Former machine gunner who served in Iraq and Afghanistan wins 2025 title
CINCINNATI - A former Marine machine gunner who served in some of the bloodiest fighting in Afghanistan has become a world champion in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. John Leonard, an infantry squad leader who deployed to Iraq in 2009 and Afghanistan in 2010, won the 2025 world championship in the purple belt division.
“I’m a world champion in jiu-jitsu, purple belt,” Leonard said. “I had three matches, three quick submissions. My longest match was like two minutes.” Leonard enlisted straight out of high school in Jackson, Ohio. His sister, also a Marine, pushed him to sign up.His 2010 deployment came during one of the deadliest periods of the war. “2010 was like one of the bloodiest years of the entire war,” Leonard said. “We got a lot of firefights, a lot of IEDs, things like that.”“I think the most scared I was in the entire deployment was flying over Afghanistan — not of the situation, but just the heights and being in the back of the helicopter,” he said. Leonard credits his time on the battlefield and his exposure to martial arts in the Marines for inspiring his transition to competitive jiu-jitsu. John Leonard, an infantry squad leader who deployed to Iraq in 2009 and Afghanistan in 2010, won the 2025 world championship in the purple belt division.When he is not managing his team at Lincare in Evendale, he trains at Limitless Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Walnut Hills.Leonard is already training for his next world title match in December.Preliminary autopsy results revealed for American college student found dead in water in Spain15-year-old killed in North Avondale was considered a missing child, police sayUniversity of Toledo researchers seek volunteers for Lake Erie air quality study
Fox19 19 Fox News Channel Cincinnati Marine Veteran Jiu-Jitsu Champion John Leonard World Champion Bjj Gym Afghanistan Veteran Martial Arts Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Ohio Military Veteran Athlete
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