Rising Star Conner Deangelis Leaves Atos To Train At Keenan Cornelius’ Legion Jiu-Jitsu

May 22, 2020

One of Atos’ accomplished up-and-coming competitors has announced that he’ll be leaving the affiliation to instead train at Legion Jiu-Jitsu under Keenan Cornelius.

The 23-year-old brown belt made a statement on social media praising Atos figurehead Andre Galvao and explaining the thought process that led to the change:

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When I was an 18 year old blue belt I moved away from my family and first professor because I believed it was the best decision for my future. During this short time away from Jiu-Jitsu, I started thinking of my future once again. For the past 5 years I was so focused on becoming a Black-Belt World Champion that I forgot to think how I wanted my life to be in 10, 20, or even 40 years from now. Thinking, like so, has caused me to make yet another difficult decision. I have decided to leave Atos BJJ and have moved to Legion AJJ. I have and will maintain nothing but respect and admiration for Galvão and will always be extremely proud to have been his student. This decision was made purely based on my own self interest and logic. Life to me is about growing and improving, and this is the next stage on my path. Everyone’s path is different 🤙❤️

A post shared by Darin – Conner – DeAngelis (@dc_deangelis) on May 21, 2020 at 8:38am PDT

“When I was an 18 year old blue belt I moved away from my family and first professor because I believed it was the best decision for my future. During this short time away from Jiu-Jitsu, I started thinking of my future once again. For the past 5 years I was so focused on becoming a Black-Belt World Champion that I forgot to think how I wanted my life to be in 10, 20, or even 40 years from now. Thinking, like so, has caused me to make yet another difficult decision. I have decided to leave Atos BJJ and have moved to Legion AJJ. I have and will maintain nothing but respect and admiration for Galvão and will always be extremely proud to have been his student. This decision was made purely based on my own self interest and logic. Life to me is about growing and improving, and this is the next stage on my path. Everyone’s path is different 🤙❤️“

The young athlete has been one of Atos’ top colored belt stars throughout the years, and Galvao once called him “the best blue belt in the world” a few years ago. Deangelis also cleaned up at purple belt, winning Worlds and No-Gi Worlds, Euros, and Pans (division and absolute) before moving on to brown belt, where he’s since won the Rio Grand Slam. He’s also been highlighted for his decision to pack up his life and live in a van so that he could get the training experience he wanted.