Espen Mathiesen is ready to get back on the competition mats and chase his second European title. His first gold medal at the event as a black belt came in 2022, when the Europeans were held in Rome, Italy for the first time since the inaugural edition of the event in 2004. Due to the pandemic it was also the first Europeans since 2020. The event saw many first time champions, with Espen being one of them. The Norwegian athlete, who took third at the Worlds in 2018, had yet to win a major IBJJF black belt title prior to the event.

“It was very meaningful as I had dreamt about it for years. I have worked hard for so long, so it is really cool when it all pays off. There haven’t been too many European athletes that have won before, so I hope it can be an inspiration for others.”

Espen’s path to becoming an elite black belt competitor has been unique. Despite never training at a big academy with a lot of World Champions, he’s been able to display high level technique and defeat some of the best competitors in his division. He credits his technical level and his results to his style of training and his focus on the mental game.

“I think the main difference has been active drilling, which the majority of my training has consisted of over the years. It really helped me to develop a good understanding of not just how to execute the moves, but also when to execute them. I have also been very interested in the mental part of the game, so continuously learning and working on that has helped me tremendously.”

Being an athlete of Norwegian descent, Espen and one of his main training partners, Tommy Lanagaker, have been two prime examples of European athletes having success on the world stage. Ffion Davies, Adam Wardzinski, and Bruno Lima are other European athletes who have also won major IBJJF titles, an excellent sign of growth for the sport. “I have seen a lot of growth over the years and it is cool to see new talents coming up from all over Europe,” said Espen. “Brazil and the USA are still far ahead in terms of achievements, but I believe the gap will only get smaller over the years.”

At the 2022 Europeans, Espen won gold in the lightweight division, but will compete as a middleweight in 2023. “I’m really excited to do middleweight at Europeans for my first time. There are a bunch of tough guys, so I think I’ll have some really cool matches. I have added new techniques in both my guard and passing game, so I’m excited to showcase them in 2023. I have also worked on fighting more intuitively. It has worked really well for me in training, so I’m excited see if it works in competitions.”

You can catch Espen and the rest of the world class black belts competing at the Europeans, with coverage brought to you exclusively by FloGrappling. The black belt action starts on Saturday January 28th.