Kevin Mahecha is a respected jiu-jitsu black belt under Jonatas Gurgel, who is well known for his technical grappling style, one heavily reliant on modern techniques such as the berimbolo and crab-ride – a style he shares with his twin brother, the equally successful, Brian Mahecha. Although born in New York, Kevin is mostly known as one of Florida’s foremost grapplers, the state he adopted during his adulthood. Kevin has defeated many of jiu-jitsu’s top athletes, including Tim Spriggs, Michael Liera Jr, Rodrigo Freitas.Kevin Mahecha was born on October 3rd, 1988 in Manhattan – New York, USA.Growing up, both Kevin and his twin brother Brian felt strongly connected with martial arts/combat sports. This connection led Kevin Kevin to join a Kung Fu and Kickboxing club at the age of 15. His brother following his footsteps shortly after.Over the next couple of years, the Mahecha brothers gravitated towards Kickboxing. With strong work ethics and a great mentor/role model by their side, coach Jarett “JP” Perelmutter, the two New Yorkers started making a name in the sport. Their strongest achievements being a silver medal at the prestigious IFK World Championship – 2008 (Kevin under muay Thai rules, Brian under international rules).Mr. Perelmutter instilled in both athletes the drive to compete, pushing the Mahecha’s to their limits from their formative years, onwards. This developed the revered work ethics that would characterize the brothers in their jiu-jitsu careers.Jiu-jitsu was gradually implemented in the Mahecha’s lives. The brothers first started playing with grappling concepts through Bas Rutten’s DVDs, attempting to implement the techniques watched between themselves and often with their striking coach, Mr. Perelmutter. That curiosity eventually led the Brian and Kevin to the American Top Team academy (ATT) on November 2007, where both introduced to a jiu-jitsu curriculum by the illustrious Ricardo Libório.The initial contact with Libório helped cement the two brothers’ interest for jiu-jitsu. Another source of inspiration for the Mahechas was coach Emyr “Shark” Bussade who also led many of Brian and Kevin’s early classes.July 2008 brought a defining moment in the Mahecha bros lives when Kevin and Brian were awarded their respective blue belts by Master Ricardo Libório. It was after this proud moment that the brothers decided to make the decisive switch from striking to grappling, committing 100% to Brazilian jiu-jitsu.Early in 2009, when coach Bussade opened his own academy in Wellington (still under the ATT umbrella) both of the Mahecha’s followed the instructor, who promoted them to purple belt later that year. It was at ATT Wellington that the two brothers would start being a part of the coaching staff, developing a style of teaching heavily influenced by their coach.