The effort required to become an elite athlete should never be taken for granted or understated. For Luke Griffith having won a major martial arts tournament recently is just the beginning.
At 22 years old, Luke is a jiu-jitsu competitor and has already made a name for himself in just a short space of time and accumulated many accolades along the way.
Luke competed in the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship which concluded in Rome last month. There he achieved an adult brown belt double and declared gold champion at the tournament but it was an achievement that did not come overnight.
The IBJJF is a for-profit company that hosts several of the biggest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) tournaments in the world, including the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship, World No-Gi Championship, Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship, and European Open Jiu-Jitsu Championship. The company was created by Carlos Gracie Jr, who is the head of one of the largest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu schools, Gracie Barra.
Luke has been training in the sport since the age of six and has been competing since he was 16 years old. He details how his father has been instrumental to his success and how he has pushed him to be at the level where he is today.
“Initially, it was a requirement from my dad that I should train so I could be able to defend myself. I didn’t have an option,” he expressed humorlessly.
“My dad has been my greatest inspiration. Nobody works harder than he does. He taught me from a young age about a good work ethic, perseverance, commitment and determination. Everything he told me to do I saw him do first,” Luke said.
For Luke, putting his body on the line is nothing new, and is winning as well as getting recognition as a reward for his hard work.
According to him, it all starts with preparation followed by determination and execution.
“I put in all the work, all the time. My schedule never really changes as tournaments pop up and I need to be ready at any given time. In December 2022, I flew to Las Vegas to help train a couple of teammates competing in UFC. At the last minute, one of the contenders was unable to make it and I was given the opportunity on the day of the event to compete in the Eight Man Absolute Bracket tournament. I came up short in the final after taking out the two top-ranked athletes in the world in my weight division and missing out on a sweet victory. That was a pretty painful loss but I am happy I made it that far,” Griffith added.
Some of his remarkable accolades include:
• Two-time winner of the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) European, Middle East and African Championships
• Grapple Fest Heavyweight Champion
• Three-time winner for IBJJF No Gi Pans weight gold medalist
• Two-time winner IBJJF Euro Championships gold medalist
• Winner of the IBJJF World Championship gold medalist (brown belt)
• Enigma heavyweight champion
Despite these achievements, he still has other goals.
“I still have some amazing events coming up this year as well as the ADCC World Championships in Las Vegas during August 2024 which is like the Olympics of grappling. I have lots of work to do and looking forward to the challenge.”
