Keven Carrasco was born on July 21, 1999, and gravitated toward martial arts from an early age rather than conventional team sports. At age 6, he began training kempo karate, spending roughly two years building his first foundation in a martial discipline. The path that would define his athletic life opened around age 9, when his brother joined a jiu-jitsu school in Sacramento. Watching his brother train and roll with friends lit a spark in young Keven, and he soon joined him on the mats.

Carrasco's introduction to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu came through André Glodzinski's grappling school in downtown Sacramento, where he spent approximately seven years developing the technical groundwork of his game. It was under Glodzinski's instruction that Carrasco earned his blue belt — laying the competitive and technical foundation that would carry him toward the upper ranks of the sport.

After earning his blue belt under André Glodzinski, Carrasco made his first transition, briefly joining Waza BJJ Academy under Derek DiManno. That stint proved short-lived. A tournament camp introduced him to Osvaldo Moizinho — widely known by his nickname Osvaldo Queixinho — and Samir Chantre, two coaches whose reputations had already reached him. Impressed by both men, Carrasco made the deliberate decision to join Ares BJJ in 2017, marking the beginning of the chapter that would shape his competitive identity.

The move paid immediate dividends. Carrasco emerged as one of the premier light-featherweight competitors at the colored belt levels, capturing gold at the IBJJF World Championships in 2019 as a purple belt and gold at the IBJJF Pan American Championships in 2020 as a brown belt. Recognizing the need for full-time elite training, he relocated from California to Arizona in August 2019 to base himself permanently at Ares headquarters under Queixinho.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the 2020 competitive calendar, Carrasco continued to perform at a high level. He claimed gold at the AJPT Grand Slam in Miami and secured the IBJJF Pan American title at brown belt — a run of results that culminated in a defining milestone. On December 14, 2020, Osvaldo Moizinho awarded Carrasco his black belt, recognizing a colored belt career defined by consistent, high-level results across major IBJJF events.

Carrasco's black belt career has been built primarily in the gi, where his technical precision and competition experience in the light-featherweight division have continued to develop. In 2022, he captured gold at the IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu CON and added a third-place finish at the IBJJF American Nationals, establishing a consistent presence on the IBJJF circuit in the early years of his black belt tenure.

The most significant result of his black belt career came at the 2024 IBJJF World Championships, where Carrasco earned a bronze medal in the gi division. The performance underscored his standing as a legitimate force in one of the sport's most competitive weight classes and affirmed that the trajectory built across years of colored belt dominance had translated meaningfully to the elite level. His profile remains that of a gi specialist whose most impactful results have come within the traditional format.

Early No-Gi Appearances

Alongside his gi career, Carrasco expanded his competitive footprint through UFC-branded grappling events, gaining exposure in the no-gi format on a high-profile platform. At UFC Fight Pass Invitational 11, he submitted Sebastian Oyervidez with a teepee choke, demonstrating early comfort with no-gi submission finishing. In a separate UFC BJJ appearance, he finished Ty Costlow via Triangle Choke, adding a second no-gi victory and further showcasing his adaptability outside the gi.

The Musumeci Matchup at UFC BJJ 3

His UFC BJJ bookings generated discussion within the grappling community around opponent selection and the increasingly prominent intersection of gi and no-gi competitive worlds. That conversation sharpened considerably when Carrasco was matched against Mikey Musumeci at UFC BJJ 3 in Las Vegas on October 2, 2025. Musumeci, one of the most decorated submission grapplers in the sport, submitted Carrasco with a Mikey lock — a modified heel hook — at 3:01 of Round 1, ending the contest in the opening frame. The result placed Carrasco on the wrong side of one of no-gi grappling's most formidable matchups, though the booking itself reflected the growing recognition of his name within the sport's expanding promotional landscape.