Athlete Spotlight | Gannon Lang
Posted by James Tighe on
Hey Gannon, Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us. To get started, would you please give us some background on yourself? When did you start training? Why? etc…
I started training in Fredericksburg, Virginia back in 2014 under James Coleman when I was 17 years old. When I got my Purple belt in 2016, I dropped out of College and started training Jiu Jitsu full time. At that time I was training in Washington, DC under Nakapan Phungephorn. I completed all over from 2016-2019 for organizations such as KASAI, Fight to Win, IBJJF, Toro Cup, etc. In 2019 I started a program in Fredericksburg named Nexus Jiu Jitsu. Soon after that I was promoted to Brown belt and got the invite to San Diego to film my first instructional with Jiu Jitsu X. During the week I spent in San Diego, I got the invite to move there and live in the Legion Fighter’s House. I recently was promoted to black belt and I just moved back to Fredericksburg with plans of opening an academy as soon as possible!
You have been in San Diego training at Legion with Keenan. Can you tell us what it was like training there? What were some major challenges, experiences, takeaways from your time in San Diego?
My biggest takeaway from training at Legion has to be how they run their academy. It’s the most professional academy that I have ever had the pleasure of working/training at. They put a lot of time and effort into the facility and they have some of the best athletes in the world training daily.
Recently Keenan promoted you to black belt! Congrats on reaching that huge milestone, was it a surprise? Feel any different now that you are at the black belt.
I think it will take some time to feel real honestly. I have looked up to Keenan and Andris for years and it has always been a dream to just train with them, let alone get my black belt from them. With that being said, I’m very excited to represent Legion and expand it’s reach on the East Coast.
You have a very modern style of jiu jitsu, especially when it comes using the various lapel guards. Is that something you have always been interested in or come to you as your progressed in the belts?
Definitely, I have been watching Keenan and Andris since I was a beginning blue belt. Lapels have always been a huge part of my game and I think they will be around for many years to come at the highest level of Jiu Jitsu.
Is there another competitor that you are looking forward to competing against now that your at the black belt?
I’d like matches with basically anyone at Feather or Lightweight. I have looked up to a lot of them for many years, so it will be interesting to see how I stack up with them. A few to note would be Gianni Grippo, Fabricio Andrey, Levi - Jones Leary, Renato Canuto, and many more.
What are the big plans and goals for the year? Any comps coming up?
My main focus currently is getting my academy built out and started, but I do have a lot of Super Fight promotions that I’m in conversations with about getting matches with a few people that I just mentioned above. I’m super excited to jump in and get my name in the mix.
Thanks to Gannon for taking the time to catch up with us! We are super excited to have him with us as he takes on the next step to the black belt division.
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