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Marcos Torregrosa

“Yemaso”

Known as Yemaso, Puerto Rican slang for hard-headed, Marcos Torregrosa began teaching before brown belt and won a masters world title in 2023.

Last updated: 23 September 2026

Biography

Marcos Torregrosa, known as Yemaso, is a black belt from Puerto Rico who has built his jiu-jitsu career in the Sacramento area of California. He was teaching before he reached brown belt, and while his own academy grew into a team of several schools he kept competing, winning titles in the masters divisions for older athletes. Torregrosa was born in Puerto Rico in 1980 and grew up there. He first came across Brazilian jiu-jitsu in Bayamón, the city where the mixed martial arts event UFC 8 was held, and not long afterward he moved to the Sacramento area. He had come to California for a banking job at Providian Financial, and as a fan of ultimate fighting he went looking for a gym that taught mixed martial arts or jiu-jitsu. By chance, one of Cassio Werneck's affiliate academies was just four miles from where he lived. He took his first jiu-jitsu class in July 1999 and became a committed white belt. Yemaso is Puerto Rican slang that joins yema (head) and aso (hard) to describe someone hard-headed. Torregrosa first used it as his handle on In the Guard, an internet forum, and it went on to become the name he competed under and, later, the name of his academy. His first instructor, Raven Seyman, was then a purple belt under Werneck. Seyman gave Torregrosa his blue belt after his first tournament medals, and when Seyman later left for an academic career, Torregrosa, still short of brown belt, took over the teaching. He also trained under Werneck in Brazil and received his purple belt there. At the World Cup in Rio de Janeiro he won a medal after finishing six of his seven opponents with the triangle choke, in which the legs lock around an opponent's neck and one arm. In 2004, as a purple belt, he won the Pan American Championship of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF), and in December of that year he received his brown belt. As a brown belt he also taught at Werneck's affiliates in Woodland and Grass Valley. Werneck, a 2003 world champion and himself an instructor in Sacramento, promoted him to black belt in January 2007. Through Werneck, Torregrosa's black-belt lineage, the chain of teachers behind his rank, runs back by way of Ricardo Reis, Fabrício Martins, Osvaldo Alves and Reyson Gracie to Carlos Gracie and, before him, Mitsuyo Maeda. Outside jiu-jitsu, he holds a black belt in taekwondo and a brown belt in judo, and he boxed as an amateur when he was younger. He has also worked as defensive tactics coordinator for Cache Creek Casino and has held a contract to teach combatives to the Woodland S.W.A.T. team. By 2011 he had spent years teaching in academies run by others in Sacramento, Woodland and Cache Creek. That May he joined Team Lloyd Irvin, and the same year he opened his own academy, Yemaso Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu; by 2013 it was the only team he represented. In December 2011 he gave his first black belt to Steven Tafoya. In 2012 he won the IBJJF No-Gi World Championship in the masters black-belt division. No-gi matches are fought without the gi, the jacket and trousers traditionally worn in jiu-jitsu. That summer the academy's blog published Roy Dean's assessment of Torregrosa's game. Dean, a black belt who had first faced him in competition at the 2002 United Gracie Tournament, picked out wrestling and judo gripping, the Brabo choke, and a range of guards, the positions a fighter works from underneath: spider, De La Riva, 50/50, half guard and deep half. He described the whole as systematically mapped out, and added that the gap separating a world-class competitor from a solid black belt only becomes clear once you have felt it. For years, by his own account, the Pan American Championship had gone wrong for him. Writing on the academy's blog in March 2013, he set out what had happened in earlier years: two broken ribs one year, a broken foot, illness and a divorce. He was writing as the new champion. After a training camp with Caio Terra, Leandro Lo and others, he had won the black-belt lightweight division of the master 1 age group at that year's Pan American Championship. In May 2013 he wrote on the academy's blog about two weeks of teaching he had just finished in Puerto Rico. He credited the island with giving him "heritage and culture, a constant influence in my youth" and wrote of representing his fellow Boricuas, as Puerto Ricans call themselves, with pride. During those weeks he kept working with Carlos Saquic, a Puerto Rican prospect who had taken a silver medal as a blue belt at the 2012 IBJJF Pan American Championship. In September 2013 he was promoted to second degree on his black belt, and that month Graciemag published video of a no-gi sparring session between him and Marcelo Garcia, recorded when he traveled to Garcia's academy in New York City to train. In April 2014 the IBJJF's ranking of male master 1 black belts listed him first, with 672.5 points to the runner-up's 447, though the page did not say what period the points covered. That year he won the same master 1 black-belt lightweight division at the Pan American Championship again, and also at the No-Gi World Championship and at both the gi and the no-gi American Nationals. At the gi Nationals only one other athlete was placed in his division, and at the no-gi event he was the only one listed; at the gi event he also shared third place in the master 1 open class, where all weights compete together. That summer the academy moved to a new location in Sacramento, and in December two more students, Marcus Boness and William Joseph Click, received their black belts from him, while Tafoya, his first black belt, was promoted to first degree. Torregrosa himself was promoted to third degree in the fall of 2016, in what the academy described as his ninth year as a black belt. By 2018 the team ran its headquarters in Sacramento and satellite academies in Elk Grove and El Dorado Hills, and it took on an affiliate in Reno, Nevada: Komainu Gym, led by Jerel Hallert and Byron Cragg. Among their reasons for joining, the Reno instructors named the team's insistence on technical detail, its grounding in the fundamentals of jiu-jitsu, and its blend of wrestling and judo, a blend Dean had also picked out in 2012. In 2023 he won the IBJJF Masters World Championship. In a post announcing the title he thanked those who had helped him "in the dark at odd hrs so that I could be at my best both as a competitor and father", and he tagged team accounts in Sacramento and Reno along with West Idaho BJJ and the Komainu Yemaso BJJ Academy. In 2026 the IBJJF's public register of certified black belts listed him at fourth degree, while his academy's About Us page described him as a fifth-degree black belt.

