Chayse Diekema

Chayse Diekema is a Canadian grappler and a jiu-jitsu black belt under Pedro Lott who represents Team Frontline in the sport’s global circuit, particularly in North America. Diekema first made waves in the sport as a colored belt athlete, a time when she had repeated success in important tournaments on the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) league, which included the Pan Championships, Brazilian Nationals, American Nationals, and European Open as a brown belt.

Chayse Diekema Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Chayse Chondelle Diekema

Nickname: Chayse is often called “Chandelli” by her instructor, Pedro Lott, which is a Brazilian-Portuguese accent spelling of the word Chandelles, a famous dessert in Brazil that is very similar to Diekema’s middle name, Chondelle. The similarity of the two names was comical to her Brazilian training partners, thus the nickname.

Lineage: Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Carlson Gracie > Ricardo Libório > Eduardo Rios > Pedro Lott > Chayse Diekema

Main Achievements:

• 1st Place IBJJF JJ CON NOGI (2023)
• 1st Place IBJJF Nashville Open (2023)

Main Achievements (Colored Belts):

• 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2020 / 2021 purple, 2023 brown)
• 1st Place IBJJF European Open (2020 blue, 2023 brown)
• 1st Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals (2023 brown)
• 1st Place IBJJF American Nationals (2022 brown)
• 2nd Place IBJJF Pan Championship NOGI (2021 purple)
• 3rd Place IBJJF American Nationals (2022* brown)

Favorite Position/Technique: Well Rounded

Weight Division: Peso Leve (64 kg / 141.5 lbs)

Team/Association: Frontline

Chayse Diekema Biography

Chayse Diekema was born on April 5, 1999, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, where she spent her formative years.

From the early stages of her childhood, Chayse was very active in sports. First, through soccer, ballet, and taekwondo, which she started around the age of 4-or-5. Although other sports came and went, the Korean martial art of TKD remained an integral part of her upbringing and something she carried up until the age of 19, competing in events such as the Euro-Asian championship in Turkey and earning a 3rd-degree black belt by the time she decided to distance herself from the martial art to pursue other goals.

During her school days, Chayse added lacrosse to her weekly schedule, an activity she carried through for 5 years, up until high school when she opted to apply for the wrestling team. Diekema wrestled for 4 years (14-18) for her HS and at a club level while balancing her TKD training at the same time.

Although with a visibly busy schedule, one of Diekema’s closest taekwondo friends started training jiu-jitsu in 2015 and convinced her to come and try it out. Chayse was 16 when she started but was not invested in this sport during the early days of grappling. By her admission in an interview with BJJ Heroes on November 2023, after so many years of being a TKD black belt and excelling at other sports, BJJ did not come naturally, a circumstance that frustrated her early on.

It was by her friend’s persistence that Diekema kept coming back to the jiu-jitsu mats and, with time, her love for the submission game flourished and took over her day-to-day life. As her fascination for this sport grew, Chayse understood the small gym where she trained would not satisfy her competitive aspirations. For that reason, 20-year-old Diekema decided to move to Sherwood Park, Alberta, to train with Pedro Lott at the local Frontline gym.

Mr. Lott became a very influential figure in the young Canadian’s career, leading her from blue to black belt, the latter rank earned in a promotion that took place on June 13, 2023.