# Damien Anderson

> Damien Anderson goes by the fight name "Demon Hands." He's an American mixed martial artist, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, and co-owner of Simple Man Martial Arts in Austin, Texas.

Source: https://www.porradanutra.com/articles/stories/damien-anderson · Updated: 2026-09-04

Damien Anderson goes by the fight name "Demon Hands." He's an American mixed martial artist, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, and co-owner of Simple Man Martial Arts in Austin, Texas.

He fights in the UFC in the featherweight weight class (145lbs). He made his UFC debut in 2026, after running his professional record to 5-0. He finished every opponent he faced. He also holds an unusual title: the first clean knockout in the history of Combat Jiu-Jitsu Worlds, landed with open palms in a format built around grappling.

Before any of that, he was a Rutgers economics major who couldn't hold his hands up in a fight to save his life.

## Sports Background

Anderson was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He wrestled recreationally from third to eighth grade. He also played football and lacrosse growing up. He liked football best. He says that's because his stepdad always talked it up, and because nobody ever called a soccer player "tough.”

He enrolled at Rutgers to study economics. He'd never trained in martial arts. Then a drunken wrestling match with a friend led him to an on-campus jiu-jitsu club. He walked in with no idea what he was doing, and he got handled. That came as a surprise. He'd figured he could beat most of these people in a fight.

Two years later, he dropped out.

## Introduction To Jiu-Jitsu

At Rutgers, the jiu-jitsu club was run by Garry Tonon. Anderson followed him to his academy, New Wave, and trained there nearly every day. He didn't realize how good the room really was. One purple belt training beside him was largely unknown at the time: Gordon Ryan.

He was told flat out that he needed to train more. So he got a job at Tonon's gym, to maximize his mat time. He'd later credit that job with teaching him how to run a business.

## Belt Without A Straight Line

Anderson's belt history jumps around a lot, and he's trained under many coaches.

In short: Garry Tonon gave him his purple belt. When his team broke apart, he moved to John Danaher's group. Nicky Ryan promoted him to brown. Danaher himself gave him his black belt.

Three promotions, three different coaches, and he's never made a big deal about any of them. In Anderson's eyes, belts have always mattered less than whether you can get past someone's guard.

## Austin

Before Austin, he had funded his first solo academy back in New Jersey. He sold off roughly $2,000 in Ethereum to pay for it, rather than ask his family for help.

After he left New Wave, Anderson tried out 10th Planet. Then he spent almost a year doing nothing but jiu-jitsu, a self-described guard-puller who avoided standing up whenever he could. Eventually, he landed at B-Team in Austin. That ended a run that had taken him from New Jersey, through a brief 10th Planet stint, without him fully settling anywhere.

Austin is where he built up his stand-up game, from almost nothing. Later, he co-founded Simple Man Martial Arts.

## Becoming a Contender

Submission grappling was never Anderson's end goal. He wanted to pursue MMA. And his 5-0 record wasn't padded with easy fights. His opponents were genuine top competition: a heel hook on a previously undefeated grappler, a stoppage over a professional Muay Thai fighter, and a bounty fight against a professional boxer.

His nickname comes from one of the most iconic fights of his career. In 2022, at a Combat Jiu-Jitsu Worlds competition, he caught an opponent with a clean open-palm strike, the first true knockout in the format's history. The nickname followed almost immediately: "Demon Hands.”

## Advice From Elton Wells

One of the most important pieces of advice Anderson ever got came from Elton Wells. Wells was coaching at a Muay Thai gym across town from where Anderson lived. Anderson introduced himself, skipped the small talk, and told him he wanted to become the UFC bantamweight champion.

Wells was a former Nvidia software architect. After years there, he retired and picked up coaching full time. He rebuilt Anderson's entire striking approach around one idea: never engage until the position already favors you. Anderson has called himself a "theoretical" fighter ever since. He needs to understand how a technique works before he'll trust it in a fight.

## Modern Day Demon Hands

Anderson's undefeated run earned him a UFC call on five days' notice. That led to a fight in Oklahoma City, at featherweight, a full weight class above the bantamweight he'd been competing at. He took the opportunity anyway. He went the distance with Ezra Elliott, but dropped the decision. That took his record to 5-1.

He's 29 now. He still co-owns Simple Man Martial Arts. He co-hosts the podcast the gym is named after. And he's said, more than once, that he wants to coach once his competition run is over.

A Rutgers dropout who couldn't stand up straight, who put a bounty on his own head to get a fight booked, and who became the first man to knock someone out clean in Combat Jiu-Jitsu.