Sources for this profile

BJJ Heroes, "Marcos Torregrosa 'Yemaso'" fighter database profile(opens in a new tab)
- His documented black-belt lineage runs from Mitsuyo Maeda through Carlos Gracie, Reyson Gracie, Osvaldo Alves, Fabrício Martins and Ricardo Reis to his own instructor Cassio Werneck.
  Where in the source: Profile summary above the biography, line: "Lineage"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
- Torregrosa's ring name "Yemaso" comes from Puerto Rican slang combining "yema" (head) and "aso" (hard), meaning a hard-headed person; he began using it on an old internet forum called "In the Guard" before it became his competition name.
  Where in the source: Profile summary above the biography, line: "Nickname"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
- Torregrosa was born on 17 October 1980 in Puerto Rico.
  Where in the source: Biography section, first paragraph, first sentence: "17th of October, 1980"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
- His first instructor was Raven Seyman, a purple belt under Cassio Werneck at the time; Torregrosa earned his blue belt from Seyman after his first tournament medals.
  Where in the source: Biography section, second paragraph, first sentence: "Torregrosa’s first instructor"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
- Torregrosa trained in Brazil under Cassio Werneck, earning his purple belt there, and medaled at the Rio de Janeiro World Cup after finishing six of seven matches by triangle choke.
  Where in the source: Biography section, second paragraph, Brazil and World Cup sentences: "took him to Brazil"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
- He received his brown belt in December 2004 and his black belt in January 2007.
  Where in the source: Biography section, last sentence of the second paragraph: "received his brown belt"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
- He began coaching even before making brown belt: he took over teaching when his first instructor Raven Seyman left to pursue an academic career, then continued teaching at Cassio Werneck's Woodland and Grass Valley affiliates from 2004 as a brown belt.
  Where in the source: Biography section, third paragraph, on his early coaching: "Torregrosa took over"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
- Among his dated tournament results, bjjheroes.com's achievements list credits him with the 2012 IBJJF No-Gi World Championship at Master black belt, and the 2004 IBJJF Pan American title as a purple belt.
  Where in the source: Profile summary above the biography, list: "Main Achievements"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
- He had originally come to California, in the United States, to better his life and to take up a job in banking at Providian Financial.
  Where in the source: Biography section, first paragraph, second sentence: "Providian"
  Accessed: 2026-09-23
- An enthusiast of ultimate fighting, he sought out an MMA/BJJ gym when he had the chance, to satisfy his curiosity about the sport; by chance a Cassio Werneck affiliate academy lay only four miles from his home, and he became a committed white belt.
  Where in the source: Biography section, first paragraph, third and fourth sentences: "miles"
  Accessed: 2026-09-23
Yemaso BJJ (official academy site), "Sacramento Jiu-Jitsu Instructor | Marcos Yemaso Torregrosa"(opens in a new tab)
- Torregrosa was born and raised in Puerto Rico, where his first exposure to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu came in Bayamón, the city that hosted UFC 8.
  Where in the source: Main text, first paragraph, on his first contact with BJJ: "occured in Bayamon"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
- Soon after his first encounter with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Bayamón, Torregrosa, who was born and raised in Puerto Rico, moved to Sacramento and began training in July 1999.
  Where in the source: Main text, first paragraph, sentence after Bayamon: "began training July 1999"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
- Torregrosa studied with and received his black belt from Cassio Werneck, a 2003 world champion and fellow Sacramento instructor, attaining the rank in 2007.
  Where in the source: Main text, first paragraph, second sentence: "2003 world champion"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
