Junior Assuncao 

Junior Assuncao is a former professional MMA fighter who competed in the lightweight division in a number of international organizations including Xtreme Fighting Championships, King of the Cage, and the UFC.  He is now a 4th degree jiu-jitsu black belt and owner of Ascension MMA in Cumming, Georgia.

If I could start this summary with one phrase, it would be, "Junior Assuncao can beat me repeatedly with his eyes closed."  I know this to be true because he has done it multiple times while we practiced together.

I’ve always enjoyed training with a wide variety of practitioners.  My strong preferences are training partners who are my size (or smaller), technical, safe, and enjoyable to roll with.

That’s not to be confused with rolling with people smaller, weaker, and worse than myself.  I’ve been so lucky to roll with many good practitioners.  These are practitioners that most people never get any exposure to if they limit themselves to training at one school (especially if it is a smaller school or a school that doesn’t have a strong jiu-jitsu program.)

I initially met Junior Assuncao through Diego Saraiva.  Junior was awarded his black belt under Diego and was under the Nova Uniao lineage of jiu-jitsu.  He would drop by Diego’s from time to time to train with the other students.

In his former life, Junior was one of the top professional fighters. He fought internationally for many organizations, including the UFC. He had excellent striking and grappling skills. After years of practice, he was an athletic fighter who is now a 4th-degree black belt in jiu-jitsu.

After retiring as a professional fighter, Junior put all his focus on building his own MMA school in Cumming, GA.  I used to live in Cumming, but that was before Junior set up his school in the area.

One day, while training at Diego’s, Junior invited me to train with him at his school, Ascension MMA.  I took him up on his offer.  I also asked Junior to train with me in The Jiu-Jitsu Bunker, and he accepted my offer.

As time passed, we became friends.

Our jiu-jitsu skills are far apart.  He’s been a black belt in jiu-jitsu longer than I have been training jiu-jitsu.  He is many levels above me, and that becomes quickly evident every time we train together, but he is one of my favorite training partners. He is very smooth, playful, technical, and safe. In addition, he is constantly offering me pointers, tips, and new techniques that solve problems that I experienced on the mats that day.

I’m always grateful for people far above you regarding skills and who share their knowledge with those below them.  That’s not always the case, as many high-level practitioners don’t share their knowledge.  You get the feeling that they are trying to keep their knowledge and techniques a secret.  They must fear that if they give you advice or a tip or new knowledge, that will make them worse in addition to making you better.

That’s never been my experience with Junior.  He welcomed me to his academy and let me roll with his students and himself.  Then, he passes on the feedback.

When I stop into Ascension MMA, it’s primarily on Tuesdays at his lunch class. It’s a fun class with a good group of practitioners, and then many of us head out to lunch after a quick shower. 

Those training days are great when you exercise well, break a sweat, get technically challenged, stay safe, and have social time with friends afterward while enjoying lunch together.

To learn more about Ascension MMA, click on the image.