Jason Tan has been involved in martial arts from the age of 15. He has competed in Brazilian jiu jitsu and submission wrestling in some of the biggest tournaments in Brazil (Mundials, Equipe Mundials, Rio State, RIP Dorey, etc). In 2003 he made his Mixed Martial Arts professional debut and eventually went on to compete at the highest level of competition in the sport, fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2007 & 2008. Along with competing in mixed martial arts Jason has coached some of the best MMA fighters that the UK has to offer. Jason is coaching full time at The Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Liverpool city centre.

Brief Interview:

How did you get involved in mixed martial arts?

Well I did Judo when i was very young, but i didn't get involved properly until the age of 15, I started of in traditional martial arts, kung-fu & kickboxing, then after about 4 years I saw a documentary called choke, which was rickson gracies build up to a fight, I had seen some UFC before but once I watched that documentary I thought that learning BJJ would be pretty cool.

Where did you learn?

At the time, it was really scarce, there was no BJJ or MMA at all in liverpool, in fact I think there was probably only 2 MMA clubs in the whole of the north west. I took a 3 month trip out to the states where I trained with Chris Brennan (BJJ black belt & MMA fighter), it was there I got to grips with the basics. When I got back I travelled down to London and trained with Roger Brooking (Alliance BJJ Black Belt) where I attained my blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Mean while I was studying in college so in my time off I was teaching MMA/BJJ in Colin Heron's Gym in Liverpool. Once I had finished university I travelled to Gracie Barra in Rio Brazil where I spent most of 2004 training with a lot of top BJJ guys, on any given day that gym would be packed with a lot of world champions, some very good training, on leaving I was awarded my purple belt from Carlos Gracie Jnr. When I came back I was back teaching, and I think this amongst training with alot of top guys has helped me to learn brazilian jiu jitsu and mixed martial arts techniques and strategies on a fundamental level. I opened up a gym in 2006, and was also awarded my brown belt by Chris Brennan in that same year. In 2007/2008 I spent 3 months training with Jake Shields and also BJ Penn over in Hawaii.

So you ve trained with some big names in MMA and BJJ how was that, and can you tell us a bit about that?

Pretty good, the training camp at BJ Penns was good, at the time I was preparing for a UFC fight over in Vegas. There was a lot of top guys coming through, Pablo Popovitch, Gunnar Nelson, Johnny Hendrix, Adam DiSabato along with the guys who live in Hawaii who were at a very high level also. Of course Gracie Barra also stands out, there I trained predominantly in the gi, and there was tonnes of good guys to train with.


How did you get involved in competing?

Its always the next step, I m young (ish) and healthy, and I enjoy competition, and I think anyone who watches MMA and gets involved in training in it, always has in the back of there mind that they want to compete in it. So when the opportunities arose to fight, I got in shape and fought.

Are you still planning to compete?

My main priority now is the new facility I have opened with Peter Davies (Former British Thai Boxing Champ and Coach). I think it is very hard to dedicate your time fully to coaching and also fighting as always one thing will suffer, so my priority right now is coaching, I enjoy teaching the beginners classes alot, seeing people get to grips with the basics, and I also enjoy coaching the athletes who are getting ready for fights and competitions.

Where is your new facility and what's it called?

The Mixed Martial Arts Academy, we are based in the city centre, easy to find and plenty of free parking! We have classes everyday which are suitable for beginners, and the gym has a good atmosphere, no egos, no attitudes, a fun place where people can learn martial arts and get fit.