Alyse Anderson has been awarded a purple belt in BJJ. The American mixed martial artist is coming off a submission win at ONE 157 and has clearly been working on her ground game.
She has been training at Magic BJJ in Michigan and Anderson announced on Instagram earlier today that he had been promoted:
View this post on Instagram
Ground game
Anderson holds and MMA record of 6-2 and has won one of her two ONE Championship fights. But it sounds like she is more focused on the ground game these days telling her Instagram followers that she was,
So grateful I got my purple belt today. Magic BJJ has always been my home and has kept my love for jiu-jitsu after all these years on the mat. I’m going to keep adding more tools to my game continue to improve.
Anderson’s ONE Championship debut did not go as planned. She dropped a decision to Itsuki Hirata in the quarter finals of the atomweight Grand Prix.
But she bounced back to submit Roka in the opening round last May. Anderson hasn’t fought since then but it sounds like she has used the break from competitive action to level up her ground game.
Alyse Anderson 🇺🇸 shows MASSIVE heart, coming back to submit Asha Roka in Round 1!#ONE157 | #ONEChampionship | https://t.co/eBUfsODAFL pic.twitter.com/HkHNOdpxbb
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) May 20, 2022
Quickfire submission
She came close to causing an upset in the fight with Hirata. Anderson dropped the Japanese fighter in the third round but it was not enough to earn her the decision win.
Afterwards Anderson admitted it was tough to deal with that defeat. But she redeemed herself six months later with the quickfire submission win over Roka.
That was an entertaining fight and Roka appeared to be on the verge of securing a stoppage win. She had Anderson hurt and was unloading punches on the American.
But Anderson’s ground game is slick and she somehow found a way to survive the onslaught and sink in a triangle choke. Her jiu jitsu skills were very impressive that night and it sounds like she has been working very hard to improve them.
There are plenty of potential opponents out there for Anderson like Ritu Phogat and Stamp Fairtex. The atomweight division is stacked with talent and the 28 year old will be looking to showcase her grappling skills again in 2023.
