Denny Prokopos
“300”
Source: sherdog.comDescribed as Eddie Bravo's first black belt, the San Francisco grappler won a FILA world title in 2010 and the second Eddie Bravo Invitational.
Biography
Sources for this profile
BJJ Heroes, "Denny Prokopos" (athlete profile, undated).(opens in a new tab)
BJJ Heroes lists among his achievements a NAGA Arnold grappling title in 2009 and a blue belt bronze medal at the Pan American Championship in 2004.
Where in the source: Main Achievements list, the NAGA 2009 and Pan American 2004 entries
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BJJ Heroes describes Denny Prokopos as the first black belt awarded by Eddie Bravo and the first black belt produced by Bravo's 10th Planet system.
Where in the source: Opening paragraph, first sentence ("very first black belt")
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BJJ Heroes says Prokopos received his black belt in 2009.
Where in the source: Biography section, third paragraph, sentence ending "black belt award in 2009"
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BJJ Heroes lists his team or association as 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu.
Where in the source: Fact list below the introduction, the Team/Association line
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BJJ Heroes says Prokopos was born in San Francisco and gives his birth year only as approximately 1988.
Where in the source: Biography section, first sentence ("around 1988")
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As a child he followed professional wrestling; while looking for wrestling tapes at a video store he found tapes of the early UFC events and was struck by Royce Gracie's performances.
Where in the source: Biography section, first paragraph, the passage about the video store and the early UFC tapes
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His parents were at first strongly against it, but he persuaded them to let him train, and he started jiu-jitsu at 12 with Charles Gracie as his first coach.
Where in the source: Biography section, first paragraph, last two sentences ("Charles Gracie")
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As he came to prefer no-gi grappling he took private lessons from Eddie Bravo, and at around 16 he left his previous instructor to train fully in Bravo's method.
Where in the source: Biography section, second paragraph, last sentence ("around 16")
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He also wrestled in high school, and later left formal education to concentrate on jiu-jitsu training and competition.
Where in the source: Biography section, third paragraph, the opening sentences about high school
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BJJ Heroes says he was coached by Ricardo Libório while preparing with the American national team for the FILA Grappling championships, and that he worked extensively with Jake Shields.
Where in the source: Biography section, third paragraph, last sentence ("being coached by")
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USA Wrestling (Gary Abbott), "NEWS FLASH: U.S. wins three No-Gi Grappling golds in Krakow, Poland, March 27", TheMat.com, 27 March 2010.(opens in a new tab)
At the FILA Grappling World Championships in Krakow, Poland, on 27 March 2010, Dennis Prokopos of Millbrae, California, and 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu won the men's no-gi gold medal at 65 kg (143 lb), one of three individual no-gi golds for the United States that day.
Where in the source: Second paragraph, the entry "Dennis Prokopos (Milbrae, Calif./10th Planet Jiu Jitsu)"
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USA Wrestling reported in March 2010 that Prokopos had been a silver medallist at the 2009 Grappling World Championships.
Where in the source: Fourth paragraph, single sentence ("silver medalist at the 2009")
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He competed for the United States team at the 2010 FILA Grappling World Championships.
Where in the source: First and second paragraphs: the United States' three no-gi gold medallists, his name listed first
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IBJJF, "World Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi IBJJF Championship 2007" results page.(opens in a new tab)
IBJJF's official results for the 2007 World Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship list Denny Prokopos of 10th Planet first in the adult male brown belt lightweight division, ahead of Joel Tudor of BJJ Revolution Team in second.
Where in the source: Athletes results by category, heading "ADULT / BROWN / MALE / LIGHT", rows 1 and 2
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IBJJF, "World Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi IBJJF Championship 2009" results page.(opens in a new tab)
IBJJF's official results for the 2009 World Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship list Denny Prokopos of 10th Planet as one of two bronze medallists in the adult male black belt featherweight division, behind champion Baret Yoshida and runner-up Samir Chantre.
Where in the source: Athletes results by category, heading "ADULT / BLACK / MALE / FEATHER", rows 1, 2 and the second row 3
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Sherdog (C.J. Tuttle), "10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu's Denny Prokopos, Geo Martinez Reign at Eddie Bravo Invitational 2", 11 October 2014.(opens in a new tab)
Prokopos won one of the two 16-man, submission-only tournaments at the second Eddie Bravo Invitational, held at Florentine Gardens in Hollywood, California, and reported by Sherdog on 11 October 2014.
Where in the source: Headline; first paragraph ("on Friday", the event night before the 11 October 2014 dateline); third paragraph ("emerged victorious")
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On the way to the EBI 2 title he beat Rich Chavez, Eddie Fyvie, Russ Miura and Nathan Orchard, reaching the final with two rear-naked chokes and a twister, and won the final against Orchard on the fastest overtime escapes after neither could finish the other in regulation.
Where in the source: Fourth paragraph, the opponent list beginning with Rich Chavez; fifth paragraph ("quickest escapes")
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Sherdog called Prokopos, nicknamed "300", a product of 10th Planet San Francisco and noted that the twister was a move made famous by his instructor, Eddie Bravo.
