Tyreeze Cunliffe
Age: 16
Started Training: 2016
Fighting out ofHenshall BJJ
Under: Steven Henshall, Brown belt under Andy Aspinall
“What made you want to get into BJJ?” –Sean
“I got punched when I was out in the streets with some mates and I was shocked at what had happened because at that point I didn’t know how to fight. So I looked online at some MMA gyms and my mother knew the coaches mother and that directed me towards Steven and I started training in MMA, to begin with.” – Tyreeze
“So how did you make the transition into full-on grappling?” – Sean
“I preferred the grappling side of it and Steven was superior at grappling, so I made the transition to a more grappling orientated training regime and abandoned the MMA training completely.”– Tyreeze
“So how did you find the transition in competition level at such a young age?” –Sean
“As my 14th birthday was approaching I was still competing in the juvenile divisions but I started competing with the adults, however, I wasn’t taking that as serious and that was viewed as an opportunity to grow and I started flirting with more advanced techniques to see if they could operate on larger and more skilled grappling competitors. With the adults, I was found in the novice divisions and smashed everyone, 6 fights, 6 submissions. In May 2019 I got my blue belt but at the time I was competing as an orange belt.” – Tyreeze
“A lot of people don’t know this but you actually managed to have a grappling match with ADCC European Trials winner Ross Nicholls, how did that come about?” – Sean
“I was with Grappling Industries at the time. I was staying with Ben Hodgeskin and Josh Mensah at the time. I did the Gi day and won the majority of my matches, so Ben asked if I wanted to face Ross and I jumped at the opportunity to face the World’s number 5 NoGi grappler.” – Tyreeze
“So who are your favourite grapplers to watch compete?” –Sean
“Ross Nicholls, Renato Canuto, Gordon Ryan, JT Torres and Kaynan Duarte, Vagner Rocha, Garry Tonon, Craig Jones, Ash Williams and Mike Perez.” – Tyreeze
“Any nicknames that you have?” – Sean
“The Wonder Kid” – Tyreeze
“Anything else you’d like to say” – Sean
“F**k the haters, I’ll beat you all too. Shout out to my sponsors Tatami Fightwear, Hempguard and Empire Grappling and my team at Henshall BJJ. Also a big thanks to my mother for always believing in me” – Tyreeze
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