John Combs - The Master of the Guillotine Choke

Combs is a professional black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and is one of the top athletes produced by Easton Training Centre. He won the gold for the ADCC West Coast Trials (2019), IBJJF Denver Open (2018), and IBJJF American No-Gi Nationals champion (2016). He got his black belt in BJJ under Amal Easton.

John Combs was born in Cleveland on 07 April 1991, but was raised in California. Combs started wrestling when he was 14 years old in a school summer wrestling program. His Jiu-Jitsu journey started in 2010 at the Easton Training Center. In the year 2011, he became an All-American wrestler at the NCWA national championship, while attending his college in CU Boulder.  Ultimately, John Combs joined the Jiu-Jitsu and is now a black belt. During one of his interviews, he talked about his signature attacking style Guillotine. He said:

In 2007, Combs was introduced to Jiu Jitsu but during that time he was practicing wrestling and was much more focused on it. In 2010, Combs experienced a resurgence of his love for Jiu-Jitsu while training with a friend who was already a BJJ athlete. Quickly, he took down and pinned the opponent, yet it worried him to find himself losing up to a kimura while in the best possible position. This convinced Combs to enhance his Jiu-Jitsu proficiency and ability to defend submissions.

In 2012 after Comb’s won his first Jiu-Jitsu fight, he got a critical knee infection, which made him slow down for a bit. He was infected with MRSA. After his operation he used to put on knee pads during his matches, but as his scar was not stitched he got reinfected. He then took vancomycin for his speedy recovery.

During eight years in Jiu Jitsu, Combs won multiple fights following his signature guillotine choke. In 2019, he competed against William Tacket, at the ADCC West Coast Trials and tapped out four of five black belts using his favorite technique, guillotine choke along with triangle and rear naked choke, winning the gold medal.

As each year went by, Combs's accomplishments as a BJJ competitor and his professional track record pushed him up to the ranks of all the belts awarded by various trainers at the Easton Training Centre. Elliot Marshall, a UFC light heavyweight contender, advanced him to the blue belt. He got promoted to purple and brown belt by James Smith and Mike Tousignant. Finally, Amal Easton led him to the black belt in 2016.

As a brown belt, Combs placed first at the 2016 IBJJF Pan Ams, finishing his entire bracket in under six minutes. Yet his great moment came at the 2016 Copa Podio, an invitation-only competition held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After earning a promotion to black belt, he won many fights against strong opponents, often using his most dreadful technique, the guillotine. He has taken the gold medal at the 2018 IBJJF Denver Open and the 2019 ADCC West Coast Trials.

John Combs holds the professional record of 106 wins with 58 losses in BJJ. The majority of his submission wins were achieved through one of his favorite techniques, the guillotine choke.

In 2023 ADCC Chicago, an exciting match occurs between John Combs and Brandon Wilson. It was a breathtaking match as both BJJ fighters performed the match incredibly and tried for submission, but fortunately, John Combs won the match using the rear naked choke technique.

In 2021 NoGi Pan Am, John Combs fought against Valdir Araujo who is known as a BB Monster. The duration of the fight was 12 minutes, the fight started with both the players using the standing guard technique. Both the athletes tried hard for submission, but eventually, John Combs won the match via toe hold acquiring 4 more points than Araujo.

In 2016 Copa Podio Buenos Aires Argentina 2016, Combs has his Cpoa Podia debut fight with Diego Borges. Both BJJ fighters showcased their grappling skills. Combs started with a guard but Diego Borges took over using the triangle technique. Borges wins the match by 4 points after 6 minutes, he uses his sweep throughout the battle to take Combs down.

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Photo Credit: @combsjiujitsu