My First MMA Fight (Behind the Scenes) + My BJJ Blue Belt Promotion

Take a look at behind the scenes footage of my first MMA fight and BJJ blue belt promotion at SBG Portland. The video was filmed by my brother as we were traveling together. If you want to see the full video check: • USA Westcoast and Hawa...
This video covers my visit to Montana for my first MMA fight organized by SBG Montana's head-coach Travis Davison and my last week at Portland where I did six months of intensive MMA and BJJ training at SBG Portland under head-coach Matt Thornton.
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Welcome to the Martial Arts Journey KZbin channel!
My name is Rokas. I'm a Lithuanian guy who trained Aikido for 14 years, 7 of them running a professional Aikido Dojo until eventually I realized that Aikido does not live up to what it promises.
Lead by this realization I decided to make a daring step to close my Aikido Dojo and move to Portland, Oregon for six months to start training MMA at the famous Straight Blast Gym Headquarters under head coach Matt Thornton.
After six months intensive training I had my first amateur MMA fight after which I moved back to Lithuania. During all of this time I am documenting my experience through my KZbin channel called "Martial Arts Journey".
Now I am slowly setting up plans to continue training MMA under quality guidance and getting ready for my next MMA fight as I further document and share my journey and discoveries.
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If you want to support my journey, you can make a donation to my PayPal at [e-mail]
SUBSCRIBE to see when the next videos will come out:
► bit.ly/1KPZpv0
Check the video "Aikido vs MMA" which started this whole Martial Arts Journey:
► • Aikido vs MMA - REAL ...
If you want to support me and this channel on a regular basis check my Patreon page:
► / rokasleo
#mma #bjj #martialarts

[@dixonbuttes]

Dude! I gotta tell you I was pretty touched seeing you get your blue belt. We’re all on which whacky path of martial arts and fighting and you’re one of the most humble & enthusiastic members of the community. That’s really great man, congratulations. Without me realizing it your channel has grown to be an inspiration for me.

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Thank you!!

[@dixonbuttes]

Martial Arts Journey of course!

[@jcanonmercadotube]

That was a really nice video. It's very good to see not only technical stuff about MMA but also the life in general of a fighter, his surroundings and the people around him. Congrats on your very well deserved blue belt!

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Thank you!

[@protodevilin]

> vomiting repeatedly > drinks milkshake > vomits again > surprised Pikachu face But seriously, good stuff. I enjoy your honesty and openness to new ideas; it'll continue to take you a long way in your training. And welcome to Portland!

[@SwordTune]

He vomited in 3 different states. I see this as an absolute win.

[@mosey69]

Congrats on your blue belt. Wish I had Jiujitsu here in Warren, PA. I miss training everyday

[@randysvids4774]

Start your own school?

[@wagutoxD]

oh, man! Awesome! I gotta a smile on my face with this video! Great! Happy for you, Rokas! Keep it up!

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Thank you Wagner!

[@thefullmonte1902]

Lucky that you had such good people take you in and prepare you for the first fight. Which I think you won, by the way. 🤙💪 Br. from Montenegro/Denmark

[@toys_4_utoys4u24]

I don"t think so!

[@thedevilsadvocate3710]

Congrats on the promotion and your journey!

[@liamjeffs1370]

Congrats on the blue belt man

[@Yellowhammerbees]

Congrats man, there ain't nothing like that Blue Belt Promotion!

[@ohiograssman1564]

Safe travelling, man. I'm a bit jealous you got to step in the ring, good work

[@phillyman36]

Congrats proud of ya. Keep the journey going

[@fergcrichton8058]

Massive congrats on the blue belt Rokas. Loving following your progress

[@alexandraamihan]

Congrats! All the best to a beautiful long long journey in functional martial arts.

[@Kintanon]

Congrats! Welcome to the next level! Now people will expect you to be kind of good at grappling. :)

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Will do my best!!

[@santidu]

It's like a video journal, a journey in Portland. congrats on the blue belt! See you in the next video.

[@davidchesney8330]

This is he first video I’ve seen on yours since the aikido sparring video and I’m really amazed how far you’ve come congrats. I did karate when I was younger but have been doing mma for 2 and a half years now much love bro❤️took the loss well good luck on your next fight

[@AdobadoFantastico]

Glad you helped keep Portland weird ;)

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Haha! Yup, I definitely resonated with the slogan! 😉

[@iansinclair6256]

Well done on the blue belt mate. You had a good MMA match too. Keep up the good work.

