Cole Abate began his jiu-jitsu journey in Texas at the age of 5. From very early on into his training, Cole showed promise as an athlete. While in Texas, Cole trained at Rodrigo Pinheiro BJJ, an academy that has led athletes like Nathiely De Jesus, Manuel Ribamar, Thiago Macedo, and many others to success in the sport. In 2019, Cole’s career took a turn as he moved to Costa Mesa, California to train under World Champion and IBJJF Hall of Fame Professors Rafael and Guilherme Mendes. At the time Cole was a 14 year old green belt.

Since joining AOJ, Cole has won countless IBJJF titles including Asian Open, American Nationals, Europeans, Pans, Worlds, and Worlds No-Gi. Throughout his years training in Costa Mesa, Cole’s game has grown and evolved from every position. He started 2023 as a purple belt at the Europeans in Paris, France, where he took gold at lightweight and submitted five of his six opponents. The performance earned Cole his brown belt on the podium. He would go on to win two more major titles in 2023 at brown at the Pans and Worlds, showing he was already among the brown belt elite despite being very new to the rank.

AOJ brought a big team of competitors out to Nagoya, Japan to compete in the 2023 Asian Jiu-Jitsu Championships where the team won several gold medals in the black belt division. Cole competed at brown belt lightweight, dominating his division and winning all three of his fights by submission. Following the victories, Cole was promoted to black belt by Professor Guilherme Mendes, the culmination of 13 years of training and competition. The possibilities for exciting matchups for Cole at black belt are endless and we can’t wait to see what he’s able to accomplish at his new rank.

2023 Competition Highlights

-LA Open, LA No-Gi Open, Nashville Open, Nashville Open No-Gi Weight & Absolute, Asian Championship, European, Pan, & World Champion

-29-0 IBJJF record

-25 submissions; 86% submission rate