In this episode, I'm so incredibly honored to have the pride of San Francisco, No Gi legend, black belt Denny Prokopos as my guest. Denny was the very first 10th Planet black belt awarded by Eddie Bravo. Denny is also one of the most talented No Gi Jiu Jitsu practitioners of his generation, having won the Eddie Bravo Invitational 2, IBJJF World No-Gi Championship, Gracie Worlds, FILA No-Gi World Championship, and a recent victory on UFC Fight Pass.

Let me set up the context of the time, we have to remember that when Denny was starting his career there were still arguments about the merits of training only No Gi, ridiculous now I know but this was a genuine concern at the time. Add on top of that, that Denny was the first black belt from what was seen as an upstart 10th Planet,  there were lots of haters of this new organization if you could even call it that at the time. Denny was the first astronaut shoved onto the new planets to compete so to speak. And he really shined and I watched in awe and with a great deal of admiration, cause that took a ton of courage and skill to do, I really can't underestimate what a trailblazer he was and the tremendous value and legitimacy he gave to the 10th Planet organization and the No Gi aspect of the art.

This is one of those episodes where things get real, Denny seems to really wear his heart on his sleeve, he is both honest and passionate about the things we discuss. Speaking of, we touch on his absence and return to the sport, his current, and longtime legendary team/friends some of which are made up by his teacher Caio Terra and training partners, Gilbert Melendez and Jake Shields. Denny talks about his training modalities of choice, his recent match and victory on UFC fight pass, his school called "San Francisco Jiu Jitsu Academy", and so much more.

Some housekeeping notes: A reminder to please give us a positive review on iTunes and check out our Forever White Belt merchandise at https://teespring.com/forever-white-belt, and become a patron by clicking the "Support" button at the https://anchor.fm/foreverwhitebelt/web page, also Like our Facebook page to get all the latest at https://www.facebook.com/foreverwhitebelt, and check us out on all the socials by searching for Forever White Belt. Check out Denny's instructionals on BJJ Fanatics and be on the lookout for his soon to be announced offering with Jake Shields.