Ashley Williams - UK’s Youngest BJJ Prodigy

The scintillating sun of Ashley Williams’s success is rising now more than ever. He is regularly seen on the mats training in his gym or competing at a prestigious jiu-jitsu platform. With his remarkable back-to-back, stunning victories, he has proved himself to be an unstoppable force, especially in the elite no-gi scene.

No one could have predicted that the small city of Swansea, Wales would l produce a  jiu-jitsu champion. On July 18, 1992, Ashley Williams was born in a place where jiu-jitsu was almost non-existent. The fact that he will win many BJJ laurels for his city seemed implausible at the time of his birth.

The young jiu-jitsu prodigy grew up in the Morriston neighborhood. He was an active child and loved to participate in different sports. The love for sports was instilled in him by his surroundings and he retained the passion for the rest of his life.

Williams’ childhood was full of a variety of athletic endeavors. He participated and competed in soccer, rugby, athletics, and gymnastics.

Williams’s athletic background piqued his curiosity. He wanted to discover the vast spectrum of sports and at the age of six, ended up in the world of martial arts. He tried different styles of martial arts including Japanese jiu-jitsu and later ventured into judo and kickboxing training.

Along with his twin brother Joshua Williams, practiced these different forms of martial arts for several years.

However, Williams still felt that something was missing. His competitive nature was not satisfied. He wanted to test his skills to prove his credibility, not to the world but to himself.

In 2007, after his 15th birthday, the Williams’ coach Kelly Chambers advised that the twin brothers should try their luck in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The idea of testing the already learned techniques under a different rule-set excited them. By this time they were black belts in Japanese jiu-jitsu and were confident that they would easily ace the new combat style.

Therefore, Williams and his brother donned the gi and joined Chris Rees Academy (CRA) in Swansea to familiarize themselves with the elements of BJJ. One month into the training, Williams and his brother felt competition-ready. They entered a tournament and were unable to achieve their desired results. However, the competition further fuelled their passion for grappling and they continued training with Rees in hopes of becoming acclaimed grapplers one day.

With Chris Rees at the helm of Williams’s training, he managed to take the juvenile jiu-jitsu scene by storm. As a brown belt, Williams was ranked the no.1 grappler in the world.

He also won the British Open Championship multiple times. After cementing his mark in the lower belts division, nothing could stop him from living his black belt moment.

In 2015, after spectacular achievements in the lower belt tournaments, Williams’s head coaches Chris Rees and Braulio Estima deemed him worthy of the august black belt and awarded it to him while he was standing on the podium of the British Open. Becoming a gold medalist and the youngest Welsh black belt, Williams felt like he conquered the world that day.

The years that followed William’s promotion to the black belt brought many victories for him. He competed extensively in the IBJJF No-Gi competitions and managed to secure a place on the podium many times.

The black belt Williams made a name for himself in almost every competition. He became a three-division Polaris Champion, European Open No-Gi champion, and also won the ADCC trials.

These massive victories helped Williams to establish himself in the no-gi world. Soon, he became a name in his own right, and lucrative promotions began to ask him to fight on their platform.

After he entered the World Championship for the first time, he received an invitation to fight at the Eddie Bravo Invitational 7. The young athlete expressed his excitement and gratitude in a can did interview for attacktheback.com.

In September 2021, the 66 kg division of the ADCC EU Trials was overflowing with unparalleled talent. Each fighter participating in the event was flexing his muscles and jiu-jitsu techniques to win. One of these grapplers was Ashley Williams.

The first trials event leading up to the 2022 ADCC Championship took place in Poznan, Poland. In the decisive final, Ashley Williams was up against Gairbeg Ibragimov.

Driven by his passion to enter the main ADCC, Williams dominated his opponent with three submissions and displayed a magnificent show of his grappling prowess.

The duo fought at a quick pace, with fun scrambles, strong submission attempts, and guard passes, the match ended up being decided in favor of Williams due to penalties (2x1).

While Williams continued to develop his grappling skills, he also ventured into the world of amateur mixed martial arts (MMA). With a promising (5-0) streak, Williams proved that he was able to brave the tough “brawl environment.” But he chose not to make a career out of cage fighting.

Williams’s MMA journey began on August 15, 2015, the Adrenalin Fight Night: Crush was held at PlayFootball Swansea, Wales. Williams fought on a preliminary card (fight 7 of 11) in the event. He faced Ciaran Rees and won his debut fight via knockout (TKO Retirement).

Adrenaline Fight Nights - Adrenalin at the Grand was Williams’s next challenge for the promotion. The event took place in Swansea Grand Theater. On April 30, 2017, Williams entered the cage and fought on the main card this time. He defeated Racim Batouche via unanimous decision. He also claimed the title of the bout - “The AFN Featherweight Champion.”

On March 05, 2016, Williams fought at the Pain Pit Fight Night 15 - Renegade. The event took place in Ebbw Vale Sports Center, Ebbw Vale, Wales. Williams fought on a preliminary card in the event. He faced Mike Figlak and submitted him via rear-naked choke.

On November 13, 2017, Williams faced Eemil Kurhela at the IMMAF - 2017 IMMAF World Championships: Day 1, Cage 3. The fight was held in the Khalifa Sports City Arena in Manama, Bahrain. Williams fought on the main card and submitted his opponent in the first round via brutal rear-naked choke and won the epic fight.

He then competed at the IMMAF-2017 IMMAF World Championships: Day 2, Cage 3. The fight took place on November 13, 2017, at the Khalifa Sports City Arena, Manama, Bahrain. Ashley Williams was scheduled to confront Bekzat Zhassiya in the cage. He submitted his intimidating rival in the second round via armbar.

On March 5, 2022, Williams fought for VF at the Victory Fights - Road to Victory. The event was held in Moulsecoomb Community Leisure Center in Brighton, England. Ashley Williams fought against Oscar Hughes and suffered his first amateur MMA setback. He lost the fight in the third round via unanimous decision.

The year 2019 brought with it a submission-only grappling event called the Pantheon 002 tournament. The event promised a high-octane showcase of the best grappling skills on display. One such show was scheduled between Ashley Williams, UK’s widely known top black belt, and Kamil Wilk. The two combatants fought for glory in the Pantheon finals held at the legendary warehouse venue in Leeds, United Kingdom.

When it all ended, Williams had defeated Wilk via rear-naked choke and claimed the title.

In 2019, Ashley Williams confronted Ethan Crelinsten, a member of the Danaher Death Squad,  in the Polaris Lightweight Championship finals. After action-packed combat that lasted over 15  minutes, the fight-of-the-night champion was announced. None other than Ashley Williams won the match via referee decision and also bagged the title.

• IBJJF Zurich Open Championship
• IBJJF Madrid Open Championship
• FBJJF Finnish Open Championship
• IBJJF European Open No-Gi Championship
• IBJJF Munich Open Championship
• IBJJF Rome Open
• UAEJJF Grand Slam - LDN

• IBJJF Zurich Open Champion.
• IBJJF Madrid Open Champion.
• FBJJF Finnish Open Champion
• IBJJF European Open No-Gi Champion
• IBJJF Munich Open Champion

Ashley Williams vs Chris Newman

Ashley Williams vs Oscar Hughes

Ashley Williams Highlights

Ashley Williams vs John Battle

Photo Credit: @awilliamsbjj