[@muchvideoswow3579]

bro grats on the blue always nice to see someone level up

[@bobbydabutcha]

That is an awesome way to get a belt promotion. Congrats man! :D

[@DefconUnicorn]

I am so proud of you dude, so pleased you have already achieved a blue belt. Massive congrats!

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Thank you!

[@dentonholmgren4886]

I live in the portland area, cool to see you were there!

[@patw9934]

Congratulations on the blue belt! I really enjoy your channel and your perspective.

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Thank you!!

[@OverSooll]

that blue belt is so deserved, you earned it the hard way, with humility and courage like no other

[@garybolenable]

Very enjoyable video. Your narration style worked well with it.

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Thank you!!

[@jonathonchristfollower8863]

Yup- more vids

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Haha 😁 Thanks!

[@RomanPeacock21]

Really cool with the promotion

[@JuanCarlosHernandez-sy8fi]

Awesome congratulations on the promotion Oss 👍🤙🙌

[@themartialnerd3286]

Congrats on your belt promotion!

[@joeye7518]

Congrats man

[@ategnatos]

Congratulations on the promotion!

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Thanks!

[@boomfyer89]

Ayyyye congrats on the blue belt buddy!! If you ever make it down to Texas give us a shout see if we can get some training in

[@RomanPeacock21]

Also throwing up could be a sign of a concussion I think

[@lannelbishop3668]

Congratulations on your promotion to Blue belt.

[@midgettosser100]

Congratulations Rokas!

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Thank you

[@Georgeamarustudios]

Congrats on your Blue Belt!

[@bubbagump2341]

This video is like a catalogue of places I've been too, driven through and lived! And dude, I think you vomited in the town where my great grandparents lived when I was a kid . . . lol Which interesting enough as a link to fighting because my great grandfather was an old school bareknuckle boxer and hook wrestler who taught me and my older brothers how to fight!

[@juanmma7982]

you are so great!

[@stefan-t--]

btw you say you dont want to show the car but then you show the make/model/color and license plate in the next frame.. lol

[@MartialArtsJourney]

I know ;DD I should have put a blur on the licence plate >:/

[@jaymiddleton1782]

You got your blue belt before me. Haha amazing. When I first started watching you, you hadn’t even started jits yet. I wish I could do jits full time. Need to sort my life out.

[@lancepabon]

That was so cool. I got my blue belt three weeks ago, after a year of trainning and it wasn't easy( especially at 57). But you deserve it. You did show that you can fight an opponent for real! And that is more important than any belt. By the way. Ironman triathlete here...lol

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Congrats!! ;)

[@ramjo1]

Congrats man, keep the hard work! ;now maybe you should do a video about things you dont like on mma and bjj( i know you have the videos " the dark side" but now you have more experience with those arts)

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Interesting and good idea. I still though feel I am very much of a newbie in this realm to have a clear opinion on the dark side of it :/

[@virgilthemob1242]

So if the tradition goes that the guy pins you down and wraps the new belt around you, in case you pin him can you take his?

[@chaos_omega]

Look at me! Look at me... I'm de black belt now.

[@MartialArtsJourney]

;D

[@MartialArtsJourney]

It's usually done at the very end of your ironman when you are completely exhausted, so not many chances there ;)

[@AR-iy9oj]

If you don't want to show us his car, you might want to edit at 8:49 :)

[@MartialArtsJourney]

;D

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Maybe I didn't want you to see how the car... looks? ;D

[@HansDavidian]

Congratulation! You must have trained hard every day with multiple sessions to earn the blue belt so quickly.

[@MartialArtsJourney]

I trained before I went to Portland as well :)

[@toys_4_utoys4u24]

Relatively easy to get advance in BJJ. Aikido on the other oye vey. Dont ask!

[@pedrovillelabjj3163]

belt promotions in BJJ are the coolest things

[@johndough8699]

You’re with SBG? They’re no joke, man great choice.

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Yup! I love SBG :)

[@Kumurajiva]

Kudos to u

[@shanesteele1412]

Congrats! Been fun following your journey. How long did it take you to get your blue?

[@MartialArtsJourney]

About two years, one and a half being inconsistent and then 6 months daily training :)

[@TheVigilante2000]

Awesome shoes!

[@MartialArtsJourney]

My brothers? 😯

[@TheVigilante2000]

@@MartialArtsJourney I think your brother was looking for some awesome cowboy BOOTS.

[@johndough8699]

Mad props, man. You’ve really come a long way! It looks like you’ve buffed up. Didn’t you used to have a pony tail? There aren’t many people who have puked in three states on one trip. LOL.

