Travis Stevens

Travis Stevens was born on February 28, 1986, in Bellevue, Washington.⁠[1]

He is from Tacoma, Washington, and was introduced to judo at age seven; he has said he got into the sport by accident, after checking the wrong box on a youth center signup form.⁠[2]

At the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro he beat Brazil’s Flavio Canto amid chants for his opponent on the way to the 81 kg gold medal, his first Pan American gold.⁠[3]

He won the Düsseldorf Grand Prix and the Tashkent World CupFIFA World CupThe FIFA World Cup is FIFA’s men’s national-team football tournament, held every four years.Open the full entry in 2012, the Tashkent Grand Prix in 2013, and the Düsseldorf Grand Prix again in 2014, along with second places at the Zagreb, Havana and Tbilisi Grands Prix; he competed in the individual 81 kg event at seven World Championships between 2007 and 2015, with a best finish of ninth in 2010.⁠[4]

At his first Olympics, in Beijing in 2008, he placed joint ninth in the men’s half-middleweight event.⁠[1]

In the men’s 81 kg event at the London Olympics he beat Aljaž Sedej, Avtandil Chrikishvili and Leandro Guilheiro, lost the semifinal to defending champion Ole Bischof on a decision, and then lost the bronze-medal match to Canada’s Antoine Valois-Fortier, finishing joint fifth.⁠[5]

On November 19, 2013, he received his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt from John DanaherJohn DanaherJohn Danaher is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA coach who grew up in New Zealand, taught for many years at the Renzo Gracie Academy in New York, served as Georges St-Pierre’s jiu-jitsu coach, and is known for his leg-lock system and the “Danaher Death Squad” grappling team; from late 2021 he headed the New Wave Jiu-Jitsu team in Austin, Texas.Open the full entry at the GMA Renzo Gracie Academy in New York City, saying he was very happy to receive it from Danaher and Renzo Gracie.⁠[6]

The same year he was invited to fight in Copa Podio’s Middleweight Grand Prix, where his two bouts against Paulo Miyao drew the most attention.⁠[7]

Winless in 2015 until then, he scored a yuko and then threw Cuba’s Ivan Felipe Silva for ippon at 3:32 in the 81 kg final at the Toronto Pan American Games, winning his second Pan American Games gold.⁠[8]

He defeated Belgium’s Joachim Bottieau to win the 2016 World Judo Masters in Guadalajara, Mexico, becoming the first U.S. man to win the invitation-only event.⁠[3]

For that performance he received Best of May honors in the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Team USA Awards.⁠[9]

In the men’s 81 kg event at the Rio Olympics he beat Sweden’s Robin Pacek, Uzbekistan’s Shakhzodbek Sabirov and Bulgaria’s Ivaylo Ivanov, then defeated Georgia’s Avtandili Tchrikishvili by ippon in the semifinal.⁠[10]

In the final, Russia’s Khasan Khalmurzayev won by ippon with uchi-mata after 2:42, leaving him with the silver medal.⁠[11]

It was the first Olympic judo medal by an American man since the 2004 Games; afterward he noted that the world’s top judoka gather about eight times a year for international training camps.⁠[12]

He retired from judo after the Rio Olympics; in April 2020 he said he had not done proper judo training sessions since then.⁠[13]

On August 12, 2017, he faced Yuri Simoes in a submission-only jiu-jitsu match at Fight To Win Pro 44; the preview described him as a world-class jiu-jitsu black belt in the Renzo Gracie network.⁠[14]

He said that after retiring he coached judo alongside Jimmy PedroJimmy PedroJimmy Pedro is an American judoka and coach who won the 1999 World Judo Championships, competed at four Olympic Games and took bronze in 1996 and 2004; after retiring he became head coach of the U.S. Olympic judo team, coaching Kayla Harrison to Olympic gold in 2012 and 2016.Open the full entry and Pedro’s father, was one of the co-founders of Judo Fanatics, was in charge of marketing for FUJI, and ran his own BJJ academy in the same building as Pedro’s dojo.⁠[13]

He posted a detailed breakdown of Joshiro Maruyama’s uchi-mata on his YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry channel, said he was one of the owners of Judo Fanatics, and explained that judo players and coaches could learn directly from him and Jimmy Pedro in a private online community.⁠[15]

He appeared on episode #223 of the Lex FridmanLex FridmanLex Fridman is a Soviet-born, US-raised computer scientist and podcast host who works as an MIT research scientist on human-AI interaction and autonomous driving. His Lex Fridman Podcast is known for hours-long conversations with guests including heads of state and technology leaders.Open the full entry Podcast, which introduced him as the 2016 Olympic judo silver medalist and a BJJ black belt; topics included judo fundamentals, throws and gripping, weight cutting, the London and Rio Olympics, the mixed team competition, Shohei Ono and advice for young people.⁠[16]

X: Public account: https://x.com/judosilencer (opens in a new window)⁠[16]

YouTube: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TravisStevensgrappling (opens in a new window)⁠[16]