Well-known BJJ black belt and retired competitor Tom DeBlass has been appointed as ONE Championship’s VP of Grappling.
ONE Championship is continuing to invest in submission grappling and has now added one of the sport’s most well-known names to its leadership ranks.
Earlier this week, the organization announced that multiple-time ADCC veteran Tom DeBlass will join Checkmat co-founder and legendary retired competitor Leo Vieira as ONE’s Vice President of Grappling.
DeBlass enjoyed a lengthy and successful BJJ career that saw him win ADCC North American Trials three times and claim gold at the IBJJ No-Gi Pans, among a number of other professional grappling accolades. What’s more, the New Jersey native boasts a 9-2 professional MMA career that includes appearances in both the UFC and Bellator MMA.
Beyond his competitive accomplishments, DeBlass is perhaps best known as the early coach to established elite competitors Garry Tonon and Gordon Ryan, as well as current rising stars like Cameron Mellot and Jaidyn Mueller. He currently owns and runs Ocean County BJJ in New Jersey and the Tom DeBlass BJJ Affiliation, which includes dozens of academies around the world.
This won’t be DeBlass’s first role with ONE Championship. He has served as a commentator for a number of the organization’s submission grappling matches.
ONE Championship is still relatively new to the submission grappling scene but nonetheless boasts several of the sport’s biggest stars on its roster, including five-time IBJJF world champion Mikey Musumeci, ADCC world champion Kade Ruotolo, IBJJF world champion Tye Ruotolo, and decorated gi and no-gi world champion Mayssa Bastos.
DeBlass spoke to Grappling Insider about his new role with ONE and his vision for the future of submission grappling in the organization:
“For me, it’s a huge, huge honor to be invited to run this. When ADCC asked me to organize their Trials I took it to the next level, and that was undeniable. I organized it like it’s never been organized before. Made it bigger than they ever were. Really made it professional.
“ONE is already a world-class event, the biggest mixed martial arts organization in the world. We want to give grapplers a world-class stage to perform on. We’re not just people who understand grappling and jiu-jitsu who are watching, but people who are just fans of martial arts. When you go to an MMA fight and you see MMA events, you don’t expect to see grappling pop up. But we want to get the most exciting grapplers in the world out there so when it does pop up and people say ‘What is this jiu-jitsu stuff?’ They’re like ‘holy smokes I absolutely love to watch this.’”
DeBlass is determined to make ONE’s submission grappling divisions entertaining for a wide range of martial arts fans, and he understands that starts with the quality of athletes competing. He admits that, of course, a grappler’s skill and accomplishments matter. But beyond pure grappling skill, DeBlass says the organization is looking for athletes who are the total package – talented grapplers who are willing to go the extra mile to make themselves marketable.
He added:
“I’m looking for the absolute best grapplers in the world but there’s a lot that goes into it. It’s not just the best grapplers in the world, it’s people who are marketable, people who have a social presence. All these things matter. Or people who are at least willing to do things necessary to develop a social presence. And they have to have the skill and be a good person. All these things matter. I’m a hard worker, I grind, I get things done and I’ve proven that in every aspect of life that I’ve been in. It’s undeniable. For me, I can’t wait to take this to the next level with Leo.”
