Purple Belt Tainan Dalpra Submits Third Degree Black Belt Bill Cooper
Purple Belt Tainan Dalpra Submits Third Degree Black Belt Bill Cooper
It took just over a minute for the teenager to tap out one of the best-known American black belts.
18-year-old Tainan Dalpra faced off with 31-year-old Bill Cooper at the Artista Invitational in Nashville, Tennessee.
It took just over a minute for the teenager to tap out one of the best-known American black belts.
Training out of the Mendes brothers' Art of Jiu-Jitsu academy in Costa Mesa, California, Dalpra is one of the best known young competitors from the powerhouse team.
And he only got promoted to purple belt earlier this year.
Dalpra is a seasoned competitor with success at the highest levels. He was a standout competitor in the juvenile ranks before moving up to adult (age 17 and above). In 2018 he won both gold medals at both the IBJJF World and Pan championships, winning the middleweight and absolute (open weight) divisions.
And some people may claim he is "sand bagging", Dalpra has never been held back at a belt level. In fact, he's been promoted as quickly as the IBJJF regulations permit. He just turned 18 in November, and was promoted to purple belt on the podium after winning the IBJJF World Championships in June this year.
Cooper is an EBI finalist, black belt 2008 World Championship silver medalist and seven-time Fight 2 Win veteran. A black belt since 2007, Cooper was considered one of the brightest American grapplers of his generation. In recent years he passed through a dark period but has since returned to training and teaching full-time, competing regularly both gi and no-gi.