Chivichyan began his training as a child in Soviet Armenia, winning national junior titles in judo, sambo, and wrestling.

[citation needed] At the age of 17, Chivichyan relocated to Los Angeles, California where he continued his training in catch wrestling and judo under Gene LeBell, a grappler who learned from Lou Thesz and Ed "Strangler" Lewis.

[8][1] Since then, his school has produced fighters such as Manvel Gamburyan, Sako Chivitchian, Neil Melanson, Karen Darabedyan, Roman Mitichyan, Ronda Rousey, and Karo Parisyan, who have competed in the UFC, WEC, King of the Cage, Olympics and national championships.

[10] He competed in the male masters (49 years) middleweight division, winning gold after defeating Gary Butts by uchi mata in the finals.

[4] In August 2019, Chivichyan competed at the IBJJF World Master Jiu-Jitsu Championship, winning gold in the black belt-heavyweight-master 6 age division.