Founder/Head Instructor – RONIN ATHLETICS
Christian Montes
BJJ Brown Belt – BRASA team under Prof. Felipe Costa
Pro MMA Fighter (1-1)
Amateur MMA/Muay Thai (4-4)
Background
Christian Montes is a lifelong student of the martial arts, with training and teaching background that spans two decades. His introduction to the martial arts came by way of amateur boxing, Muay Thai (kickboxing) & Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do & Filipino Martial Arts. An avid competitive fighter with an unquenchable thirst for new challenges, Christian has always held that competition is the ultimate litmus test for gauging the effectiveness of one's training. Getting his start in stand-up striking events, he initially tested himself in both amateur boxing and Muay Thai, eventually fighting for a World Kickboxing Association state title. Like most martial art athletes, his paradigm of realistic combative training & competition was forever changed with the 1993 arrival of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the resulting emergence of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling as the core disciplines of what would become the modern sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).
Never one to rest on his laurels, Christian dove headfirst into his grappling training and combined it with his striking knowledge to launch a MMA career and continue to test himself further in developing as both a coach and athlete. A veteran of numerous amateur and professional MMA matches (with bouts against some of the highest-profile fighters in the world today); Christian earned his Brown Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 2011 and has spent over a decade competing in BJJ/grappling events of all kinds. His submission grappling and Jiu-Jitsu accomplishments include multiple Expert Division wins at local, regional and international events (NAGA , Grapplers Quest, IBJJF), as well as multiple gold medals from the premier Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu circuit in the world, the IBJJF, where he has won the No-Gi Pan American Championship two years running (purple and brown belt, Masters Middleweight).
Though pushing and testing himself in organized fighting competitions and tournaments has helped Christian grow as an athlete, coach, and person, the competitive outlet is only one of many expressions of his passion for the martial arts. Even more important to Christian, than his personal accomplishments, is the opportunity to help others achieve their individual goals and realize their full mental and physical potential through martial arts training.
In 2003 he founded Ronin Athletics, The first true Mixed Martial Arts Gym located in Midtown Manhattan. Drawing on his unique experience - culminating his years of battle tested fighting concepts and training methods, Christian created a training culture that provides everyday individuals the opportunity to inspire themselves - to learn and push further than they ever thought possible and having fun along the way! This is the principle that guided Christian throughout his years of training and the principle that Ronin Athletics is built on.
Recent BJJ/Submission Grappling Competition History
BJJ Brown Belt – BRASA team under Prof. Felipe Costa
Pro MMA Fighter (1-1)
Amateur MMA/Muay Thai (4-4)
Background
Christian Montes is a lifelong student of the martial arts, with training and teaching background that spans two decades. His introduction to the martial arts came by way of amateur boxing, Muay Thai (kickboxing) & Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do & Filipino Martial Arts. An avid competitive fighter with an unquenchable thirst for new challenges, Christian has always held that competition is the ultimate litmus test for gauging the effectiveness of one's training. Getting his start in stand-up striking events, he initially tested himself in both amateur boxing and Muay Thai, eventually fighting for a World Kickboxing Association state title. Like most martial art athletes, his paradigm of realistic combative training & competition was forever changed with the 1993 arrival of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the resulting emergence of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling as the core disciplines of what would become the modern sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).
Never one to rest on his laurels, Christian dove headfirst into his grappling training and combined it with his striking knowledge to launch a MMA career and continue to test himself further in developing as both a coach and athlete. A veteran of numerous amateur and professional MMA matches (with bouts against some of the highest-profile fighters in the world today); Christian earned his Brown Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 2011 and has spent over a decade competing in BJJ/grappling events of all kinds. His submission grappling and Jiu-Jitsu accomplishments include multiple Expert Division wins at local, regional and international events (NAGA , Grapplers Quest, IBJJF), as well as multiple gold medals from the premier Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu circuit in the world, the IBJJF, where he has won the No-Gi Pan American Championship two years running (purple and brown belt, Masters Middleweight).
Though pushing and testing himself in organized fighting competitions and tournaments has helped Christian grow as an athlete, coach, and person, the competitive outlet is only one of many expressions of his passion for the martial arts. Even more important to Christian, than his personal accomplishments, is the opportunity to help others achieve their individual goals and realize their full mental and physical potential through martial arts training.
In 2003 he founded Ronin Athletics, The first true Mixed Martial Arts Gym located in Midtown Manhattan. Drawing on his unique experience - culminating his years of battle tested fighting concepts and training methods, Christian created a training culture that provides everyday individuals the opportunity to inspire themselves - to learn and push further than they ever thought possible and having fun along the way! This is the principle that guided Christian throughout his years of training and the principle that Ronin Athletics is built on.
Recent BJJ/Submission Grappling Competition History
- 1/10 Gracie Nationals, Los Angeles CA – 1x GOLD, 1x Silver
- 1/10 The Good Fight: Baltimore BJJ Championships – Baltimore MD – 2x GOLD, 1x Silver
- 1/10 OTM World Grappling Games: Northeast Regional Championships – Philadelphia – Silver
- 12/09 NAGA Southwest, Dallas – Silver
- 12/09 US Grappling: GrappleMania – Raleigh – 2x GOLD, 2x Silver
- 10/09 NYC Submission Shootout – Bronze
- 1/09 Mayhem Florida – Silver
- 12/08 NAGA Texas – 2x Silver
- 11/08 The Good Fight – 2x Bronze
- 11/08 NAGA Chicago – Bronze
- Ring of Combat 10 – Atlantic City, NJ 2006
- MFC 6 Boardwalk Blitz – Atlantic City, NJ 2006
- Mass Destruction 11 – Taunton, Mass 2003
- Reality Fighting 3 – Bayonne, NJ 2003
- Excalibur Extreme Fight Challenge 13 – Mechanicsville, Va 2002
- Mass Destruction 4 – Wildwood, NJ 2001
- International Fight Night 3 – Brooklyn, New York 2001
- International Fight Night 2 – Brooklyn, New York 2001
Reality Fighting 3 - Bayonne, NJ
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