Denny Prokopos was the very first black belt awarded by Eddie Bravo, and subsequently the first black belt generated from Bravo’s 10th Planet system. Denny is also one of the most talented No Gi Jiu Jitsu practitioners of his generation, having won several important tournaments such as the World No Gi Championship (2007 brown belt) and the FILA World Grappling tournament.
Denny Prokopos Jiu Jitsu
Full Name: N/A
Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie Sr. > Carlos Gracie Junior > Jean Jacques Machado > Eddie Bravo > Denny Prokopos
Nickname: “300” which probably came up due to Denny’s Greek ancestry (300 is a famous comic book/film about the battle of Battle of Thermopylae between Persians and Spartans). This has not been confirmed by Denny and is a mere assumption.
Main Achievements:
- World Nogi Champion (2007 brown belt)
- FILA Grappling World Champion (2010)
- NAGA Arnold Grappling Champion (2009)
- World Nogi Bronze Medallist (2009)
- Grapplers Quest 3rd Place (2008)
- Pan American Bronze Medallist (2004 blue belt)
- USA Grappling Open Bronze Medallist (2007)
Weight Division: Featherweight (70kg/154lbs)
Team/Association: 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu
Denny Prokopos Biography
Denny Prokopos was born in San Francisco around 1988. He was interested in Pro Wrestling as a child, and it was looking for Pro Wrestling tapes at a video store that he found out about the UFC. He bought a few tapes of the fighting organization’s first tournaments at the store and as he saw the footage he was amazed by Royce Gracie‘s prowess inside the cage. He was so fascinated by the Gracie Jiu Jitsu style that he managed to convince his parents to let him train Jiu Jitsu (who vehemently opposed to it in the beginning). He was 12 years old when he started and his first coach was Charles Gracie.
As Denny got more involved with Jiu Jitsu, he started preferring the Nogi aspect of the game; this was when he sought out Eddie Bravo for private classes in this style. Eddie at the time had already made a name for himself in the Nogi community and was a great believer of the benefits of training without the kimono. Denny ended up leaving his previous instructor and turning his full attention to Eddie Bravo’s method, he was around 16 at the time.
In highschool Denny Prokopos also added wrestling to his resume, competing all throughout secondary School with the exception of the last year due to a bad injury that prevented him from training. He ended up quitting the academic life to focus solely on Jiu Jitsu training and competing, that hard work and dedication paid off with several important victories at a national and international stage, culminating with his black belt award in 2009. In that same year he was part of the American National Team at the FILA Grappling Championship, being coached by Ricardo Liborio in preparation for the tournament (a competition he won), he has also worked extensively with Jake Shields.
Denny Prokopos vs Ryan Vottero
Denny Prokopos vs Milicevic
Lol there is still no page for Eddie Bravo lol
he is a no-gi hero in america. Not a BJJ guy..does not deserve a page, plus all his views on why people should DO! drugs ect.
Crazy because he's a legit Machado blackbelt and submitted Royler in competition. That plus continuing to compete, and being the trainer to many accomplished practitioners and fighters, seems he'd deserve a page.
Not a BJJ legend? I guess tapping out Royler in ADCC competition is something easily done (seriously)? He trained with a Gi until his Blackbelt with the best of the Machado brothers (in my humble opinion), Jean Jaques. As far as opinions that I don’t agree with, grandmaster Helio Gracie (Rest In Paradise) believed we shouldn’t have sex other than to procreate, and that any Blackbelt not given by himself or his sons was not a BJJ Blackbelt (I guess this includes Carlson, Carlos and Count Coma). Some views I defiantly don’t agree with. Should he be excluded as well? Who cares if Bravo smokes weed? If he isn’t a Christian should he be excluded, how far do we go with morality versus BJJ prowess? The guy is THE most sought after instructor on the Internet, period. He “doesn’t deserve a page” was easy for you to throw out there. What have you or your instructors/campmates accomplished? Tapping out Rickson? Humility is the true armor of any warrior…evolve.
your an idiot matt…he was the first american to submit a GRACIE….A GRACIE…can you go out an submit royler? or any gracie for that matter. Plus he won the trials to get there, adcc, and he submitted another bjj blackbelt before royler, gustavo dantas. Thats bullshit they dont have a page for eddie. We cant all be as priveliged as the gracies my friend
Sad that Eddie was fired from the UFc after that comment he made to Lorenzos wife. Oh well. Hes a great BJJ guy
What comment was that? I am not aware.