- Beyond BJJ he has worked as defensive tactics coordinator for Cache Creek Casino, held a combative-instruction contract with the Woodland S.W.A.T. Team, holds a Judo brown belt and a Taekwondo black belt, and competed in amateur boxing in his youth.
  Where in the source: Main text, second paragraph: "defensive tactics coordinator"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
Yemaso BJJ, academy listing on Graciemag (GMA member page), "Yemaso Brazilian Jiu Jitsu" (2 Nov 2012)(opens in a new tab)
- After years teaching at other academies around Sacramento, Woodland and Cache Creek, Torregrosa opened his own school, Yemaso Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, in 2011.
  Where in the source: About section, middle of the first paragraph: "opened his own school"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
Wikipedia, "Marcos Torregrosa"(opens in a new tab)
- Torregrosa was affiliated with Team Lloyd Irvin starting in May 2011; by 2013 he no longer represented any team other than his own Yemaso Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
  Where in the source: Biography section, third paragraph, first sentence: "member of Team Lloyd Irvin"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
- In September 2013 he received his Second Degree Black Belt from the IBJJF.
  Where in the source: Biography section, fourth paragraph, first sentence: "Second Degree Black Belt"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
Graciemag, GMA member-school news, "A year of victories for Yemaso BJJ" (28 Dec 2011)(opens in a new tab)
- In December 2011 Torregrosa promoted his first-ever black belt, Steven Tafoya, alongside other rank promotions.
  Where in the source: Article text, second paragraph: "promoted his first black belt, Steven Tafoya"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
Marcos Torregrosa, "Marcos 'Yemaso' Torregrosa Tours Puerto Rico to Teach Jiu-Jitsu", Yemaso BJJ blog (7 May 2013)(opens in a new tab)
- In a blog post about the two weeks he had just spent teaching in Puerto Rico, Torregrosa describes the island as having blessed him with "heritage and culture, a constant influence in my youth", and speaks of representing his fellow Boricuas with pride.
  Where in the source: Post text, second paragraph (anchor is the passage the biography quotes): "heritage and culture, a constant influence in my youth"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
- During the tour he kept working with Puerto Rican prospect Carlos Saquic, who had taken silver at the 2012 IBJJF Pan American Championship as a blue belt.
  Where in the source: Post text, paragraph after the food photo: "continually work with Carlos Saquic"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
Marcos Torregrosa, "Marcos is an IBJJF Panamerican Black Belt Champion!", Yemaso BJJ blog (24 Mar 2013)(opens in a new tab)
- Torregrosa described years of what he called "bad luck" at the Pan American Championship, including broken ribs, a broken foot, illness and a divorce, before breaking through to win the IBJJF Pan American Championship at black belt in March 2013 after a training camp alongside Caio Terra, Leandro Lo and others.
  Where in the source: Article text, third paragraph (inside the quoted Facebook post), list of earlier setbacks: "One year I broke 2 ribs"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
Roy Dean, quoted in "Roy Dean on Marcos' BJJ & Instructor Abilities", Yemaso BJJ blog (11 Jul 2012)(opens in a new tab)
- Fellow black belt Roy Dean, who first competed against Torregrosa as a blue belt at the 2002 United Gracie Tournament, described his game as a blend of Brabo chokes, De La Riva, 50/50, spider guard, half guard, deep half, judo gripping and wrestling, calling it methodically mapped and saying there is "a gulf between a solid black belt and a world class competitor" that becomes clear once you feel it.
  Where in the source: Roy Dean’s quoted statement, first sentence: "If Kano Jiu Jitsu was version 1.0"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
Yemaso BJJ (official academy site), "Yemaso BJJ Welcomes Komainu Gym" (2 Jul 2018)(opens in a new tab)
- The instructors of an affiliate gym that joined the team in 2018 cited Yemaso BJJ's strict attention to technical detail, its focus on fundamental principles, and its blend of wrestling and judo as another big reason for affiliating.
