Erik Paulson: First American Shooto World Champion & MMA Pioneer | Combat Submission Wrestling Ep 36

The Ageless Warrior Lab · Mar 14, 2026 · 1h 37m · transcript

In this episode, I sit down with Erik Paulson, a true pioneer of mixed martial arts and one of the first Americans to compete professionally in Japan's Shooto organization. Erik is the first American Shooto World Champion, a BJJ lback belt under Rigan Machado, and currently coaches top-level grapplers and fighters including the Ruotolo brothers.

Links for Show notes:

https://erikpaulson.com/

https://www.instagram.com/erikpaulson/

https://www.instagram.com/csw_headquarters/

https://cswfullerton.com/

Rorion Gracie: https://www.roriongracie.com/

Royce Gracie…