Gokor Chivichyan ( hy, Գոքոր Չիվիչյան; born May 10, 1963) is an Armenian-born American judo,

submission grappling 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 fighting, clinch and ground fighting with the aim of obtaining a Submis ...

, and mixed martial arts instructor. Chivichyan currently trains professional and amateur fighters at the Hayastan MMA Academy in North Hollywood,

California, United States California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. With his extensive knowledge in judo, sambo, catch wrestling, freestyle wrestling and

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

, Chivichyan is considered to be one of the most complete grapplers of all time.

Career

Chivichyan, the youngest of three brothers, was born in Yerevan, Armenia. Chivichyan began his training as a young child in Soviet Armenia, winning national junior titles in judo, sambo, and

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 ...

. At the age of 17, Chivichyan relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

where he continued his training in catch wrestling under

Gene LeBell Ivan “Judo” Gene LeBell (October 9, 1932 – August 9, 2022) was an American martial artist, stunt performer, actor, and professional wrestler. Nicknamed "The Godfather of Grappling", he popularized grappling in professional fighting cir ...

, a famous catch wrestler who learned from

Lou Thesz Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002) was an American professional wrestler. He was a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and held the title for a combined total of 10 years, three months and nine days (3,749 ...

and Ed "Strangler" Lewis, and was the United States' first Judo champion. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Chivichyan traveled and competed in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and throughout

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

, Japan,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, and

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

. With the opening of the Hayastan MMA Academy in 1991, Gokor retired undefeated from professional fighting, and focused his time on teaching. In 1997, Chivichyan came out of retirement for a superfight organized by the World Fighting Federation. His opponent was intended to be

Akira Maeda (born Go Il-myeong (Hangul: 고일명, Hanja: 高日明), January 24, 1959) is a Japanese mixed martial arts promoter, writer and retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist of Korean descent. Maeda was also known by the ring name ...

, but the promoters were unable to sign him and instead matched Chivichyan against Bill Maeda, who was dubbed "Mr. Maeda". Chivichyan submitted Maeda via armbar in 50 seconds. He was named by ''

Black Belt Magazine ''Black Belt'' is an American magazine covering martial arts and combat sports. The magazine is based in Valencia, California, and is one of the oldest titles dedicated to martial arts in the United States. History and profile The magazine wa ...

'' as “Judo Instructor of the Year” in 1998 and received the prestigious “Hall of Fame” spot. Since then he has produced in his school a new generation of fighters, such as Manvel Gamburyan, Sako Chivitchian, Neil Melanson,

Karen Darabedyan Karen Darabedyan ( hy, Կարեն Դարաբեդյան, born December 18, 1986) is an Armenian-American professional mixed martial artist and the founder of KD MMA Training Center in Glendale, CA. He is best known for fighting in WEC's lightwei ...

, Roman Mitichyan,

Ronda Rousey Ronda Jean Rousey (; born February 1, 1987) is an American professional wrestler, actress, former judoka and mixed martial artist. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand and is the current SmackDown Women� ...

, and Karo Parisyan, who have competed in the arena of the UFC, WEC, King of the Cage, Olympic and all National Judo Championships. In February 2005, the United States Ju-Jitsu Federation (ISJJF) awarded him the rank of 7th dan in judo. To the great surprise of many, Chivichyan competed again at the 2008 USJA/ USJF Winter Nationals, the first National Judo Championship endorsed by both organizations. He took Gold after defeating Gary Butts by uchi mata in the finals. After many more years away from competition, Gokor competed at the 2019 IBJJF Pan American Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Championships at the Masters Black Belt level. He defeated former BJJ Black Belt World Champion, V. Oliveira, to take Gold. In August 2019, Gokor again competed at the IBJJF Masters Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Championship, once again defeating all of his opponents to take Gold. He finished the year competing at the SJJIF Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Gi and No-Gi World Championships in Long Beach, California, taking Gold in both categories. With these victories, Gokor is perhaps the only individual to take Gold medals at elite international competitions in all three of the primary submission grappling arts: Judo, Sambo, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Gokor remains undefeated in competition.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Bill Maeda , Submission (armbar) , WFF - World Fighting Federation , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:50 ,

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

United states , , -

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chivichyan, Gokor 1963 births Living people Sportspeople from Yerevan Soviet emigrants to the United States American sportspeople of Armenian descent American catch wrestlers Armenian male mixed martial artists American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing jujutsu Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Mixed martial artists utilizing sambo Mixed martial artists utilizing Kyokushin kaikan Mixed martial artists utilizing catch wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing freestyle wrestling Armenian male judoka American male judoka Armenian jujutsuka American jujutsuka Armenian sambo practitioners American sambo practitioners Armenian wrestlers American wrestlers