Michael Salazar

Born and raised in Dallas Texas, Michael grew up playing a multitude of sports before he found martial arts. He grew up mainly focusing on playing football most of his childhood, until high school where he switched from football to boxing, looking for a different sport where he didn’t have to depend on the performance of others to win.

He eventually tried out an MMA gym where he did kickboxing and grappling for the first time. That search for an independent sport, where Michael would only have to rely on his skills alone, lead him to jiu jitsu. Michael was given his blue and purple belt from Keiser Girao, a black belt from Checkmat. Then, Michael moved on to Soul Fighters where he eventually received his black belt from Bruno “tank” Mendes. Michael has competed in lightweight and middleweight through his entire competition career, both gi and no-gi. While Michael is a no-gi specialist, what most don’t know is that before his obsession with no-gi, he was somewhat of a lapel guard specialist.  

Michael moved to San Diego for his wife, who landed her dream job in San Diego. Deeming Michael both a lover and a fighter.