Tadiyah Danforth

Tadiyah Danforth is a jiu-jitsu black belt under Noel Danforth (his father) who represents the Alliance team in the sport’s global circuit. A former high school wrestler, Danforth started making a name for himself as one of the top up-and-coming rooster weights in the sport through his performances on the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) league, particularly at the World No-Gi Championships and Pan Championships (gi & no-gi) as a purple and brown belt.

Tadiyah Danforth Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Tadiyah William Danforth

Nickname: N/A

Lineage: Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Rolls Gracie > Romero Cavalcanti > Fabio Gurgel > Takeyoshi Ikehara > Noel Danforth > Tadiyah Danforth

Main Achievements:

• 3rd Place IBJJF European Championship (2023 / 2024)

Main Achievements (Colored Belts):

• 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship NOGI (2019 brown)
• 2nd Place IBJJF World Championship NOGI (2019 brown)
• 2nd Place IBJJF Pan Championship NOGI (2018 purple)
• 3rd Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2021 brown)

Favorite Position/Technique: Modern Guards

Weight Division: Peso Galo (57,50 kg / 127.0 lbs)

Team/Association: Alliance

Tadiyah Danforth Biography

Tadiyah Danforth was born on August 31st, 1997, in Greenfield, Massachusetts, USA but spent the majority of his childhood in Farmington, Maine.

The first martial art experienced by Danforth was jiu-jitsu, which he began at the age of 7 by the influence of his father, Noel Danforth. Noel was a BJJ instructor who, despite Tadiyah’s initial push-back at training the (not so) Gentle Art, always pressed his son to show up on the mats.

Although he played baseball and football (soccer) as a child, it was only once his family moved to Maryland that Tadiyah discovered a sport he truly enjoyed, wrestling. His love for the singlet began during his junior year of high school, with Danforth’s dedication taking him to place at the county and regional tournaments during his senior year, while also qualifying at the state level. Galvanized by his performances, Tadiyah almost went to the extreme measure of failing his classes just so he could have another run. This much was explained by Tadiyah himself in an interview given to BJJ Heroes on February 2022:

“I actually tried to flunk out of my classes’ senior year so I could stay back another year and go D1 in college but that didn’t work out,” said Danforth.

Despite being around jiu-jitsu for many years, this martial art did not resonate with Tadiyah’s lifestyle up until 2018. The revelation took place while attending a Lucas Lepri training camp for the World Championship, where the young Massachusetts native was able to experience the full comradery and energy shared by those attending the camp. The dynamics shared among the workgroup resembled what he had experienced when wrestling, a sentiment that captivated his attention more than ever. After his time with Lepri, Danforth started taking jiu-jitsu seriously in pursuit of a professional career.

Despite having learned from many of Team Alliance’s top figures, in 2020 Tadiyah met Nick Salles and Daniel Maira, two athletes from a separate affiliation who also had a strong influence in Danforth’s growth as an athlete.

As he commited to the sport, Tadiyah’s obvious talent started shining through with positive runs at some of the sport’s top events. His many achievements saw Danforth climb the rankings of the sport, ultimately leading to his black belt promotion in January 2022.