What a year for this man! South African jiu jitsu star Luke Griffith @luke_griffithjj had a truly outstanding year in 2023. He won the coveted Grand slam European Championship, Pan Am Championship and World Championship at brown belt ibjjf Federation. In between that he also won ADCC European trials to punch his ticket to the 2024 ADCC World Championship in Las Vegas. In addition he won his WNO professional grappling match against the current black belt World Champion and perhaps most incredible of all – every single match in all these tournaments was won by submission – an incredible feat. In fact I believe no one has ever won Euro, Pans and Worlds IBJJF every match by submission at Brown Belt level before. It's crazy to think that when he first arrived here around a year and half to two years ago he had just lost at European ADCC trials and then lost two matches to local purple belts. From that inauspicious start he now stands very high indeed in the grappling world – a tremendous testimony to his exceptional work ethic and that no nonsense practical mindset that has made so many South African athletes successful across many sports over many generations – well done Luke!
