David Avellan is an Americangrappler and professional mixed martial artist who has fought for World Extreme Cagefighting and Bodog Fight promotions. Past opponents include French journeyman Antony Rea and UFC contender Aaron Simpson. David has competed in the 2005 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship, the 2007 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship, the 2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship, where he won a Bronze Medal in the 87.9 kg division, and most recent the 2011 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship and the 2013 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship. He competed at the ADCC World Championship in 2015. David Avellan is most well known for his grappling techniques and abilities, with matches against Ronaldo Souza, Robert Drysdale, and Demian Maia. He holds victories over Brazilian Jiu JitsuBlack Belts Rafael Lovato Jr., Tarsis Humphreys, Amaury Bitetti, Roberto Abreu, Rener Gracie, and Alexandre Ribeiro. He has been featured in Grappling Magazine multiple times and has been featured in the local news as well. He continues to develop new training videos and techniques that are widely used in the MMA community including the Kimura Trap.
Personal life
Education : In early childhood David was misdiagnosed with autism, but credits his parent's home schooling and disbelief in this medical assessment as the reason for his normal development. He eventually re-entered the public school system without issues, and pursued math and science, eventually earning his bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Florida International University. Briefly, he worked in the science and technology industry. Entry into Athleticism : In his sophomore year of high school, he followed his brother into wrestling at Killian High School. He suffered from asthma and obesity as a child, but through athletic development and supervised nutrition was able to overcome these obstacles. His coach, Tirso Valls, was very strict and presented the foundations for his future grappling development through wrestling. Currently he resides in West Virginia and offers training camps and private lessons for students. He also gives lectures and seminars around the world. Information on his programs can be found at www.ffacoach.com
After a successful wrestling career in high school, David got into NHB fighting. He trained with a local martial arts school before beginning his own grappling club out of a Tae Kwon Do school. In 2001, Marcos And David Avellan opened the Freestyle Fighting Academy. David was 19 and Marcos was 20 years old at the time. They originally planned to create a place with a creative and open environment to practice their own training techniques and styles. After meeting Lloyd Irvin, the Avellan brothers were able to translate the simple gym mentality into a larger scale business operation, and the Freestyle Fighting Academy has become the biggest Mixed Martial Arts gym in South Florida with multiple locations, classes, and students. David and his brother continue to train and teach new generations of fighters on a regular basis.
