Head Coach: BJJ Blackbelt/UFC Veteran
Mike C. teaches the majority of adult classes at Cies MMA, and brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the mats each day. To start Mike earned his blackbelt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under the world renowned Jiu Jitsu legend, 8th degree Coral Belt, Master Sergio Pehna back in 2015. Before this, he had earned his blackbelt in the Miletich Fighting System, from UFC Champion & Hall of Famer, Pat Miletich.
Mike fosters a learning environment for all skill levels, but if the aspiration is competition he truly walks the walk. He is the only instructor in Colorado Springs, who is both a blackbelt in BJJ and has fought and won in the UFC. Mike won his UFCdebut via heel hook (BJJ Submission). Mike's MMA record at retirement was 20-4-1, proving his knowledge and expertise in a practical application.
Come learn straight from a UFC Vet!
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Barb CIESNOLEVICZ
ASSISTANT Adult Coach/Kids and youth Head COACH: KING OF THE CAGE VET, MMA CHAMPION, BJJ BLACK Belt, IBJJF GI PAN CHAMPION, IBJJF World and Pan no gi medalist, MILITARY VETERAN
Barb has been a part of Cies MMA since it opened in 2016, but started doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA in 2012. She is a current professional MMA fighter, 135lb Amateur Champion for Fusion Fight League, and has won over 25 gold medals in various Jiu Jitsu Tournament. Most notably she became the IBJJF Pan champion 2022, then took bronze at the IBJJF No-Gi Pan American Games and repeated that performance at the IBJJF No-Gi World Championship. Barb has experience fighting in Muay Thai, Boxing and doing Pro Jiu Jitsu matches as well. Barb is most famous for winning a match against Roxanne Modaferri, current UFC fighter and BJJ Black belt improving to 3-1 as a Pro Grappler, and 2-1 as a Pro MMA fighter.
Kid's coach BIOGRAPHIES
Barb Ciesnolevicz- Program Director/Head Cubs BJJ & Head Little Lions Striking Coach (See Bio above)
Joshua Kines, BJJ Purple belt, Assistant Little Lions BJJ Coach: Josh has been training in BJJ since 2018 but wrestled as a youth and high school student. He found his way to Jiu Jitsu because he missed the challenge wrestling used to bring to him, and he wanted to see if "BJJ Worked". Years later he will tell you Jiu Jitsu changed his life and he is enthusiastically impacting the youth of our program. Josh is an accomplished local gold medalist in multiple tournaments, a professional grappler, and is 3-2 as an Amateur MMA fighter. He is also one of three fighters in the gyms history to hit a heel hook submission in MMA other than head coach Mike Ciesnolevicz.
Travis Arnold, BJJ Purple Belt, Assistant Little Lions/Cubs BJJ Coach: Travis has been training in Martial Arts for over a decade but has gone from white to purple belt at Cies MMA. He has competed in multiple jiu jitsu tournaments locally and has fought MMA multiple times. What makes Coach Travis particularly special is his knack for working with kids. He is a coordinator at a local History Museum, and his expertise in Education shines bright on the mats when coaching our youth.
Kyle Kirk, BJJ Blue Belt, Assistant Little Lions BJJ Coach: Kyle has been training Jiu Jitsu since 2020 and is an integral part of our program. He has competed in multiple professional grappling matches and local tournament brackets. More than often coach Kyle walks away victorious, and shares his wealth of knowledge with our kids. He chose to help coach because he saw the value of jiu jitsu and wanted to pass it on to kids in hope it changed their life too.
