second day he defeated
Felipe Pena
Felipe Carsalade Araujo Pena is a Brazilian Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and ADCC world champion.
Career
Pena, nicknamed ''Preguiça'' meaning "Sloth", has won several medals at both the IBJJF and ADCC world championsh ...
on points in the semi-final, but was submitted by
Gordon Ryan
Gordon Ryan (born July 8, 1995) is an American submission grappler and Brazilian jiu-jitsu 1st degree black belt, considered to be the greatest no–gi grappler of all time due to his accomplishments and dominance.
Ryan is a Five–time ADCC ...
in the final and came away with a silver medal.
He was then invited to compete at EBI 20: The Absolutes on October 23, 2021. Rodriguez won the tournament by defeating Ezeqiual Zurita, Luke Griffith, Austin Baker, and Kyle Boehm in one night.
On December 15, 2021, Rodriguez was scheduled to compete in another absolute tournament at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 3. However,
Vinny Magalhães
Vinicius "Vinny" de Magalhães (; born July 2, 1984) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Light heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2006, he was a finalist in '' The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mi ...
withdrew from the main event match against Gordon Ryan and Rodriguez agreed to step in to replace him instead. Neither man could finish the fight in regulation time and the match went to EBI overtime, where Gordon Ryan won by fastest escape time. Ryan would accuse Rodriguez of 'greasing' during their match. Rodriguez denied that accusation on an episode Mark Bell's Power Project Podcast in February, 2023.
2023
Rodriguez stepped in on two day's notice to replace
Gordon Ryan
Gordon Ryan (born July 8, 1995) is an American submission grappler and Brazilian jiu-jitsu 1st degree black belt, considered to be the greatest no–gi grappler of all time due to his accomplishments and dominance.
Ryan is a Five–time ADCC ...
against
Felipe Pena
Felipe Carsalade Araujo Pena is a Brazilian Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and ADCC world champion.
Career
Pena, nicknamed ''Preguiça'' meaning "Sloth", has won several medals at both the IBJJF and ADCC world championsh ...
in the main event of Who's Number One on February 25, 2023. He lost the match by unanimous decision. Rodriguez was then invited to compete in an openweight tournament at
UFC Fight Pass
UFC Fight Pass is an American subscription-based video streaming service owned by the UFC's parent company, Zuffa, that launched in December 2013.
History
Fight Pass showcases live and on-demand mixed martial arts, submission grappling, kickboxi ...
Invitational 4 on June 29, 2023. He defeated
Roberto Jimenez,
Vagner Rocha
Vagner Rocha (born June 6, 1982 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is a Brazilian-American Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and professional mixed martial artist, currently competing in the lightweight division.
He is the current Combat Jiu-Jitsu World ...
, and Dan Manasoiu to win the tournament.
Rodriguez then competed at
Quintet 4 on September 10, 2023 as part of The B-Team Bulls. Rodriguez drew both of his matches but his team won the tournament. Rodriguez was scheduled to compete against 3 competitors: Jake Lowry, Cody Gamble, and Zack Humbertson, in a series of matches at Sprawl in the Burgh 2 on October 20, 2023.
Professional wrestling
On April 24, 2023, Rodriguez revealed that he had attended a
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...
tryout and had been accepted along with several other athletes.
Personal life
Rodriguez's younger brother Jacob, known as Jay or J-rod, is a B Team jiu jitsu competitor.
A former two-time state and regional champion in wrestling, he's the winner of the 2022
ADCC North American West Coast Trials in the -88kg division.
Championships and accomplishments
Main Achievements:
*
ADCC US West Coast Trials champion (2019)
* EBI 20: The Absolute Champion (2022
)
* Grappling Industries: Wildwook (Advanced Absolute) (2018)
* Grappling Industries: Wildwook (Advanced 230 lbs) (2018)
* 2nd place
ADCC World Championships (2019 / 2022)
* 3rd place Kasai 7 HW Grand Prix (2020)
* 3rd place ADCC US East Coast Trials (2018)
* 3rd place Third Coast Grappling 6 Grand Prix (2021
)
* 3rd place KASAI Pro 7 (+99 kg) (2020)
Main Achievements (Colored Belts):
* IBJJF World Championships No-Gi champion (2018 blue belt)
* High Rollerz Open: Pittsburgh (blue belt Absolute)
Grappling record
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Nick
American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Living people
American submission wrestlers
American male sport wrestlers
People from Clayton, New Jersey
Sportspeople from Gloucester County, New Jersey
1996 births