Keenan Cornelius
Keenan Cornelius began his journey in grappling as a hobby with friends at the age of 14, and soon thereafter began training under Cassio Werneck – then moving to Hawaii to train under B.J. Penn for three years. From here, he transferred to team Lloyd Irvin at the rank or purple belt. It was during these years that Keenan made a name for himself as both a gi and no gi competitor, with double-gold wins at the Pan Ams and Worlds, and wins against grapplers like Rustam “The Russian Bear.”
Today Keenan trains at Atos, San Diego, California, where he also resides.
Keenan is known for being a prime mover of the “modern” form of sport Jiu Jitsu. With innovative techniques, creative thinking and strategy, Keenan have succeeded in developing not only a few new moves, but a complete arsenal of attacks and defences from new guards he named the Worm-guard, Mantis guard, and reversed de la Riva Worm just to mention a few of them along side his competitive strategy.
2012
On February 28th, Keenan won the Abu Dhabi World Pro Trials Montreal Purple belt +74kg absolute division.
In April, Keenan competed in the World Pro Jiu-Jitsu Cup, winning his division (-82kg.) and earning a bronze in the absolute division.
On June 26, Keenan is promoted to brown belt under Lloyd Irvin.
2013
On February 27, Keenan announced his split from Team Lloyd Irvin. A few days later, it was officially announced that he would be joining Atos Jiu-Jitsu.
After his transition to Atos, Keenan continued his run as the most accomplished brown belt in the history of the sport, winning nearly every major tournament at his weight and open class.
On September 14, Keenan was promoted to black belt under André Galvão.
On December 8, Keenan won the medium-heavy/heavyweight division of the 2nd IBJJF Pro League for the prize of $5,000 by defeating Diego Gamoral and Jackson Souza.
2014
On March 29, 2014, Keenan was scheduled to face Vinny Magalhaes in Metamoris III. However, Vinny was forced to withdraw before the match, being hospitalized with a MRSA infection. He was replaced by Rickson black belt Kevin Casey. The match ended as a win for Keenan, using 50/50 guard and getting a submission with an inside heel hook.
In April, Keenan competed in the 2014 Abu Dhabi BJJ World Pro Championship, winning bronze in the black belt adult 94kg division.
On August 09, 2014, Keenan competed against Vinny Magalhaes at Metamoris IV. The match ended in a draw although Keenan was widely regarded as having the best of the encounter, with Magalhaes seeming frustrated at Keenan's unorthodox guard and movement.