About Jess Papi

Jess Papi got her start in the martial arts world by joining a women’s only muay Thai class when she was fifteen years old. After about a year of striking classes, she started taking sporadic jiu jitsu classes, but mostly focused on her muay Thai training. A handsome young man by the name of Frank always attended the classes even though he did not like striking very much. They ended up training together a lot and he suggested to her that she train jiu jitsu more often. Jess took his advice and started going to three jiu jitsu classes per week. Jess Papi officially started her jiu jitsu career in 2011. Not long after, she started her relationship with Frank Alogna, one of the jiu jitsu instructors at Scranton MMA.

Jess is a blue belt from Scranton MMA, a Royce Gracie affiliate in Pennsylvania. As a white belt she competed in a few tournaments, but her real love for competing did not come about until a year after getting her blue belt. She has earned medals at small scale local tournaments and international IBJJF competitions. She is proudly sponsored by Girl-Jitsu.

Jess is currently enrolled at the University of Scranton and is studying exercise science. She aspires to become a physical therapist and use her skills to help understand and treat injuries that occur frequently on the grappling mats.

Jess Papi

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Lessons From Robson Moura (Athlete Journal 32)