Kolby Gonzales: Las Cruces’ Teenage Champion

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Kolby Gonzales, at just 14 years old, is already one of the most accomplished jujitsu wrestlers in the world. He is just a few weeks removed from winning the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) Youth World Championships in Las Vegas.

"It was honestly the best experience in my life. It was, just insane being on that stage at the T-Mobile. You know, there's 20,000 seats and, there's just everybody just around you. It's crazy. The lights. And you're the center stage."

Kolby is not only a world champion, but he also won the Brazilian National Championship last year. In the last two years, he has 10 separate ADCC titles to his name.

For the accolades he has, Kolby's schedule has to be as rigorous as you would imagine. He trains five days a week, starting at 7 AM in Las Cruces, and ending at nearly 10 PM in El Paso.

That schedule got even more intense leading up to his tournament win in Vegas.

"Just to get to that level and, like, be ready. I had to have a strict training, strict diet, everything. And, it was a real sacrifice with my food. Like, can't have any junk food, which sucks. I had to clean for about, I'd say three months and then, like 3 or 4 pounds. It wasn't much to lose, but eating clean was the big thing."

Kolby has had two professors for most of his life, Jeff Vigil and Frisco DeLeon. They've coached him for the last 8 years and know first hand who and what he can be.

"Man, he eats, breathes, sleeps jiujitsu. Day in, day out, all night. It's what he thinks about when he wakes up is what he thinks about, when he goes to bed it's what he's doing, you know, all day and night." said DeLeon.

Vigil had the exact same sentiment.

"Kolby is 100% dedicated. I mean and again it's at the end. It's all him. And he's he's not been asked to do these training sessions that he does or to be a participating in it. But he's the one that gets in there and does it. He's a part of it."

Kolby started out playing all kinds of sports, including soccer, basketball, and football. But he never liked the team aspect of those sports.

He started jujitsu when he was just five years old and fell in love with it immediately.

Kolby hated losing with the team because it allowed the blame to be put on others, but with jujitsu, it's all on him, win or lose.

"Whenever I lose, it. Just, brings something out of me, and honestly, you never want to lose, but, like, losing is, is what propels you to the next level and giving you that drive and passion," Kolby told ABC-7.

Kolby's father, Michael, never pushed Kolby into the sport. He says it's all been Kolby's dedication that's got him here. Kolby started with a free class 10 years ago and has not looked back since.

"I've always given the choice since he was a baby. You want to train? Do you not want to train? Do you want to go to this tournament? Do you not? And he always made the choice of yes 100% of the time."

Since he was 6 years old, Kolby's main goal has been to be an MMA fighter, with aspirations of winning a UFC title.

On his weekends, he goes up to Albuquerque and trains at Jackson Wink MMA, one of the top gyms in the country. He is just 3 years away from competing at the MMA level, and his father knows he has the chance to be great at that too.

"He got signed on to Jackson Wink MMA as the youngest ever to get signed by Jackson Wink MMA. And they've got, you know from Jon Jones, Holly Holm, George Saint Pierre, Rashad Evans, Diego Sanchez, Cub Swanson. They've had some of the best ever come out of those doors."

It's been a lifelong journey for Kolby to be a world champion, and he doesn't have any intentions of stopping now.

"ADCC Adult Worlds is definitely the next step, and then Who's Number One would also be a big one for me. Of course I train camp, like, for four months, but it's really been my whole life leading up to this, you know. My whole life is what got me to this point in time."

Kolby is homeschooled, but still wrestles for the Las Cruces High School team, as he began his freshman year just a few weeks ago. He won a state title for Las Cruces High as an 8th grader.

He wanted to give LCHS a shoutout, as well as Three Crosses Jujitsu, his first gym.

Zia Martial Arts was another gym where he trains at that he wanted to give praise to.

"I just want to say thank you to everybody who supported me and helped me along this journey... just want to thank everyone who's gotten me to this point."

This Saturday, he'll head up to Austin, celebrate his 15th birthday on Sunday, and then compete in a tournament with some of the best fighters in the world on October 6th.

His father said that they'd love for him to go to college and get his degree, but until then, he'll just have to settle for some more world championships.

To keep up with Kolby's journey, you can find his Instagram account here.