Kody Steele

Kody Steele was born on April 21, 1995, in Port Angeles, Washington, spending his formative years between Port Angeles and the neighboring town of Sequim. A naturally competitive child, he cycled through baseball and football before landing on the sport that would shape his athletic identity.

Wrestling Roots and Technical Foundation

At 13, Steele discovered wrestling through club competition — and the fit was immediate. He developed a well-rounded base across all three major disciplines: Greco-Roman, freestyle, and folk-style. That multi-faceted education forged the technical versatility and physical toughness that would later translate directly to the grappling mat, providing him a structural advantage few BJJ practitioners bring into the sport.

In 2013, Steele relocated to Texas — a move that distanced him from the wrestling infrastructure he had built his athletic life around, but one that ultimately redirected his competitive path in defining ways.

Facing a scarcity of wrestling schools in Texas, Steele made the practical decision to channel his competitive drive into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. That choice brought him to Brazilian Fight Factory, where he began training under coach Rodrigo Cabral — known in the BJJ community as Brucutu — affiliated with Checkmat. The coach-athlete relationship took root immediately and proved lasting.

A Rapid Rise Through the Ranks

Within less than two years of stepping onto the BJJ mats for the first time, Steele committed to a full-time competitive schedule. His wrestling base gave him an instinctive edge in scrambles and top control, while his disciplined approach to learning jiu-jitsu accelerated his technical development across both gi and no-gi formats. The no-gi circuit, in particular, became the arena where his game flourished most visibly through the colored belt divisions.

In January 2020, Rodrigo Cabral awarded Steele his black belt — completing the journey from white to black under a single coach. That distinction speaks to both the depth of Steele's commitment and the continuity of a coach-student relationship that anchored his entire development.

The years 2018 and 2019 mark the height of Kody Steele's emergence as one of the most compelling figures on BJJ's professional no-gi circuit. Competing as a brown belt, he assembled a body of work that announced him as a legitimate threat at any level of competition.

The EBI Title and a Signature Upset

The defining moment of that era came in 2019, when Steele captured the Eddie Bravo Invitational (EBI) Combat Jiu-Jitsu Tournament, claiming the Combat Jiu-Jitsu World Championship — one of the most distinctive and physically demanding formats in submission grappling. That same year, he delivered one of the sport's standout upsets, defeating DJ Jackson — a two-time black belt world champion — at Third Coast Grappling, a result that significantly elevated his name in the broader grappling conversation.

Colored Belt Résumé

Steele's competitive record at the colored belt level extended well beyond those headline performances. At purple belt in 2017, he swept IBJJF regional events with first-place finishes at both the Austin Open and the Dallas Open across gi and no-gi formats. He also claimed silver at the IBJJF World Championship No-Gi at purple belt that year — a result he replicated in the brown belt division in 2019, demonstrating rare consistency at the sport's highest amateur level. A first-place finish at the Marianas Open in 2018 and additional podium appearances rounded out a colored belt career of exceptional completeness.

Throughout this period, Steele competed regularly on prominent professional platforms including EBI, Kasai, and Fight 2 Win, accumulating the high-stakes experience that prepares grapplers for elite-level competition.

Equipped with an elite wrestling foundation and a black belt credential forged through professional competition, Kody Steele stepped into professional mixed martial arts and carried his grappling identity with him. The transition proved seamless: Steele built a perfect 6-0 professional MMA record, with his most recent regional victory arriving at Fury FC 89 on April 21, 2024.

From Contender Series Setback to UFC Contract

The path to the UFC included an early detour. Steele was originally scheduled to appear on Dana White's Contender Series, but lost his opponent with just one hour's notice, forcing a cancellation beyond his control. Rather than derail his momentum, the experience sharpened his resolve.

On October 8, 2024, Steele returned to Dana White's Contender Series and delivered the performance that mattered most — a knockout victory that earned him a UFC contract. The result validated a career built methodically across multiple combat disciplines: from the wrestling rooms of Washington State to the submission grappling circuits of professional BJJ, and ultimately to the most prominent stage in mixed martial arts.