Where in the source: Fourth paragraph ("made famous by his instructor") and fifth paragraph ("10th Planet San Francisco product")
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Digitsu, Denny Prokopos athlete page (BJJ record, stats and bio; database profile, undated).(opens in a new tab)
Digitsu's match record lists later Eddie Bravo Invitational appearances: a triangle-choke win over Christian Carillo and an armbar loss to Rafael Domingos at EBI 5 in December 2015, wins over José Domingos at EBI 7 in July 2016, and an overtime win over Kevin Widdoes at EBI 13 in October 2017.
Where in the source: Matchup History table, rows dated 2015 Dec 13, 2016 Jul 16 and 17, and 2017 Oct 22
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Digitsu's match record lists a loss to Edward Cummings by outside heel hook in the absolute division of the 2015 Gracie Nationals, and an armbar win over Don Stoner at Submission Underground 19 in December 2020.
Where in the source: Matchup History table, rows dated 2015 Feb 7 and 2020 Dec 20
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10th Planet Jiu Jitsu, "Black Belts" (official list, undated).(opens in a new tab)
The official 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu black belt list names Denny Prokopos directly after the founder, listed as "El Patron = Eddie Bravo".
Where in the source: Black Belts page, top of the list: founder entry, then "Denny Prokopos"
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San Francisco Jiu-Jitsu Academy, "Instructors" (bjjsanfrancisco.com), Internet Archive copy of 21 February 2024.(opens in a new tab)
In early 2024 the instructors page of San Francisco Jiu-Jitsu Academy listed Denny Prokopos as its no-gi director and gym general manager, and as head instructor and owner of the academy.
Where in the source: Instructors page, staff heading under his name (no-gi director, gym general manager) and the paragraph after the introduction ("head instructor and owner")
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His academy's biography says he was born and raised in San Francisco, began training at 12 with Professor Charles Gracie, and at 16 started training with Eddie Bravo as his game developed and he came to prefer no-gi.
Where in the source: Biography section, first paragraph ("born and raised")
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His academy's biography says he was awarded his black belt in 2009 as the first black belt promoted by Eddie Bravo and the first in the 10th Planet system, and that he started teaching in 2009.
Where in the source: Biography section, third paragraph ("awarded his black belt in 2009") and last line ("started teaching")
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His academy's achievement list includes an EBI 2 title, a 2014 Gracie Worlds title and two Combat Jiu Jitsu superfight wins.
Where in the source: Main Achievements list, the EBI 2, 2014 Gracie Worlds and Combat Jiu Jitsu entries
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San Francisco Jiu-Jitsu Academy, "Academy" (bjjsanfrancisco.com), Internet Archive copy of 10 December 2023.(opens in a new tab)
San Francisco Jiu-Jitsu Academy, in San Francisco, California, described itself in late 2023 as founded by Denny Prokopos and as the home of Caio Terra and Denny Prokopos, with Prokopos as no-gi director.
Where in the source: Academy page, heading beginning "Home of Caio Terra", first sentence ("founded by Denny Prokopos") and the staff list
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San Francisco Jiu-Jitsu Academy, home page (bjjsanfrancisco.com), Internet Archive copy of 10 December 2023.(opens in a new tab)
In late 2023 the academy said it had served the San Francisco area for more than ten years and had recently moved to Bernal Heights; all its no-gi classes were taught by Denny "300" Prokopos, while its gi programmes followed a curriculum designed by Caio Terra.
Where in the source: Home page, section "SAN FRANCISCO JIU JITSU ACADEMY": "served the greater San Francisco community for over 10 years"
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Budovideos, "Interview with 10th Planet Black Belt Denny Prokopos", 26 February 2015.(opens in a new tab)
In February 2015 Budovideos described Prokopos as well known as Eddie Bravo's first black belt and said he was running his own 10th Planet school in San Francisco; it published a five-part video interview with him.
Where in the source: Blog post of 26 February 2015, first paragraph: "currently runs his own 10th Planet school"
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Sherdog, "Denny '300' Prokopos" fighter profile (undated database page).(opens in a new tab)
Sherdog's fighter database records one amateur mixed martial arts bout for Prokopos, a second-round TKO loss to Cesar Campos at Tuff-N-Uff on 11 February 2011, and lists his association as 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu.
Where in the source: Fighter page, "FIGHT HISTORY - AMATEUR" table, single row dated Feb / 11 / 2011; header field "ASSOCIATION"
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In 2018 Prokopos hosted "The Denny Prokopos Show" on the Sherdog Radio Network with producer TJ De Santis, with episodes on subjects such as over-training, the martial arts lifestyle and rule sets.
Where in the source: Fighter page, "DENNY PROKOPOS RELATED NEWS" list, five episode items dated 3 April to 17 July 2018
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Forever White Belt (podcast), "Denny Prokopos - The Return Of 300 BJJ", episode notes, 22 February 2021.(opens in a new tab)
The notes to a February 2021 episode of the Forever White Belt podcast say the conversation covered his absence from and return to the sport, a recent win on UFC Fight Pass, his school San Francisco Jiu Jitsu Academy, his teacher Caio Terra and his training partners Gilbert Melendez and Jake Shields.
Where in the source: Episode Description, third paragraph: "his absence and return to the sport"; "his school called"
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