Jay Regalbuto making a difference in the BJJ community
I met Jay Regalbuto a couple of years ago when I visited South Jersey Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Berlin, NJ to interview a mixed martial arts fighter who had an upcoming fight. Jay and I hit it off right away as he was very welcoming as one of the coaches there and he gave off such energy that showed how much he loved his craft and teaching it to others. Since that time, he has extended himself in the BJJ community even more as he travels to Studio 84 AJJ and MMA in Cream Ridge, NJ to teach competition classes as well and has done a tremendous job as the commentator for one of the best grappling events around in Fight 2 Win.
Regalbuto is always the first one to put his hand out to help others up and improve their skills. He is a blackbelt under Steve Bongiorno at SJBJJ which is a Ricardo Almeida affiliated academy and they believe in an open door policy when it comes to men and women training in BJJ. Neither of them would hesitate to give their time or mat space to improve people’s lives. We caught up with Jay to see how things were going as he prepared for another Fight 2 Win event. I was curious about his take on many of the regions MMA fighters competing in the grappling events while still waiting for restrictions to be lifted allowing them back in the cage. He says…
“Not only are the MMA fighters jumping in, they’re doing very well. Andre Petroski had a fantastic match. He is a strong, durable grappler. Bassil Hafez from was so impressive. He went against Jason Rau who is one of theses guys that nobody wants to roll with. He is a high level blackbelt under Renzo Gracie and his leglock game is just crazy good. Bassil was phenomenal even in a losing effort. Considering Bassil works on striking and everything else to be a pro MMA fighter, the fact that he was so competitive and tough against someone who all he does is grapple was really amazing.”
Please check out our whole chat on the link above. Regalbuto talks abut many of the talented BJJ practitioners in the area and his role of calling the action at F2W . As I did, you will see the glow that he has talking about his love for the craft. Jay has become a leader in the region of teaching and promoting his passion. If you are in the area, look him up and get a roll in. You will be better for it.