That's bullshit, he quit couse he was tired of traveling.
Eddie quit because he is trainer fighters, Dan Hardy for example, who are actively competing in the UFC and it was a conflict of interests.
Bravo ARXONTA!
First of all, Eddie is a BJJ guy. He trained every day with a GI under Jean Jaques Machado. If you think tapping out Royler Gracie in a ADCC match is a fluke, you obviously know nothing of Jiu-Jitsu or the kind of Alien Monster techniques and experience Royler has. Bravo has revolutionized teaching martial arts in a System format. Names for positions/moves, how they blend in to eachother etc. I am a BJJ Blackbelt, from Brazil, and while I was in L.A. I trained at 10th planet. Eddie was a great instructor and a great guy, very funny and friendly. His students are incredibly high level at No Gi. Even his purple and blue belts. I don’t understand why everyone hates on this guy so much. If you met him and/or trained with him, your opinion would certainly change.
BTW. Eddie still rolls with anyone who shows up at his gym, unlike many other superstars of the grappling world. Check out the footage of him rolling with Marcello Garcia at Garcia’s gym in NYC on YouTube. You can pick up a lot of techniques just watching the two sparring. give the guy a chance, your No-Gi game will definitely improve.
Yeah, I was disappointed Eddie had no page. Not surprised, but disappointed. This is about JJ not second hand opinions on personality or beliefs. The dudes paid his dues, dedicated his life to JJ. Its ridiculous how people don't know him or even try 10planet and form such a negative opinion. He tapped a legend in the game. There are no lucky punches in JJ.
Get a life!!! so many keyboard warriors — what have you won? what have you done? spend more time training and less time bitchin. Nobody likes haters!!!!!
the people screaming what have you done, haven't done anything either. shut up morons.
eddie doesn't roll with anyone who isn't an mma guy (star or upcomer). i've been at headquarters for a year and its garbage for sport bjj. they produce no world champions aside from Denny and he has only done it once. meanwhile atos and checkmat are crushing a sport bjj world while 10th planet is only heard about as a joke or afterthought. (look, all our whitebelts took naga!) we'll see at metamoris 3. even if eddie wins, nothing will change and his system will still be a SPORT BJJ laughing stock, but for mma it doesn't get much better. so maybe thats why hes headquartering out of mma schools and not pure bjj academies. just call yourself submission wrestling and get the hell out of my sport.
I lol'd at your anger and ignorance (:
Does anyone actually take time to research any more? Eddie developed 10thPJJ FOR MMA, Not Sport jiu jitsu.
He was preparing himself for a career in mma if his other plans didn't work. Also his love for BJJ played a huge role, once the Gi was taken out of MMA, BJJ started to Get dominated by wrestlers… All Eddie was doing was improving The Application of BJJ to MMA…
Name a 10th planet mma fighter IN THE top ten in any weight class.How come they haven't won the ADCC yet?
2011 ADCC champion vinny magalhaes is a 10th planet black belt
Hi Kerrison,
No he is not (i'm not hating on 10th planet, just stating the facts). He trained with Eddie Bravo for a while and learned his "system", but he is a black belt under Vini Aieta, and he will tell you that himself.
you know what, im sick of hearing about the gracies….they got every cop wired around the country…i just heard an interesting thing…from denny prokopos himself, his first instructor charles gracie attacked him when he was 16…look it up, and the cops came and didnt do anything probably because he went to a gracie seminar…i like eddie bravos system and i think denny is a good competitor..we cant all be as fortunate as the gracies, i cant wait till the eddie vs. royler rematch i hope he wins again…but its a gracie production, so im sure some shennanigans will be involved
bro you should make a page about eddie man, he totally dominated royler in metamoris 3, one of the best all american jiujitsu
Hey Eddie’s bio is not being published?
I can see this website was put together by gi lovers.
I'm really not hating, there are some aspects of the 10th planet system that I find useful. But I can understand why Eddie doesn't have a page( was surprised that Denny did too). He submitted Royler……anything else? He lost his next match. He hasn't won any major events ( neither has Denny).