Alex Frenk Promoted to Blue Belt

Before Wednesday evening BJJ class Head Coach Jeff Starr had the pleasure of pulling GR Fight team member Alex Frenk out of the lineup and promoting him to Blue Belt.

In his two two years at GriffonRawl, Alex has become an integral part of the Academy family.  Aside from his BJJ classes, Alex has competed, and won, in Muay Thai and MMA fights representing GR and volunteers as an assistant coach for the Junior MMA program.

When you see Alex around the Academy, be sure to congratulate him on his accomplishment.

Written by: Bob Donaghy

GR's Own Tops Ohio UFC Vets in Submissions

Jason Dent sinks a deep Anaconda Choke

This past November the UFC celebrated its twentieth anniversary with Georges St. Pierre defending his title for the ninth time against Johny Hendricks, but prior to that event at UFC 166 in Houston, Jessica Eye, the newest UFC veteran from the state of Ohio, entered the cage.

 In 20 years of the UFC there have been 28 fighters that have either trained or were born in the state of Ohio to compete in the famous Octagon. There have been Ultimate Fighter competitors, bonus award winners, and champions, but when it comes to finishing fights with a submission, there is one fighter that reigns supreme.

Griffonrawl’s own Jason Dent leads the pack for career submission wins by a UFC veteran from the state of Ohio. Dent has 22 career victories and has finished all, but four of his wins by submission. His submission victories have been everything from guillotines to anaconda chokes, but most of his wins have been by either arm bar or triangle choke.

Dent was a contestant on the ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter that featured fighters from the United States going up against fighters from the United Kingdom. During that season, he earned his way into the house with a TKO victory over Robert Browning, the younger brother of Junie, but returned to his bread and butter with a win via anaconda choke to make it to the semifinals against Ross Pearson.

His lone UFC victory took place at The Ultimate Fighter Finale over fellow TUF alum Cameron Dollar. He finished the fight with an anaconda choke that earned him Submission of the Night honors.

Dent is the owner and head instructor at Griffonrawl MMA Academy. He is currently dealing with a torn meniscus before deciding what is next in his MMA career. Dent and the Griffonrawl team have coached multiple champions and continue to groom their next crop of fighters.

As for the new crop of fighters from the state of Ohio? Jessica Eye and Stipe Miocic have grabbed the reins. Eye will square off against No. 3 ranked bantamweight Alexis Davis in a fight that could be for the next shot at the title while Miocic looks to continue his winning ways against Gabriel Gonzaga in the co-main event of UFC on Fox in less than two weeks.

Below is the breakdown of all UFC veterans from Ohio to the best of our knowledge and how their records break down.  (Click the image to see it bigger)

Written by: Nikolai Gionti