Our Team – Dedicated to you!
Sensei Al
Also known as “Al” or “Pops”, is driven by passion for the sport and seeing people succeed. Rise Athletics LA and his students are his babies. Al has an extensive background in martial arts, holding a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and over 15 years of experience in BJJ. Al is a Gracie Survival Tactics II certified instructor as well. He also took Virgil Hill to a belt title with his strength & conditioning training in the 1990s. He leads the team by instructing beginner’s gi jiu jitsu classes. Alberto has also successfully coached multiple students to NAGA world championship titles for jiujitsu and holds his own victories as well. He has a first in, last out mentality with determination and success to showcase it.
Professor Joe
Professor Joe L. Mendoza’s journey on the mats began over 27 years ago as a wrestler. His Jiu Jitsu
training began under Master Rickson Gracie in 2001 to present day where he was awarded blue belt through brown belt after 20 years of training and competition. During this time Professor Joe competed heavily up until 2019 in sport Jiu Jitsu where he has won many titles. Professor Joe is a Judo Brown belt under Sensei Ana Hankins (3rd Dan Black belt). On May 02, 2020, Professor Joe was honored to receive his Brown and Black belts from Professor Stephen Martinez after training at Peerless Jiu Jitsu for three years starting on January 01, 2017. He has also created the JAB (Jiujitsu Against Bullying) Program which has been adopted by LAFD. This live training is designed to give the children tools to improve self-confidence and deal with bullying in a non-violent manner utilizing self-defense techniques as taught by Master Rickson Gracie.
Coach Taylor
Taylor is the manager of Rise Athletics LA, but also the strength & conditioning and nutrition coach for the professional fighters and any members interested in elite training. He holds his master’s degree in Kinesiology with a focus in Strength & Conditioning and nutrition and is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist through the NSCA. Taylor ran track at a D1 university and also ran professionally over the distance of 400m. Transformations, sports performance and diet enhancement are his forte. Check him out on Instagram as @tayroruns. His motto is “Live life optimized”.
Coach Ozzy
Ozzy heads the MMA department at Rise Athletics LA. He is our in house professional fighter and instructor. Ozzy is patient and passionate about teaching students techniques and mix martial arts disciplines. He is teaches boxing, no gi jiu jitsu and our kickboxing classes. Ozzy has a 6-1 professional fight record and is the current LFA Middleweight Champion. If you’re looking to fine tune your skills, Ozzy can take you there. Find him on Instagram as @ozzy_diaz.
Coach Alex
Alex is our Cross Training coach, he is CrossFit Level 1 Certified with 4 years of coaching experience and 7 years of CrossFit experience in general. Originally from El Paso, Texas, Alex recently moved as he is also an architecture Graduate student attending Southern California Institute of Architecture. As a coach, Alex takes pride in knowing he is giving it his all to make sure his athletes are performing to the highest extent of their abilities, while doing it safely, and pushing for a healthier/ fitter lifestyle. While as an athlete, he has competed in many local CrossFit competitions. He has placed on many occasions, taking the notion to heart, you must practice what you preach.
Coach Armando
Armando Ramírez has 25 years of boxing experience as a competitor, coach, and cutman. He has assisted in numerous amateur and pro training camps for boxing and MMA. He’s also a Gracie Jiu Jitsu Brown Belt who has trained under various instructors, most notably Kron, Ryron, and Rener Gracie. He’s also trained Jiu Jitsu under Carlos Machado and Fabio Leopoldo. Armando focuses on basic techniques that help progress towards advanced concepts.