  Where in the source: Last paragraph of the announcement: "another big reason for choosing Team Yemaso"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
- By 2018 Team Yemaso operated its Sacramento headquarters plus satellite schools in Elk Grove and El Dorado Hills, and added an affiliate in Reno, Nevada — Komainu Gym, run by Jerel Hallert and Byron Cragg.
  Where in the source: Third paragraph of the announcement: "main headquarters in Sacramento"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
Graciemag, "Marcos Torregrosa of Yemaso BJJ invites you to join the fun at their grand opening July 19" (1 Jul 2014)(opens in a new tab)
- In July 2014 the academy announced that it had found a new, better location in Sacramento and would hold a grand opening there on 19 July.
  Where in the source: Article text, first paragraph: "a new, better location"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
Graciemag, GMA member-school news, "Two more black belts and other promotions at GMA Yemaso BJJ under Marcos Torregrosa" (17 Dec 2014)(opens in a new tab)
- In December 2014 Torregrosa promoted two more students, Marcus Boness and William Joseph Click, to black belt, and promoted Steven Tafoya, a black belt with Team Yemaso since 2011, to first degree.
  Where in the source: Article text, paragraph after the second photo caption: "Marcus Boness and William Joseph Click"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
- Torregrosa entered the 2014 promotion season as reigning Pan Jiu-Jitsu, American National and No-Gi World champion for that year.
  Where in the source: Article text, first paragraph: "Led by 2014 Pan Jiu-Jitsu, American National, No-Gi World champion"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
Graciemag, "Video: Learn from a no-gi session between Marcelo Garcia and Marcos Torregrosa" (23 Sep 2013)(opens in a new tab)
- A Graciemag article dated 23 September 2013 reports that Torregrosa traveled from his Sacramento academy to Marcelo Garcia's academy in New York City for a training session, and that MGInAction filmed their no-gi roll.
  Where in the source: Article text, first paragraph: "MG’s New York City academy"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
Marcos Torregrosa (@yemasojj), Instagram post (1 Sep 2023)(opens in a new tab)
- In a post announcing that he had won the 2023 IBJJF Masters World Championship, Torregrosa thanked those who helped him "in the dark at odd hrs so that I could be at my best both as a competitor and father"; by then his affiliated team spanned accounts branded Sacramento/Team Yemaso, Yemaso BJJ Reno, West Idaho BJJ and Komainu Yemaso BJJ Academy.
  Where in the source: Caption, first line: "2023 @ibjjf Masters World Champion!!"
  Accessed: 2026-09-22
IBJJF (official site), results page "Pan IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2013"(opens in a new tab)
- IBJJF's official results for the Pan IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2013 place Marcos Alejandro Torregrosa (Yemaso Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) first in the male master 1 black-belt light division, ahead of Theodoro Gabriel Canal Almeida (GF Team) in second, with Rafael Rosendo dos Santos (Alliance) and Shami Joseph Baudichon (Clark's University of Martial Arts) in third.
  Where in the source: Division list, heading "MALE / MASTER 1 / BLACK / LIGHT (162.60LB)", placing 1
  Accessed: 2026-09-23
IBJJF (official site), results page "Pan IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2014"(opens in a new tab)
- IBJJF's official results for the Pan IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2014 place Marcos Alejandro Torregrosa (Yemaso Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) first in the male master 1 black-belt light division, ahead of Diego de Araujo Saraiva (Nova União) in second, with Diogo Alves Ferreira and Guilherme Feres Cotliarenko (both Gracie Barra) in third.
  Where in the source: Division list, heading "MALE / MASTER 1 / BLACK / LIGHT (162.60LB)", placing 1
  Accessed: 2026-09-23
IBJJF (official site), results page "World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship 2014"(opens in a new tab)
