# Josh Saunders

> Australian heavyweight black belt who went from professional rugby league to ADCC semifinals in under four years, two-time Asia & Oceania Trials champion, and founder of HPU Coaching.

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- **Markdown:** https://ossmeta.com/athletes/josh-saunders.md
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- **Source site:** Ossmeta (https://ossmeta.com)
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-16

## Identity

- **Name:** Josh Saunders
- **Full name:** Josh Saunders
- **Belt:** black belt
- **Team:** Sydney West Martial Arts (SWMA) / HPU Coaching
- **Nationality:** Australia
- **Weight class:** Super heavyweight / +99 kg (ADCC)
- **Height:** 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)

## Biography

Josh Saunders is an Australian no-gi competitor and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt based in Western Sydney with Sydney West Martial Arts (SWMA). A former professional rugby league player, he began BJJ around 2020 after reading about Kit Dale’s accelerated path to black belt and committed fully to high-volume training under SWMA head coach Luke Martin (often known as “Leg Lock Luke”). This profile covers the contemporary Australian +99 kg grappler active on ADCC, WNO, and Subversion—not the unrelated U.S. pioneer Chris Saunders of the late-1990s Dirty Dozen era.

His rise was unusually fast even by modern no-gi standards. Roughly 22 months into training, still a purple belt, he won the 2022 ADCC Oceania & Asia Trials in the +99 kg division representing SWMA and earned a berth at the ADCC World Championships. At ADCC 2022 in Las Vegas he faced Felipe “Preguiça” Pena in the opening round and lost on points. He continued to climb belts on an accelerated schedule—about seven months to blue, nineteen to purple, twenty-three to brown—and was promoted to black belt by Luke Martin in late June 2024 after approximately 47 months (under four years) of training.

Saunders re-qualified for ADCC by winning the 1st ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials (+99 kg) in Singapore in November 2023 with a multi-submission run. In June 2024 he headlined FloGrappling’s Who’s Number One 24 against Gordon Ryan for the WNO heavyweight title; Ryan finished him with an inside heel hook, but the main event raised Saunders’s international profile. At the 2024 ADCC World Championships he defeated Mike Perez (points, 3–0) and submitted Damon Ramos (rear-naked choke, ~1:50) before losing a penalties decision to Felipe Pena in the +99 kg semifinals. He fell short of bronze against Daniel Manasoiu in the third-place match. Regional open results in 2024 included double gold at the ADCC Oceania Open and ADCC Sydney Open (+100 kg and absolute).

Outside ADCC he has appeared on Subversion cards (including a neck-crank finish of Luc Rousseau and a heel-hook win over Augusto Cursino) and is widely associated with a pressure-heavy, athleticism-forward style: throws and wrestling entries from his rugby base, upper-body chains, and finishing threats from dominant positions. At roughly 6'4" and around 115 kg (about 250–255 lb competition weight), he is among the larger athletes regularly on major +99 kg cards.

Parallel to competition, Saunders founded High Performance Unit (HPU) Coaching—an online community and mentoring brand focused on accelerated skill acquisition, mindset, and conceptual systems rather than isolated techniques. He has released BJJ Fanatics instructionals including Upper Lower Chains: Links That Solve Problems Faster and Wrong Way First, runs content on Instagram and YouTube under @hpucoaching, and continues to train and teach out of the Sydney West Martial Arts ecosystem in the Penrith / Western Sydney area.

## Instructors

- Luke Martin

## Signature techniques / game

- Wrestling / throws (high crotch, te guruma, arm-drag entries)
- Body lock and pressure passing
- Upper–lower body chain attacks (concept-driven system)
- Rear-naked choke
- Inside sankaku / leg entanglements
- Guillotine / arm-in front headlock attacks
- Half-butterfly and wrestle-up sequences

## Major achievements

- 1st Place ADCC Oceania & Asia Trials (+99 kg, 2022) — as a purple belt
- 1st Place ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials (+99 kg, 2023, Singapore)
- ADCC World Championship +99 kg semifinalist (2024) — wins over Mike Perez and Damon Ramos; loss to Felipe Pena
- ADCC World Championship competitor (+99 kg, 2022) — opening-round loss to Felipe Pena
- WNO 24 main event vs Gordon Ryan for heavyweight title (2024) — loss via inside heel hook
- 1st Place ADCC Oceania Open (+100 kg and absolute, 2024)
- 1st Place ADCC Sydney Open (+100 kg and absolute, 2024)
- Subversion competitor — finishes including neck crank (Luc Rousseau) and heel hook (Augusto Cursino)

## Colored belt highlights

- 1st Place ADCC Oceania & Asia Trials (+99 kg, 2022) as a purple belt (~22 months of training)
- Competed at ADCC World Championships 2022 while still a colored belt
- Brown belt on accelerated timeline (~23 months); black belt promotion under Luke Martin, late June 2024 (~47 months / under 4 years white to black)

## Official / social links

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hpucoaching/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@hpucoaching
- Website: https://www.skool.com/hpu-community/about
- BJJ Fanatics: https://bjjfanatics.com/products/upper-lower-chains-links-that-solve-problems-faster-by-josh-saunders

## Sources

- [Digitsu — Josh Saunders profile & match history](https://digitsu.com/people/josh-saunders)
- [ADCC — Oceania and Asian Trials 2022 official results](https://adcombat.com/adcc-events/adcc-oceania-and-asian-trials-2022/)
- [Wikipedia — 2024 ADCC World Championship (trials & +99 kg podium)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_ADCC_World_Championship)
- [FloGrappling — Josh Saunders advances vs Damon Ramos (ADCC 2024)](https://www.flograppling.com/articles/12785714-josh-saunders-advances-in-99kg-adcc-bracket-to-face-damon-ramos)
- [FloGrappling — 2024 ADCC World Championship results (incl. +99 kg)](https://www.flograppling.com/articles/12785567-2024-adcc-world-championship-finals-results)
- [BJJ Heroes — ADCC 2024 results recap](https://www.bjjheroes.com/bjj-news/adcc-2024-results-fornarino-first-aussie-gold-mica-earns-super-grand-slam-and-kaynan-the-double)
- [FloGrappling — Supercut: ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials run (2023)](https://www.flograppling.com/video/11537227-supercut-josh-saunders-smashes-his-way-through-adcc-trials)
- [BJJEE — White to black belt in under four years](https://www.bjjee.com/articles/from-white-belt-to-black-belt-in-under-four-years-the-incredible-journey-of-josh-saunders/)
- [BJJ Fanatics — Upper Lower Chains by Josh Saunders](https://bjjfanatics.com/products/upper-lower-chains-links-that-solve-problems-faster-by-josh-saunders)
- [Sydney West Martial Arts](https://www.swma.com.au/)
- [Instagram — @hpucoaching](https://www.instagram.com/hpucoaching/)

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