Nic Ruben Nikolaisen (b. 22 June 1978, Holmestrand, Norway) is one of the most travelled and versatile grapplers in Norwegian BJJ history. He started taekwondo at 13, earned a black belt at 19, and competed actively until a chronic hamstring injury closed that chapter and pushed him toward Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Around 1999, shortly after his 21st birthday, Nikolaisen travelled to Australia. UFC broadcasts had piqued his curiosity. On the Gold Coast he found Vincent Perry's academy and began training BJJ. It clicked immediately — a martial art where technique trumped raw strength was a natural fit for someone with a solid striking background.
Three legends, three belts. From around 2001 Nikolaisen spent three to six months at a stretch in Los Angeles, training under Rickson Gracie — son of Hélio and widely regarded as the greatest jiu-jitsu fighter ever. Rickson promoted him to blue belt, one of the most prestigious promotions in the sport. In 2005 Marcelo "Yogui" Santiago, the Brazilian who brought BJJ to Scandinavia in 1997, gave him his purple belt. And in March 2009 Eduardo "Teta" Rios promoted him to black belt. Three of the most significant figures in Scandinavian BJJ have tied a belt around his waist — an almost unique lineage.
In 2005 Nikolaisen began training at 5 Star Martial Arts gym in Los Angeles with Renzo Gracie black belt Shawn Williams, inventor of the Williams Guard. The friendship gave Frontline Academy a rare dual lineage: the Carlson / Libório line through Rios and the Renzo line through Williams.
At brown belt he reached his competitive peak, winning the IBJJF No-Gi World Championship in open weight in 2007 and earning silver at middleweight in the same tournament. Black-belt highlights include an IBJJF European No-Gi bronze in 2013.
In 2007 Nikolaisen founded Frontline Academy Drammen. To fund it he took out a NOK 500 000 loan and moved back in with his parents. Many years later — in 2023 — he sold his apartment to finance a major expansion, doubling the Drammen footprint at new premises on Åssiden. He describes himself as "always quite risk-tolerant," and the results speak for themselves: the Drammen academy now runs nearly 50 group classes a week. Alongside his role as head coach in Drammen, Nikolaisen is managing director of the wider Frontline Academy network, co-owned with Trond Saksenvik and Morten Josephson.
Sources: BJJ Heroes; Drammens Tidende (Sep 2023); IBJJF 2007 No-Gi Worlds results; FloGrappling; Frontline Academy.