Sam grew up in a small town in Wisconsin where he progressed to playing first chair trumpet in High School.  His love of WWE and Ninja Turtles led him to start working out and lifting weights.  In his Sophomore year of college, while competing in a Kobodo tournament, he stumbled into a Pankration tournament and ended up taking Gold.  From there he founded a Pankration program that quickly turned to MMA when he lost his first amateur fight in 2007.  He then went on quite a streak, winning his next 10 fights, extending into his professional career.  He was able to coach from the very beginning of his interest in the sport.  As his talent and knowledge grew, so did that of his students.  He made a move to Dan Henderson’s Team Quest in Temecula, CA in 2010 where he started formally training Jiu Jitsu with Ricardo “Pantcho” Feliciano.  He was able to compete in, and have success in Bellator and The Ultimate Fighter during this time.  He started picking up more classes at Team Quest.  After making his UFC debut in 2014 he became the head coach for the childrens and amateur programs.  Sam started training BJJ under Joe Stevenson as a purple belt in 2018.  With over 50 professional fights, 14 years of training, and being able to coach through his own journey Sam has developed a teaching style that has seen many of his own students on to successful paths in fighting and on the mats. He is currently a one stripe brown belt and head grappling coach at Checkmat BJJ Mt. Juliet.