Chad “Kodiak” Fields is a BJJ black belt and avid competitor from Columbus Ohio who currently trains in Miami Florida under Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu at Fight Sports Gym. Kodiak got into the sport very late in 2008 at 32 years old, which is pretty much unheard of from a modern day competitor. He briefly trained BJJ when he was 19 years old but didn’t train much at all mentioning “drinking was more important [to me]” at this point in his life.
He had a brief MMA amateur career in which he went 3-0 by taking down all 3 opponents and choking them. The decision to quit MMA was quite easy since he did not like getting punched in the face and MMA was not his passion. He won the fights but the risk and reward was not there due to the damage you can take despite winning the fight.
Younger Years In Taekwondo & Entry To BJJ
Kodiak was a competitor in Taekwondo in his younger years but says “The problem with Taekwondo is that it’s been pussified now” – this is a problem we see with traditional martial arts being watered down in modern day. He says “every single tournament I would get a penalty for excessive force, for kicking someone too hard”.
Due to being penalized nonstop for excessive force, it was his friend who asked him to try out BJJ again. When he first tried BJJ he was 260lbs, a powerlifter, as well as being a Taekwondo national and state champion.
During his first class he was only allowed to spar with two of the smaller technical higher belts claiming “the harder I came at them, the harder they would beat me”. He adds “I would get pissed and there was nothing I could do about it”.
Kodiak talked his way in the advanced class despite not having the required 2 strips on his white belt saying he wouldn’t sign up if he wasn’t allowed to do it. Eventually, he was let in if he agreed to tap early and tap often.
During this period he would train 3 hours in back to back classes Monday to Friday, as well as a class on Saturday with open mat on Sundays. He mentions “Grappling creates an authenticity in each of us, that fills the void”
On His Nickname “Kodiak”
The nickname Kodiak comes from a late 1990’s movie called The Edge. The plot of the movie is a bear who is hunting men in the Alasakan wilderness. Chad already had the nickname “bear” from his wife, due to the amount of hair on his body. It was only natural that during the film that they were able to put 2+2 together and realise that Kodiak would be a good name for him, which has stuck through his entire MMA & BJJ career.
Traning Under Cyborg
The Fight Sports Gym has a Champ Fit program before BJJ training in the morning which is run by Maggie Grindatti. He says “she has changed the way us meatheads think about strength and conditioning, it’s all jiu-jitsu applicable“. He goes on to add “it’s unlike anything I’ve ever done before, it builds mental strength”. He credits this workout for him and the other guys training for staying in such good. Considering the achievements of Cyborg and his students this approach is clearly working well.
Kodiak speaks extremely highly of Fight Sports Miami under Cyborg’s leadership. He says “it’s not always the same type of porrada, our coaching staff overall do a very good job of making sure we’re not overtraining.”
He quips “If Cyborg had a secret scroll that showed you how to build champions I wouldn’t be surprised”. He mentions that he trains alongside Cyborg, Vanger Rocha, Viktor Doria, Gilbert Burns, Orlando Castillo as well as many other talented people not mentioned. “I’ve never experienced anything like it” he adds.
On His BJJ Style
When training in general Kodiak loves everything that works. His style is a simple and effective. Takedown the opponent, pass them with pressure and the submit them. In the gi from bottom positions Kodiak is a fan of closed guard, specifically with the cross sleeve grip. From here is able to set up a variety of submissions, which if defended can then be recountered with a simple hip bump sweep. He also mentions he does play spider and lapel guard due to his old professor Roberto Traven and adds you cannot train under him without learning this.
He credits Cyborg, Vagner Rocha & Viktor Doria for having the most influence on his current style and game, saying that he is pretty much a hybrid of these 3 due to how much they have beaten him. He also adds that Dr. Chris Haraszti, Jeff Boudreaux & Chris Jones played a major roll in his overall development whilst he was training with Master Roberto Traven in Atlanta.
Knee Reconstruction
His worst injury was a full knee reconstruction, something which a lot of athletes never fully recover from due to the complexity of this joint. Kodiak says “ACL, LCL & Meniscus [all needed repair]”. After the surgery, he was told it would take 6 months to fully recover for football athletes and longer for a BJJ athlete since the movements are more violent.
Due to the level of skill from the doctors and physiotherapist Kodiak was able to recover extremely quickly, doing no resistance drilling after just 3 months. This recovery was made complete when he won the Pan Ams 6 months to the day after the surgery. Something most people would think to be impossible.
Battling Alcohol Addiction
Kodiak battled an alcohol addicition earlier in his life and describes himself as an extremist with repetitive behaviour, something we actually see a lot from BJJ competitors who manage to turn their extreme tendancies on to a more positive outlet such as training non-stop. Kodiak says “I used to get in to binge drinking for 3 or 4 days, the party wouldn’t stop”.
Eventually after AA and therapy, Kodiak realised he was drinking because he wasn’t happy with who he was, he mentions “I was trying to fill this void with alcohol”. Now fully recovered, he has abstained from alcohol for many periods of his life and now only drinks on special occasions such as his birthday, knowing that it is fully under control.
He adds “alcohol was not the problem, it was my head. It didn’t matter if it was alcohol [or anything else]. If it was in front of me I would use it.”
The main reason for not drinking anymore is that he simply does not like the effects. He says “It’s just not worth it to me, if i’m hung over for 3 or 4 days and can’t train – I don’t need that in my life”.
Achievements
When competing Kodiak usually finds himself in the Ultra heavyweight category walking around at approximately 235lbs. He describes his best achievement as winning the Pan Ams, as well as the worlds No Gi which was his first tournament training with Fight Sports. You can find a full list of his achievements here.
He credits his latest Pan Ams win due to the fact that Saulo Ribeiro was meant to be in his bracket. Ribeiro was stuck in Brazil and couldn’t make the tournament but Kodiak’s mind was already set on beating him. “I wanted that fight so bad, but unfortunately Saulo was not able to make it. When somebody that legendary comes into your bracket you get pumped up” He goes on to mention his mindset was so strong “I truly believe there wasn’t a man on the planet who could beat me in my bracket that day”.
On His Good Friend Tom DeBlass
Kodiak will square off against his friend Tom DeBlass on November 14th at F2W 157. Both play very similar games with DeBlass being the significantly more experienced competitor who was actually a black belt before Kodiak began training. Kodiak claims he was “honored to be given the opportunity” and “to share the stage with somebody of this caliber is humbling”.
With that being said Kodiak says “I am not here to fight the name, I am coming to fight the man, we are going to have a battle”.
Kodiak says “Tom and I became friends through social media and then hung out after a seminar”. He goes on to add “Tom and I share very similar philosophies about being a good person, treating people well, building people up” describing him as “very easy to collaborate with”.
Sponsors & Charity Support
Kodiak says he thinks sponsorships are a young mans game and doesn’t really want to be restricted by what he can and cannot wear for a tournament or photographs. He is an avid supporter of the We Defy Foundation which supports disabled combat veterans against suicide, since the government does not help enough.
He would also like to mention Fighters Choice supplements which is run by his Fight Sports teammate, Viktor Dorian.
