Landon Elmore

Landon Elmore trains at Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu in Austin, Texas — the successor to the program formerly known as New Wave Jiu-Jitsu following its relocation. Working directly under John Danaher alongside Gordon Ryan and Garry Tonon, Elmore has been immersed in one of the most analytically rigorous training environments in submission grappling from an early stage of his development. At 19 years old as of September 2025, he stands among the youngest competitors to emerge from this high-profile coaching staff.

The Kingsway program is built on systematic leg-lock methodology, positional precision, and a structured submission grappling curriculum that Danaher has refined across decades of coaching elite athletes. Training daily alongside practitioners at the sport's highest level has accelerated Elmore's technical development, providing both elite instruction and the live resistance necessary to pressure-test complex lower-body attack systems at full competition pace.

Elmore's competitive identity centers on his leg entanglement game, with K-Guard entries serving as a primary pathway into lower-body attacks. His approach reflects the foundational principles of the Danaher system: establish positional control, create mechanical disadvantage for the opponent, and convert that disadvantage into a submission finish. Heel hooks function as his most frequently deployed finishing tool, consistent with the inside heel hook mechanics that Danaher's program has systematized across multiple generations of competitors.

A defining characteristic of Elmore's approach is his commitment to finishing in regulation rather than allowing bouts to reach overtime or decision formats. At EBI 25 in September 2025, he submitted all four opponents within regulation time — a display of finishing consistency that drew widespread attention across the submission grappling community. The ankle lock he secured in the final against Keith Krikorian illustrated that his lower-body attack framework extends well beyond a single technique, reflecting the broader versatility that Danaher's curriculum emphasizes. Following the event, Gordon Ryan publicly praised Elmore's technical execution — a notable endorsement given Ryan's standing as one of the most accomplished no-gi competitors in the sport's history.

EBI 25 took place on September 12, 2025, in San Antonio, with the lightweight bracket featuring Bryce Mitchell as one of its most recognizable entrants. A UFC bantamweight contender with established grappling credentials, Mitchell represented a significant test for any opponent placed across from him. Elmore met Mitchell in the quarterfinals and submitted him via heel hook in under one minute — a finish whose speed and technical precision immediately captured the attention of a combat sports audience well acquainted with Mitchell's capabilities.

The performance signaled that Elmore's training at Kingsway was translating at the highest submission grappling level. Dispatching a fighter of Mitchell's profile in the opening round of a major EBI tournament with that degree of clarity established Elmore as the bracket's most dangerous finisher and put every remaining competitor on notice.

Advancing from the quarterfinals brought Elmore a distinctly complex semifinal scenario: a matchup against Reese Lafever, a fellow Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu athlete training under the same Danaher-led coaching staff. Competing against a training partner at this stage carries a specific challenge — both athletes share intimate knowledge of each other's systems, preferred entries, and tendencies, effectively neutralizing the element of unfamiliarity that often shapes submission grappling outcomes.

Elmore submitted Lafever via heel hook, extending his regulation finish streak through the bracket. Executing his technical game plan against an opponent who trains alongside him daily demonstrated a level of precision and adaptability that transcends pattern recognition alone. The finish advanced Elmore to the final and underscored the considerable depth of talent within the Kingsway program, with two of its athletes having reached the semifinal stage of a major EBI lightweight tournament.

Elmore met Keith Krikorian in the EBI 25 Lightweight final and secured the championship via ankle lock, finishing in regulation. The submission choice distinguished the final from his earlier heel hook victories, reinforcing that his lower-body attack system encompasses a range of finishing options calibrated to the specific mechanical circumstances each exchange presents. Across the entire bracket, all four of Elmore's victories came by submission in regulation — a level of finishing consistency rarely seen across a complete EBI tournament run.

The championship carried a $20,000 prize, one of the more substantial payouts available in submission grappling competition, and placed Elmore among a select group of young competitors to claim a major Eddie Bravo Invitational title. Winning the EBI 25 lightweight crown at 19 years old, trained within the Kingsway system under Danaher, Ryan, and Tonon, and drawing public praise from Gordon Ryan in the aftermath, the performance marked Elmore's emergence as one of the most compelling young figures in no-gi submission grappling.