- IBJJF's official results for the World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship 2014 place Marcos Alejandro Torregrosa (Yemaso Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) first in the male master 1 black-belt light division, ahead of Daniel Souto Wanderley (Carlson Gracie Team) in second, with Alexandre Di Chiara Guimarães Salgado (Soul Fighters BJJ) and Rolando Delgado III (GFTeam Arkansas) in third.
  Where in the source: Division list, heading "MALE / MASTER 1 / BLACK / LIGHT (162.60LB)", placing 1
  Accessed: 2026-09-23
IBJJF (official site), results page "American National IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2014"(opens in a new tab)
- IBJJF's official results for the American National IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2014 place Marcos Alejandro Torregrosa (Yemaso Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) first in the male master 1 black-belt light division, where the only other placing listed is Bruno Jose Correia Alves (GF Team) in second; in the male master 1 black-belt open class he is one of two third places, behind Rodrigo Munduruca (Gracie Humaita) and Omar Sabha (Brazilian Top Team), with Thiago Veiga Ximenes (Roberto Traven BJJ) also third.
  Where in the source: Division list, headings "MALE / MASTER 1 / BLACK / LIGHT (162.60LB)" (placing 1) and "MALE / MASTER 1 / BLACK / OPEN CLASS" (placing 3)
  Accessed: 2026-09-23
IBJJF (official site), results page "American National IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship 2014"(opens in a new tab)
- IBJJF's official results for the American National IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship 2014 list Marcos Alejandro Torregrosa (Yemaso Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) first in the male master 1 black-belt light division, and he is the only placing listed in that division.
  Where in the source: Division list, heading "MALE / MASTER 1 / BLACK / LIGHT (162.60LB)", placing 1
  Accessed: 2026-09-23
IBJJF (ibjjf.org), "Black belt - Male - Master 1 - Ranking", Internet Archive capture of 21 Apr 2014(opens in a new tab)
- An archived copy of IBJJF's black belt, male, master 1 ranking page, captured on 21 April 2014, lists him in first place as Marcos Alejandro Pagliere - Torregrosa (Yemaso Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) with 672.5 points, ahead of Bruno Bastos Cruz (447) and Paulo José Pinto (442.5); the page does not state what period the ranking covers.
  Where in the source: Table under the heading "BLACK BELT – MALE – MASTER 1 – RANKING", row 1: "672.5"
  Accessed: 2026-09-23
IBJJF (official site), "Certified Black Belts" register, name search viewed 23 Sep 2026(opens in a new tab)
- Conflicting accounts
  IBJJF's public register of certified black belts, searched by name, lists Marcos Alejandro Torregrosa of Yemaso Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as a fourth-degree black belt; the register gives no date for the degree.
  Where in the source: Register table after a name search for "Torregrosa", GRADUATION column: "Black 4th degree"
  Accessed: 2026-09-23
Yemaso BJJ (official academy site), "About Us - Sacramento Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy: Yemaso BJJ" (modified 6 Mar 2026)(opens in a new tab)
- Conflicting accounts
  The academy's About Us page, last modified on 6 March 2026 according to its metadata, says the academy is led by Marcos "Yemaso" Torregrosa and calls him a fifth-degree black belt.
  Where in the source: Main text, third paragraph after the "About us" heading: "5th-degree black belt Marcos"
  Accessed: 2026-09-23
Yemaso BJJ (official academy site), "Sacramento Welcomes Three New Black Belts" (23 Oct 2016)(opens in a new tab)
- A post on the academy's site dated 23 October 2016 reports that he was promoted to third-degree black belt that fall, in what the post calls his ninth year at black belt.
  Where in the source: Second paragraph, sentence on the fall promotions: "ninth year"
  Accessed: 2026-09-23
Marcos Torregrosa (@yemasojj), Instagram post (28 Jul 2026)(opens in a new tab)
- In an Instagram post dated 28 July 2026, Torregrosa wrote that the day marked 27 years since his very first jiu-jitsu class.
  Where in the source: Caption, first sentence: "27 years"
  Accessed: 2026-09-23

Lineage

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Students1

Eliot Andrew Kelly Source: bjjheroes.com