American Beast Jonathan Torres is Out of The Den

1. JT Torres Details

2. JT Torres Biography

His full name is Jonathon Torres, mainly called JT Torres. Torres is an American BJJ practitioner and instructor, he is a two-time ADCC Champion. Torres was acknowledged for his grip and strength. Most of his friends gave the opinion that Torres' grip strength reminds us of being trapped in a spider web. Due to this quality, he was awarded the nickname “The Spiderman.”

Torres is well known for his huge fan following. He is among those young grapplers of America who dominated the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighting style. JT Torres became equally famous for winning Gi and No-Gi championships.

JT Torres’ fame started from Lloyd Irvin's academy but due to sexual abuse accusations, he decided to say goodbye to the Marylands team in 2013. His next destination was Atos Jiu-Jitsu.

2.1. JT Early Life and Amateur Fighting

Since his childhood, he was not at all a troublemaker or annoying child. By nature he was peaceful and his parents tried to maintain Puerto Rican family values and culture in the children. JT Torres once shared what his dad taught him in growing days:

“You always keep your hands to yourself, unless they hit you first. You always stand up for yourself, but we don't want you causing trouble.”

JT Torres is a BJJ hero who started practicing martial arts even before starting his high school. Torres and his cousin started taking karate classes at the dojo down the street.

Torres said, “When I started doing karate, my sensei was this guy named Peter Clemente. He was the first person who introduced me to martial arts. He was a 'no BS' kind of guy. He was hardcore. He was into no-holds-barred fighting, and he used to fight with bare fists in rings and stuff like that. And I didn't know it at the time, but he was also involved with BJJ. He was a blue belt under Royce Gracie.”

Earning his Black Belt

After four years of training Torres received his black belt in Karate from Clemente.

At first, his interest in karate was at its peak but suddenly he quit and started taking interest in traditional sports. Around that time, he joined the Basketball team but soon he left it.

His father advised him to join karate but again he found himself lost with no interest left for karate. In his high school days, he used to watch UFC which was gaining fame among children and adults equally.

JT Torres said,
"When I quit karate, my dad was like, 'Listen, you need to do something to stay in shape, why don't you go back to the karate dojo and try that jiu-jitsu stuff out?' ".

At that time, he came to know that his old martial arts school had started a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school for beginners.

After the first class, Jonathon felt that it is something that suits well, when he was 15 years old, his BJJ journey started.

"I tried out for basketball, I tried out for little league baseball, I tried to play football, I tried to skateboard, and I liked it -- but I had never enjoyed it," Torres said. "When I did karate, I liked it. And then I did jiu-jitsu, and I loved it."

Only after practicing for six months, Jonathon was able to achieve blue belt rank in Jiu-JItsu.

Torres said,
"I felt like I had just won the world championships as a black belt!".

This is how the journey of an iconic fighter started and to the date, Torres’ victories are in the headlines.

2.2. JT Pro BJJ Combat

After achieving a blue belt he went to New Jersey to join coach Louis Vintaloro at Performance BJJ. Jonathon was talented and dedicated enough to earn his purple and brown belts.

This 27-year-old grappler has won the IBJJF Pan American championship, European championship, and PAN Gi and No-Gi championships so far.

Torres is the leading fighter of Andre Galvaos’ squad at Atos San Diego in California.

2.3. JT Historic Fights

JT Torres vs Gilbert Burns

In the 2010 World Championship the fight between JT Torres and Gilbert remained the most interesting one. Torres was a pro fighter more than Gilbert with a huge fan following in a middleweight division.

Early in the fight, Gilbert applied a K-guard and matrix to force Torres to submission. JT Torres was forced into the 50/50 position and could not escape.

JT Torres vs Lucas Lepri

In the IBJJF World Jiu-JItsu Championship JT was back after a knee injury and remained dominant in every single competition.

The fight between JT and Lepri started withholding the collar tie-off. Both seemed energetic and furious. In the first round, there was strong head control by JT Torres. He was having nice control on elbows, maybe a potential hip toss. JT Torres failed here to take advantage of points.

At the 12th minute, Lepri successfully attempted a takedown. Now JT wanted to make space for him. He played a single leg, both hands on the Lepri head and it changed into a takedown.

Both players shooted for takedowns. Lepri attempted for Kouichi Gari takedown but Torres was successful enough to pass knee on belly to escape.

When three minutes left, both players' nerves were tightened. Torres tried to apply lots of pressure on Lepri. He tried to grab Lepri from his hip but failed and Lepri secured the win by advantage.

Lepri won by 12-0

JT Torres vs Jonatas Gurgel

The first half of the match remained interesting with lots of back and forth actions. Torres and Gurgel remained tangled with each other in a Leg lock and a collar tie.

In the second half Jonatas Gurgel was slow. As time moved on, Gurgel failed to defend against Torres' attack and finally, the fight ended in tapping by Gurgel.

JT Torres vs Roberto Satoshi

It was predicted that Satoshi would win this game easily.

As the fight started Torres remained dominant over Satoshi. Satoshi sweeped Torres choke and triangle armbar and secured points Both fighters kept on rolling on the mat for a long time and finally Satoshi defeated Torres by points.

JT Torres vs Gabriel Goulart

Gabriel was screwed and smashed in the 2013 Pan American Championship by JT Torres.

In the first round, JT Torres remained dominant on Gabriel. Gabriel mounted Torres but JT Torres managed to sweep and mount Gabriel. Torres' grip remained strong on Gabriel throughout the fight and in the end bow and arrow worked for Torres victory.

2.4. JT Torres BJJ Instructorship

JT Torres attracted fame and popularity because of his skill to smash down the opponent by choking from the back. That's why he is considered among the most furious Jiu-JItsu fighters and submission wrestlers. In his instructional DVDs, Torres has shared a variety of techniques explaining the nitty-gritty of how to pass the guard, take control of the back, mount, and apply a variety of chokes.

In his instructional videos, he has separately shared gi and no-gi fundamentals

2.5. JT Championships and Accomplishments

3. Main Achievements

3.1. Gi Tournaments

Year	Division
2019	-77kg
2017	-77kg

3.2. No Gi Tournaments

Year	Division
2013	LIghtweight (Black)
2012	Lightweight (Black)
2010	LIghtweight (Black)
2009	Lightweight (Black)
2008	Lightweight (Brown)

4. Main Achievements (Belts)

4.1. Black Belts

Position	Belt	Event	Year
1st	Black	No-Gi World Championship	2009

4.2. Coloured Belts

Position	Belt	Event	Year
3rd	Blue	Pan American Championship	2006
2nd	Purple	Pan American Championship	2007
1st	Brown	Pan No-Gi Championship	2008

5. JT Professional Record Breakdown

Professional Jiu-Jitsu Record Breakdown 93-30-3 (W-L-D)
Matches	Wins	Losses
Submission	45	3
Points	32	17
Advantage	6	10
Penalty	3	0
Decision	5	0
DQ	2	0

5.1. Submission Methods W/L

Submission Methods	45 Wins	3 Losses
Choke From the Back	13	1
Bow and Arrow	6	0
Armbar	3	1
Armlock	2	0
Knee Bar	3	0
Choke from Mount	1	0
Cross Choke	1	0
Triangle	1	0
Wrist Lock	1	0
Americana	1	0
Choke	1	1
RNC	2	0
50/50 Armbar	1	0
Submission	5	0
Brabo Choke	1	0
KataGatame	1	0
Triangle armbar	1	0
Triangle/ kimura	1	0

6. JT BJJ Fight History

7. JT Top Fights

Photo Credit: @jtorresbjj