‘The Big Hit’ is now a blue belt

Kelvin “The Big Hit” Fitial, right, is congratulated by Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach Cuki Alvarez during his blue belt promotion ceremony at the Tech Gym. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Mixed martial arts fighter Kelvin “The Big Hit” Fitial recently earned his blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu at Trench Tech Gym.

The 38-year-old said it’s about time to supplement his stand-up fighting skills with Brazilian jiu-jitsu and that’s why he’s been refining his craft with the help of Trench Tech Gym owner and Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach Cuki Alvarez.

“It’s been a journey since my first event fight in 2005. I was much younger and eager to stand and punch, and that kept me going for a while. But then I saw that even the big guys I was fighting were starting to try jiu-jitsu moves on me, so I started to learn the basics and have been using as much as I could over my career.” 

Following a couple of setbacks inside the octagon in the U.S. mainland, Fitial decided to go back to his roots and once again teamed up with Trench Tech and the venerable Alvarez.

“Only recently I decided to focus on the discipline and art of Brazilian jiu-jitsu with coach Cuki Alvarez. A lot of people don’t know that I started with Trench Tech and as I grew older and became a father and husband I wanted to come back and give myself to the art and to coach. I wanted to be promoted here at Trench Tech.”

With his newly acquired blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Fitial hopes to prolong his career in mixed martial arts.

“For the past five years I’ve gotten to understand the science of my body. What you put in it, how to stretch, how to endure. That training helped my natural abilities as a boxer. Wrestling in the U.S., defense and jiu-jitsu here on Saipan, and taking care of my muscles have been my focus in training these past years,” he said.

Alvarez, for his part, gave Fitial praise for his renewed dedication to Brazilian jiu-jitsu and him returning to Trench Tech Gym.

“Kelvin joined Trench Tech full time and has been very consistent these past four months training and has really improved a lot on the technical aspect of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, learning and refining his skills on the mat.”

The veteran mixed martial arts fighter dubbed “The Cockroach,” agreed that Fitial focusing on improving his Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills will only bode well for his MMA career.

“As you know, Kelvin is known for his stand-up game and knocking people out in the octagon and has been representing the CNMI the past 18 years in the MMA arena. He has fought in Guam, where he became the Pacific Xtreme Combat heavyweight champion in 2011, Philippines, Korea, Japan, and other places in the Asian region.”

He said during that time Fitial joined almost all of Trench Tech’s grappling jiu-jitsu tournaments held locally called The Art of War Submission Grappling Challenge and has won gold, silver, and bronze.

“So his ground game is kind of underrated, but has really improved the last four months. After seeing him improve and apply the techniques he has acquired on the mat during sparring, I knew it was time to promote him to blue belt. He moves a lot more efficiently on the ground and is improving daily on his journey to becoming a well-rounded martial artist,” said Alvarez.