Neil Melanson

Melanson specializes in catch wrestling, while drawing elements from judo, and focuses his coaching specifically, but not exclusively, on grappling in mixed martial arts.

Melanson's hybrid grappling style comes from his training under Gene LeBell, Gokor Chivichyan, and Karo Parisyan (who awarded him his black belt) at the Hayastan MMA Academy.

Gene LeBell learned catch wrestling from feared wrestlers Lou Thesz and Ed "Strangler" Lewis, which is mixed with Gokor Chivichyan's expertise in judo and sambo.

[2] Throughout his career, the professional fighters Melanson has trained include: Randy Couture, Karo Parisyan, Gray Maynard, Todd Duffee, Goran Reljic, Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, Anthony Johnson, Patrick Cummins, Michael Chandler and also professional wrestler Bryan Danielson.

[4] Melanson's book "Mastering Triangle Chokes: Ground Marshal Submission Grappling" was released by Victory Belt Publishing.