Beginning his journey in the martial arts at the age of 11, by 17 Steve had earned his first black belt in Tae Kwon Do. After moving to Florida, he started training Judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) with Bill Murphy and Marcio Simas and received the blue and purple belts under the Gracie Barra system. Bill stepped down and 2nd Degree Royce Gracie Black Belt, Charles dos Anjos, took over as head instructor of the Florida school. Under his tutelage, Steve received the brown and black belts from Master Royce Gracie. For the past 12 years, Steve has focused most of his training on BJJ, Judo and American Wrestling. In October of 2006, he was awarded the rank of black belt by Master Royce Gracie, the son of the founder of Gracie Jiu Jitsu(GJJ), Grand Master Helio Gracie (1913-2009).

At the time Steve was only the 9th Royce Gracie black belt given in the world. Steve is currently very competitive in the jiu-jitsu community, placing in many regional and international tournaments and competing in invitation-only superfights. He supports the growth of the sport as an active competitor and the head referee for the North American Grappling Association. He has been traveling internationaly with NAGA for over 10 years, as well as teaching seminars to the competitors for many of the tournaments. Steve also teaches seminars to many Royce Gracie network schools, several local schools and Miltary and Law Enforcment in North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Florida.

Steve has also competed in several mixed martial arts (MMA) competitions with an amature record of 4-1 and pro record of 3-2.

Awards and Accomplishments

2010 Nominated for the United States Martial Arts Hall Of Fame

2010 NAGA Charlotte 1st place, Gi Brown/Black Cruiser

2010 NAGA Charlotte 2nd place, No-Gi Expert Light Heavy

2009 U.S. Grappling 1st place, Gi Black Belt Absolute

2009 NAGA D.C. 1st place, Gi Masters Black Belt Cruiser

2009 NAGA Atlanta 1st place, Gi Masters Black Belt Cruiser

2009 NAGA Midwest 2nd place, Gi Black Belt Cruiser

2009 NAGA U.S. Open 1st place, No-gi Expert Light Heavy

2008 NAGA Midwest 2nd place Black Belt Absolute

2007 NAGA Midwest 1st place Black Belt Absolute

2007 NAGA Florida, 2nd place Gi Black Belt Light Heavy

2007 NAGA U.S. Nationals, 1st Place, Expert division

2007 NAGA Las Vegas, 2nd place

2006 Recieved the Black Belt in GJJ from Royce Gracie

2006 NAGA Georgia, 2nd place

2006 NAGA Florida, 1st place

2006 NAGA Ohio, superfight champion

2004 Golden Sidekick Open, grand champion

2004 American Cup, 1st place

2004 Pro Am, 1st place

2003 Recieved the Brown Belt in GJJ from Royce Gracie

2003 International Grappling Challenge, 2nd place

2002 Extreme Sport Combat Champion

2001 Awarded Best of the Best Purple Belt AMA

2001 NAGA Nationals, 1st place

2001 NAGA Nationals, 3rd place

2000 Florida State Championships, 3rd place

1999 Florida State Championships, 1st place

1998 SEFFC, 1st place