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Haha! 😅 Nice one 😉 Yeah, I used to have a man bun but decided to let go of it for my fight and to signify the changes in my life

[@johndough8699]

Martial Arts Journey - Good call on the hair change for the fight. Have you ever seen Erik Paulson’s fight in Japan where his opponent kept pulling and holding his hair. It was legal. He lost the fight because of it.

[@groundkarate]

I hate that kind of promotion😄. But Congrats man I always respect your challenge.

[@tsoliot5913]

Rokas you were in my neighborhood

[@urameshisama6579]

Im going to tryout for W2W Give me luck!!

[@MartialArtsJourney]

All the best!

[@RicoMnc]

What are the physiological reasons for all the vomiting? Adrenaline dump and traumatic stress? Curious if you know or thought about it.

[@abj136]

Actually, altitude sickness. It was discussed at length in a previous video. Thin air combined with heavy exertion got to him.

[@MartialArtsJourney]

I thought about it and it could easily be one of the two you said. Also altitude sickness or concussion

[@geraldseematter6685]

@@MartialArtsJourney did you had headache? If no, probably not a concussion nor altitude sickness. Food poisoning could also be a possibility.

[@stellocut99]

I don't wanna show his car. *Shows license plate

[@MartialArtsJourney]

😆🤣🤣

[@johnryan6658]

I've watched a number of your videos, and I just have one question. Are you Batman?

[@juelz713]

He needs to go back to the drawing board and hire a chief

[@paweandonisgawralidisdobrz2522]

10:50 when you ceremonially put your balls over the person you are about to promote by tieing his belt while you pin him tp the ground with your groin. It sort of reminds me of knighting ceremonies when sometimes the lord would bitch slap the knight full force in the facewith a huge wind up and an entire body twist. Embarasing yet grand and ceremonial

[@33iknow]

I'll give you tip to help you get a purple belt. DOMINATE! Get side control and HOLD THEM! Make them PAY! Suspend your compassion...

[@MartialArtsJourney]

So getting a purple belt is all about being able to hold side control?

[@33iknow]

@@MartialArtsJourney It's part of it. I suppose my point is have patience and focus on control. Besides I can't think of a more miserable place than some fat guy smashing the shit out of you then moving to north-south and making you breathe in their ball sweat!

[@Amleth89]

Perhaps you would have won if during your years of aikido practice you had practiced how to launch and defend true attacks ...as it should be xD

[@kickboxer2149]

Wonder if you were slightly concusses and didn’t realize it and that’s why you threw up. Either thay or ur cardio is THAT BAD, but I’ve seen hundreds of fights and never seen someone vomit thay much from shitty cardio

[@Syncade1]

gerai matyt kad toljau darai

[@SuperThejim]

Had you ever sparred before this fight with your teammates in your gym? I can't tell whether you only worked with pads or if you had really sparred full contact previously. Also, that is such an unfortunate way to receive your belt... it makes for a terrible picture.

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Wow, you don't seem like a very positive person

[@SuperThejim]

@@MartialArtsJourney I definitely didn't mean to hurt your feelings. This question is valuable for many folks who are considering training. Many people want to train but don't want to spar, and that is totally fine. If you have never really sparred, this video will serve as an example to those people of what to expect if you train without sparring... it's very simple. You're just being a whiny bitch about it.

[@lancepabon]

Wow. Guy, you seem to have some issues. Rokas, did train a lot to earn that blue belt. Steping inside the octagon is no joke, specially for a three round fight and people watching you. Not every blue belt gets to figth for real. And Rokas did one hell of a job almost winning that fight( I think he won, by the way). Congrats Rokas, with your blue belt and that great fight!

[@SuperThejim]

again... it's a very simple question which has a valuable answer... HAS HE EVER SPARRED BEFORE??? YES OR NO? THE ANSWER WILL BE IMPORTANT TO FOLKS WHO WANT TO KNOW HOW TO PREPARE FOR A FIGHT. This isn't about pride or issues... it's about a question and an answer... do you speak English? Can you answer the simple question?? Before someone starts training, they should ask, "Will this prepare me to fight?" How complicated is this idea?? You can congratulate the guy, and I also think he did an amazing job, especially in the amount of time he had to prepare... but congrats don't matter to viewers wanting answers.

[@lancepabon]

@@SuperThejim after the whiny bitch part, I wouldn't care to answer you either...lol

[@RomanPeacock21]

You vomit before the fight dude

[@MartialArtsJourney]

😂