For the past four years, his life has been training, training, and more training. “This is all I do and I love it,” says the self-described mat rat. “I’m blessed to be able to train so much and I basically live on the mat!”
Working together with guys like coaches like Jordan Rivas, Frost Murphy, and fellow Legacy title contender Robert Yamashita, Julian has worked his way up in the Jiu-Jitsu world, going as far as winning our TXMMA Purple Belt of the Year award last year while also earning his BJJ brown belt in late 2011. “There were a lot of really good guys on that list but I’m glad it went to me,” Julian mentioned in a humble response to the question of how he felt about that award. “Training at Elite has changed my life; our team is all about team and community and we make it a point to spend every day growing both in and outside the school. At the end of the day it’s all about finding that balance between achieving our personal goals and also working together on missions that are more than just for us as individuals. With Jiu-Jitsu came God into my life and he’s been with me this whole time. There’s literally nothing else I’d rather do.”
Achieving so much respect in the BJJ/grappling community, it’s kind of funny that in the very beginning, what initially brought Julian to train was MMA. “That’s all I wanted to do,” he said. “At first I didn’t know anything about grappling and all I saw was a bunch of guys rolling around on the ground and it was all foreign to me. I thought to myself ‘why would I want to do that?’ and just kind of kept it out of my mind for awhile but eventually Jordan and the guys got me to try out the Jiu-Jitsu program and I immediately fell in love.
“It was always the plan to get back (to MMA). I just wasn’t sure when,” he said about this upcoming fight. Julian tasted MMA competition before in May of 2009 for all of 0:52 seconds ending with a submission victory over Vincent Gamma but hasn’t been back since. But as they say, timing is everything. “When this card was announced teammate and coach Robert Yamashita was interested in doing it so we talked and thought it be a good idea for both of us to get on the same card and here we are.”
Now out of nowhere, Elite MMA has two of its brown belts challenging for titles.
“It’s real exciting for me and I’m glad I’m getting a chance to showcase my skills. I have jitters like I always too but not really because it’s a title fight but rather because it’s a competition. I always feel this way before I roll too. I’m just ready to get in there. I’ve had 4 different opponents throughout this training camp and I wasn’t sure what was going to happen but I’m excited they found one that will stick. I’m going to show up and do what I do regardless of who is in front of me. You never know what will happen in a fight but I think it’s going to be a great one.”
“I’d like to thank God for letting me be where I am. Thanks to my parents for supporting me through all of this. I’d like to thank my coaches Jordan Rivas, Frost Murphy and Robert Yamashita. And I’d like to thank everyone at Elite MMA. These fights are bringing our team together and the results are going to be great.”
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