Gazzy Parman

Ghazaleh "Gazzy" Parman is one of the most accomplished female grapplers in the history of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Born in Tehran and raised in the United States, Gazzy discovered BJJ in 1998 through a chance encounter on her college campus. She struck a deal with instructor Joe Moreira — fold towels and clean the gym in exchange for free training, every single day for one full year. She accepted, began training twice daily while attending college, and was teaching classes within 18 months.

Her path to black belt demanded extraordinary sacrifice. She slept on warehouse mats, in gym locker rooms, and spent 15 months living inside John Lewis's academy in Las Vegas. She travelled to Brazil for high-level training — funded in part by Dana White and the UFC — sleeping in attics during tropical rainstorms to pursue mastery of the art. In January 2006, John Lewis awarded her the black belt, making her the first female American black belt under Team Nova Uniao.

Gazzy is a member of the Women's BJJ Dirty Dozen — the first 12 women outside of Brazil to earn the rank of black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. At the 2005 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship, she won what is recognized as the first-ever women's ADCC match in history, defeating 2x IBJJF World Champion Leticia Ribeiro in the opening round. She finished 4th overall in the inaugural women's division. She holds 17 Grapplers Quest championship titles, an IBJJF World No-Gi Championship, two Pan American Championship titles, and a NAGA Women's Pro title, among many others.

She is the first and only female inductee into the Grappling Hall of Fame, the first female athlete ever sponsored by Tapout, the first female athlete ever sponsored by the UFC, and the first female to conduct a seminar tour in the United Kingdom. Now holding a 4th Degree Black Belt, Gazzy trains and teaches at Kenny Kim BJJ in Marietta, Georgia, where she leads the youth no-gi program. Follow her on Instagram: @gazzyparman_realtor