John Combs: Record, Net Worth, Weight, Age & More!

By Benjamin Strusnik, September 24, 2021

Who is John Combs?

John Combs is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt from one of the most impressive lineages in the sport. He joined the sport a little later than some, turning his full attention to the sport towards the end of his college sports career. He received his promotion to black from none other than Henzo Gracie’s prodigy, Amal Easton. Easton’s training center, in Colorado, is known worldwide as one of the best places to train with top-level talent. They continue to produce high quality grapplers in both the MMA and BJJ communities.

Who is John Combs?

The No Gi Game Plan: Takedown, Pass, Finish by John Combs is available now from BJJFanatics.com!

Interestingly, Combs is a wrestler first. He began wrestling at 14 and only trained Jiu Jitsu intermittently for years. As the story goes, Combs was training with a friend who practices Jiu Jitsu in 2010 when his love of the sport was rekindled. He took the opponent down and pinned him with ease, but was troubled to find himself submitting to a kimura while he was in top position. This experience was enough to convince Combs to improve his submission defense, and eventually his overall skill as a Jiu Jitsu player.

After his time as a collegiate wrestler, Combs used this experience to turn his focus to submission grappling and began to win major Jiu Jitsu tournaments in the Western United States. His hard, grinding style is evidence of his background in wrestling, and his adaptations to the world of Jiu Jitsu competition are world class.

Eventually his accomplishments and record as a professional brown belt warranted promotion, and in 2016 he joined the ranks of Jiu Jitsu black belts. Combs has continued to take matches against some of the highest level talent in the sport, maintaining an active competition career from it’s start in 2014 up until today.

Mastering the Guillotine by John Combs available from BJJFanatics.com!

How Old is John Combs?

John is 30 years old as of April 2021. He was born April 7th, 1991 in Cleveland, Ohio.

John Combs Family

Not much has been published about John Combs personal relationships or family. Instead, the bulk of information available on him centers around his career as a Jiu Jitsu competitor, a budding coach, and creator of instructional content.

How Much is John Combs Worth?

John Combs is early in his career and has competed largely on the submission grappling circuit. These tournaments are not known for turning people into millionaires overnight, but John has done a good job transcending the sport with his instructional content. As he continues to age and improve his coaching acumen, we can expect to see more great Jiu Jitsu products coming our way.

How Tall is John Combs?

As a professional Jiu Jitsu player, John Combs' height is not available. He appears to be of average height, hovering around six feet, based on his size in relation to other athletes in his weight class with published heights.

How Much Does John Combs Weigh?

John Combs is approaching his 8th year of competition in 2022 and, as such, has competed across a wide range of weight classes. The lowest weight that Combs has cut to is 73 kg, or 160 pounds. On the other side of things, he’s added weight to compete as heavy as 88 kg, which is just under 190 lbs. Despite the fluctuations to accommodate different matchups, his most common weight class throughout his career is middleweight, placing him at or around 82 kgs, or 180 pounds.

John Combs Fight List

Combs has competed on an intense schedule since making his way onto the competitive submission grappling scene in 2014. Since that time, he has placed in a major event every single year of his competitive career, including the Pandemic year of 2020. His first two years competing took place while he was both a brown and purple belt. Check out a breakdown of his accomplishments before achieving his black belt below:

2014 IBJJF World Championships - Purple Belt Division - 3rd Place
2015 IBJJF World Championships - Purple Belt Division - 3rd Place
2015 IBJJF Pan Championship - Purple Belt Division - 3rd Place
2016 IBJJF Pan Championship - Brown Belt Absolute Division - 3rd Place
2016 IBJJF Las Vegas Open - Brown Belt - 1st Place
2016 IBJJF Las Vegas Open - Brown Belt Absolute Division - 2nd Place
2016 IBJJF Pans Championship - Brown Belt Division - 1st Place
2016 UAEJJF US National Pro - Brown Belt Division - 1st Place
2016 UAEJJF US National Pro - Brown Belt Absolute Division - 1st Place

The year 2016 was a big one for John Combs, as he was promoted and began competing as a black belt. His entries at brown belt stopped by the later half of the year as he started to make some noise in the black belt and absolute divisions. After completing his black belt, John Combs has achieved the following list of major tournament wins:

2016 FIVE SUper League - Black Belt Division - 2nd Place
2016 Guatemala Open - Black Belt Division - 2nd Place
2016 UAEJJF Grand Slam No-Gi, Los Angeles - Black Belt Division - 1st Place
2017 IBJJF Austin Open - Black Belt Division - 1st Place
2018 IBJJF Denver Open - Black Belt Division - 1st Place
2018 IBJJF Denver Open - Black Belt Absolute Division - 1st Place
2019 ADCC US West Coast Trials - Black Belt Division - 1st Place
2020 American National IBJJF No-Gi Championship - Black Belt Division - 1st Place
2021 IBJJF Pans Championship No-Gi - Black Belt Division - 3rd Place

John Combs's Best Fight of All Time

John Combs has had many Jiu Jitsu matches in his 8 years of competing, and many awesome wins, often by his signature guillotine choke, to show for it. As with any competitive grappler, naming “greatest fight” can be difficult. For Combs, we need look no further than his greatest successes on the largest stages.

In 2019, at the ADCC West Coast Trials, Combs battled through five rounds of 77 kg competitors to reach the finals against William Tacket. On his way there, Combs secured a triangle choke, three back-to-back rear naked chokes, and a 3-2 decision victory. And although tapping out four of five black belts on the way to the finals was great, the opportunity to sink in his signature choke, the guillotine, had not yet presented itself. That all changed in the finals, when Combs was able to win gold and end the tournament with his prized guillotine, a submission that he has ridden to victory at least 22 times in competition.

Another such match came in 2020 against Carlos Souza during the American IBJJF No-Gi Nationals. Although he is known for his guillotines, Combs was able to secure a closely-related but ultimately different choke, the D’arce. Adding to the drama of this match is that earlier in the year, at a different tournament, Souza got the best of Combs and submitted him with a kneebar. This time, things went the other way, with Combs forcing the tap from Souza. This D’arce choke won him the tournament in the Middleweight Black Belt Division and kept his streak of medals, which began as a purple belt in 2014, alive.

Who Did John Combs Lose To?

It’s often said that in Jiu Jitsu, “you either win or you learn”. That’s doubly true when you're facing the caliber of competition that John Combs has. His most notable losses come at the hands of three of the sports’ finest practitioners: Andrew Wiltse by decision, PJ Barch by heel hook, and Roberto Jimenez by kimura. All three competitors have impressive pedigrees and records and presented a unique challenge for Combs. His competition career continues and you can bet that these rematches are on his bucket list.

John Combs Record

John Combs has an overall record of 67-49, with 48 submission wins. He has submitted opponents with guillotine variations an incredible 22 times in competition. Of those guillotines, 14 of them were the traditional variety, while the other 8 were arm-in. The ability to find setups for the guillotine around every corner is a trademark of Combs’ style, and a big reason for his impressive winning record as a professional grappler.

John Combs Injuries

Combs injured during competition in Mexico City but was able to rehabilitate the injury. Since that time, he has continued an active competition schedule.

Is John Combs Retired?

John combs in not retired from professional grappling. At only 30 years old, he likely still has some competing to do in the masters division before hanging up the spats. He’s remained an active competitor even as he makes the transition to coaching through his series of instructional products offered through BJJ Fanatics. His excellent “mastering the guillotine” and “The No-Gi Game Plan: Takedown, Pass, Finish.” are must haves for anyone looking to incorporate a wrestling style into their Jiu Jitsu gameplan.

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