Hellfish MMA founder and head coach Tim Carpenter has been training in the Martial arts for over 20 years. As an overweight teenager, he took up Judo in order to lose weight, get in shape, and learn how to defend himself. After being pushed to compete by Sensei Joe Condello of Liberty Bell Judo, Coach Tim went on to become a Junior Olympic, and High School National Champion in Judo, as well as winning the Pennsylvania State Championship at the age of 18.
Tim took up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under American Jiu Jitsu pioneer Steve Maxwell in 1997 and was awarded his blue belt by Royce Gracie within 4 months of training.
At this point Tim shifted his focus to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Competition. He won the Pan American Championship in 2004 and the USA vs Brazil Championship in 2005 becoming one of the few Americans at the time to defeat a Brazilian Champion in competition. He also won numerous local and national tournaments including the Arnold Classic, Gracie World Championships, NAGA, US Grappling and Grappler Quest tournaments. He was also invited to compete in the ADCC world championships of submission grappling in 2007 where he defeated top UFC fighter Tim Boetsch before losing to eventual champion Xande Ribeiro.
In 2005 he shifted his focus to mixed martial arts adding the arts of Boxing and Muay Thai to his already dangerous grappling skills. With no amateur experience, he compiled a 7-0 professional record, along the way defeating 3 world class BJJ blackbelts including world champion and Pride FC veteran Daniel Gracie, becoming one of the few americans jiu jitsu practitioners to defeat a Gracie in MMA.
After fighting in the first two Bellator MMA Light-heavyweight tournaments, he shifted his focus to teaching. First as Jiu Jitsu and MMA head instructor of Nak Muay Gym in King of Prussia before opening Hellfish Mixed Martial Arts in 2017.
“Tim Carpenter is a master teacher on a quest for excellence. I highly recommend training with him at Hellfish Mixed Martial Arts. It’s a great environment full of people eager to learn, train, and improve their craft without the big egos found in other gyms. I highly recommend working with Tim. His BJJ and MMA training is the best!”
– Raul Ibanez, MLB, Philadelphia Phillies
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