Grappling Insider’s Lucy Wynne catches 10th planet BJJ black belt and professional competitor Kyle Boehm for an exclusive. Kyle Boehm is an American grappler who fights out of 10th planet Oceanside, CA under Geo Martinez. Boehm has been tearing through the sub-only No Gi scene, and stands in at 6’3 and 225lbs meaning that Boehms opponents are quite literally the best in the sport – strong, big and skilled – some of those he’s fought are grappling GOAT Gordon Ryan and Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa.
Prior to the jiu jitsu years, Boehm initially had an interest in MMA, which led him to jiu jitsu so he could learn to develop a ground game. Boehm says he began training MMA in 2011, and started BJJ in 2014, “I was doing amateur MMA at the time, boxing and training striking so I took up grappling as a means to do mixed martial arts.”
Jiu jitsu is a strange sport because it takes so long to get your head around the basic foundations, so is it any different for a prodigy? Boehm states he began to really start feeling confident in his BJJ around purple belt, “I felt like probably around purple belt. Feeling like I was actually developing some kind of game and had an idea of what I was trying to do.”
Boehm’s most recent fight was on SUG24 yesterday, which was an 8-man tournament in a bid to win $10,000 and fight for the champion title against current champ, Mason Fowler. Boehm won, so will be fighting against Mason Fowler for the champion title and collected his $10,000 whilst he was at it. When speaking of his game plan for the event he said, “I am very much looking forward to it. I’m going to try and submit them all in regulation. That’s the gameplan.” and that was pretty much what he did. You can watch SUG24 on UFC Fight Pass now. Prior to SUG24 Boehm fought Dan Martinez at Combat Jiu Jitsu on the main event, beating him in overtime with a traditional RNC. Watch the fight below.
Is Gordon Ryan the Best Boehm has Fought?
Having fought a lot of fights with a lot of people I was curious to know if there was any personal standouts for Boehm. In terms of performance he says his fight against João Gabriel Rocha (double ADCC silver medalist) where he submitted him with an outside heel hook – that was his best sub win.
When speaking of fights he has enjoyed the most, Boehm states, “Probably my match with Lukas Barbosa and the first time we competed at BJJ Fanatics Grand Prix. It was a really fun match. I was super exhausted and it was in the finals, and I was able to pull it out, and get a win. That one is probably the most memorable.”
“I’d love to compete against Kaynan Duarte again”
We all hear that Gordon Ryan is the No-Gi GOAT, and having fought him, Boehm pretty much confirms this too. As mentioned earlier, Boehm has had his fair share of fights against the best people in the sport and he reveals the best competitor he’s ever fought is probably Gordon, “Gordon (Ryan) probably. Just because he’s well rounded and probably the best.”
But is there anyone Boehm would like to fight? He states, “I’d love to compete against Kaynan Duarte again. We competed as purple belts but it would be nice to do it again as black belts.”
Discussing his fight style, Boehm says, “I like going for kimuras to the back, I like going for leg locks, I like kimura triangles. Generally I’m considered more of a guard player, an open guard player.”
When speaking of his future goals Boehm exclusively reveals, “When I win SUG at this tournament and then get the match with Mason (Fowler), then win that as well. I’ve got SUBVERSIV coming up against ATOS. Right now, Kaynan Duarte is in that, so hopefully that stays and we get to finally compete again. After that Who’s Number One is doing a series of tournaments in different weight classes and I’ll be in their heavy weight. Those are my goals for the immediate future and the next few months.”
Outside of jiu jitsu Boehm does rock climbing which helps with strength training whilst being a fun activity too. For many people jiu jitsu is a hobby, not a career, but for those serious competitors wanting to make a career out of jiu jitsu and be amongst the likes of Kyle Boehm and Gordon Ryan, you really do need to love the sport. Boehm shares his advice for those in that position, “Just understand that there’s not a lot of money in it, so you really want to make sure that you’re doing what you love and that you enjoy training and competing because you never know what’s going to happen. Injuries happen, there’s a lot of unknown, and risks associated with trying to do it for a living. Make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons.”
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