As jiu-jitsu continues to grow and evolve, practitioners continue to reach higher levels of techniques at younger ages. The new generation of competitors are training professionally under the guidance of world-class coaches who help steer their careers in a positive direction. Few athletes embody the new generation of competitors better than Cole Abate. Cole has been competing since a young age and has always been an exceptional talent who has the work ethic to match. He began his adult competition career at the 2022 Pans as a purple belt and has since collected titles at the Worlds, Pans, Europeans, Asian Championship, and American Nationals, among many others.

Cole’s latest title came at the 2023 Asian Jiu-Jitsu Championship, where he won all three of his matches via submission. After securing the gold, Cole was promoted to black belt by Gui Mendes, the culmination of 13 years of training and preparation. Now he’ll get the chance to show his jiu-jitsu against the highest level of opposition possible, something both Cole and jiu-jitsu fans are eagerly anticipating. We caught up with Cole just after his promotion to ask him some questions about his experience in Japan, how AOJ has benefitted his career, and more.

You took gold at the 2023 Asian Championships and were promoted to black belt. Talk about that whole experience.

The whole experience in Japan has definitely been the most memorable of my career. It was very special to come here and not only win, but get promoted on the mats in such a cool place. I couldn’t have imagined a better way to receive my black belt from Professor Gui.

2023 was a huge year for you, going 29-0 in IBJJF competition with 25 submissions for an 86% submission rate. What do numbers like that mean to you?

I honestly have never kept track of this, but now looking at it, it’s really cool to see because it’s an accurate representation of what I’ve always trained to do; look to finish and be ahead of my opponents in all of my matches. Going 29-0 and having 86% submission rate in 2023 shows me the work I have been doing is reflecting in my results, but there is still work to do because that number is not 100%. I plan to do the same in the black belt division.

You’ve had a plan since you were a young kid to achieve very specific goals. How important was this planning process to your success?

I think that planning the process years in advance makes the roadmap much clearer to see and makes things seem more doable. It makes it much easier to track the progress and to evaluate what things need to be done in order to get where you want to be in a certain amount of time. Professor Gui has had me studying the black belt division since I was a green belt and I believe that has been a huge component of my success.

Can you talk about the team at AOJ and how they’ve impacted your career, not just from a technical perspective but with all the skills they’ve helped you build throughout your time there?

AOJ is a special place. The magic comes from the people there. Everyone sets goals and works hard to achieve them whether they are competitors, hobbyists, or work in different areas of the academy. I feel like this constant push to want to do better and be super professional with every decision is what motivates the people there to do the same. I have positive influences around me with similar values, so it makes it less likely to become distracted and lose focus of my goals. I have learned to not put all my eggs into only one basket, but to learn to build the other aspects of my career while still training as a professional athlete.

Do you plan to compete as a lightweight at black belt and what are your goals in your new division?

Me and professor Gui will sit down and discuss the first plans at the black belt as soon as I get back. We will see what the next steps will be and announce the next few tournaments and the weight division I will be competing in.