Rigan Machado

He remains unbeaten in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in more than 13 years of competition. Master Rigan Machado is one of the most unique and interesting people in the martial of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu because of the desire he has to bring the best out of all his students. He has taken pride in the fact that he will always be a student of the art and he will always make sure that his students receive the best from him at all time.

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Uriah Faber

Urijah Faber is an American mixed martial artist, fighting as a bantamweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Faber won the WEC Featherweight Championship at WEC 19 on March 17, 2006 and held the title for over two years until losing it to Mike Brown at WEC 36 on November 5, 2008. As of May 26, 2014, he is #2 in official UFC bantamweight rankings, #15 pound-for-pound and ranked the #2 bantamweight in the world by Sherdog.

Faber is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt under Fabio “Pateta” Prado,who, under Carlson Gracie Jr., is a fifth degree black belt.

Below is a series of pictures from the seminar at SFC in 2010.

Gokor Chivichyan

an Armenian Judo, submission grappling, and mixed martial arts instructor. Chivichyan currently trains professional and amateur fighters at the Hayastan MMA Academy in North Hollywood. Chivichyan 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. At the age of 17, Chivichyan relocated to Los Angeles, where he continued his training in no-gi submission grappling under Gene LeBell, a famous catch wrestler and America’s first Judo champion.

Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Chivichyan traveled and competed in the Soviet Union and throughout Europe, Japan, Thailand, and Mexico. With the opening of the Hayastan Academy in 1991, Gokor retired from professional fighting, undefeated, and focused his time on teaching.

In 1997, Chivichyan came out of retirement to win a superfight organized by the World Fighting Federation. In 1998, he was named by Black Belt Magazine “Judo Instructor of the Year” 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, Karen Darabedyan, Roman Mitichyan, Ronda Rousey, 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.

Ruben Alvarez

Sensei Steven Alphabet and Professor Steven Abood

Sensei Alphabet & Professor Abood Seminar

* The fundamentals of throwing techniques for MMA/Self Defense
* Counters to common wrestling takedowns using throwing techniques
* Throwing an opponent immediately into a submission
* How to control your opponent immediately after a throw

Sensei Steven Alphabet has taught judo for over 30 years and has produced multiple national champions including current national champs Mark Fletcher and Joshua White. Mark and Josh plan to be in attendance, subject to change based on their Olympic training schedules.

Professor Steven Abood holds a black belt & professor’s certificate from Relson Gracie, a black belt in judo from Sensei Steven Alphabet, & an instructorship in JKD and Filipino Martial Arts from Guru Dan Inosanto. He completed the Black Belt Summer Throwing Techniques Course at the world headquarters of judo, the Kodokan, in Tokyo, Japan.

Professor Bob Bass

Bob Bass is a 5th degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu earning his rank under Master Rigan Machado who earned his rank under Carlos Gracie Jr. Bob is the first American to receive his black belt under the legendary Machado Brothers, which makes him part of the “Dirty Dozen”. He is the first American to win the 1st ever Pan American Championships in 1995 beating Brazil’s previously undefeated Márcio Feitosa, making him a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Champion. At that time the Mundials did not yet exist. Bob was a lightweight at the time weighing 159lbs.

Bob Bass continues to teach Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and No Gi grappling 5 days a week. Some notable people he’s trained in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu/Submission wrestling include BJ Penn, Chuck Norris, Dan Inosanto, Eddie Bravo, Erik Paulson, and Sean “The Destroyer” Loeffler, who just recently signed with UFC.