About Me

I'm Jimmy "Frodo" Cerra, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter from Pittsburgh, PA. Randy Jones was my first instructor at the CMU Grappling Club in 2005. My original goals were simply to lose weight & have fun. I quickly exceeded my own expectations and fell in love with competition!

I currently run the martial arts studio, Team Balance Pittsburgh. Eventually the head instructor of Team Balance, Phil Migliarese, promoted me to brown belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. I'm also a brown belt in judo, trained many other martial arts such as Muay Thai, and have refereed many tournaments.

I've also fought in many grappling competitions and MMA bouts. While training in Philadelphia, I was a finalist at the 2010 ADCC North American Trials. I owe a big debt of gratitude to Phil Migliarese for the opportunity to train with some of the best grapplers & fighters in the country!

By far, my biggest challenge has been to return to competition after a very serious shoulder injury. I am very thankful to family and friends, my doctors, physical therapists at UPMC Sports Medicine, my teammates at Balance, and to God for helping me through this journey. Here are some highlights of my competition record:

2011

• US Grappling Philadelphia - Champion (Advanced No-Gi, Masters Advanced No-Gi & Brown Belt)
• Grapplers Quest New England - Champion (Masters Brown Belt)
• US Grappling Rochester - Champion (Advanced No-Gi & Brown Belt)
• WV State Games - Champion (Advanced Gi)
• IBJJF Chicago Open - Champion (Masters Brown Belt)
• US Grappling Maryland - Champion (Brown Belt)
• PA Combat Sports Games - Champion (Advanced No-gi)

2010

• ADCC North American Trials - Finalist
• Matrix Fights 3 - Won 6th Amateur MMA fight
• US Grappling Chicago - Champion (Advanced No-gi & Purple Belt)
• WV State Games - "Superfight" Champion (No-gi)
• Dominion Grappling Championships - Champion (Purple Belt)
• Delaware State Games - Champion (Advanced No-gi)
• GZFS Submission-Only 3 - Champion (Advanced No-gi)
• Matrix Fights 1 - Won 3rd Amateur MMA Fight

2009

• US Grappling Submission-Only 6 - Champion (Advanced No-gi)
• GZFS Submission-Only - "Superfight" Champion (Gi)
• Cage of Chaos Halloween - Won 2nd Amateur MMA Fight
• Cage of Chaos Anarchy - Won 1st Amateur MMA Fight
• Bud Cup - Champion (Purple Belt)

2008

• Dominion Grappling Championships - Champion (Purple Belt)
• Kumite Classic - Champion (Purple Belt)

2007

• Midwest Grappling Open 3 - Champion (Advanced Gi)