Interview by: Jake McKee    Photos by: Dave Contreras

Gokor Chivichyan was born in Armenia and has been training in the grappling arts since the age of 5. With decades of experience in wrestling, judo, and sambo, Gokor is a wealth of experience to rely on. He’s been training world class Judoka and MMA fighters at the Hayastan MMA Academy since 1991 and is always innovating, improving, and refining the art of submission grappling.

BV: Many people in the MMA world know you as the coach of such fighters as Karo, Manny, and Roman. When you watch these fighters in the ring we’re usually guaranteed to see strong leg attacks, and some good throws. Are these two things emphasized more strongly than other things at your school?