Welcome to ‘The Open GuardCast Jiu-Jitsu Podcast’, which is a project dedicated to promoting jiu-jitsu professionals. Tune in each week, for interviews, current events, & analysis of everything going on in the world of jiu-jitsu and submission grappling! Your host is Danny O’Donnell. In addition to hosting this podcast, he is an MMA journalist contributing here at Bloody Elbow, as well as at Black Belt Mag. O’Donnell himself is a BJJ black belt who trains at the Marcio Andre Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Phoenix, AZ. Danny is joined by his Co-Host, Jake Watson, who is also a trained BJJ black belt, as well as the Asst Coach affiliated with the Maracaba BJJ Academy out of Mesa, AZ. Jake is also an occasional commentator for flograppling.com. Our guest this week is Alejandro Wajner, one of the stars of the ‘Daisy Fresh’ documentary series on FloGrappling.com, a purple belt under Heath Pedigo; he is also the head wrestling coach at Mount Vernon Township High School. In this episode we discuss how he ended up training with the Pedigo team, the injuries he’s sustained as a purple belt, and his plans to return to competition. Q1: How did you get into grappling? Please about how you were first introduced to wresttlng? Q2: I’ve heard Bellator treats their fighters great. Corey Anderson said he got paid much better in Bellator. Why wouldn’t the UFC do that? Q3: Bellator was Strikeforce 2.0, basically? I thought Scott Coker had just switched roles; but it turns out he just bought out Bellator? Q4: When did you first get into MMA? Do you remember a specific moment either through watching a fight or training with friends that you decided to pursue fighting? Q5: Were you training in the gi when you started or was it all no-gi, MMA style jiu-jitsu? Q6: I see in your Insta bio you have a BA in studio art. Tell us about it. Q7: Do you remember the moment you decided to pursue jiu-jitsu instead of MMA? You talked about that moment when Heath called you to come to PSF. Do you remember the first time you thought, “I’m going to be a professional BJJ competitor vs. a pro MMA fighter”? Q8: Talk about how people assume that everyone from PSF has a traditional wrestling background. You’re one of the only guys on the team that has a collegiate wrestling experience. Can you talk about that, and how your wrestling experience has influenced the culture at PSF? Q9: What makes PSF different from the other places you’ve trained? You’ve trained in a lot of gyms with striking & MMA. How does PSF differ from some of those other training environments? Q10: How has it been having Mikey Musumeci & Dante Leon on the team? How involved have they been at PSF headquarters? Q11: What exactly happened to your knee? How has the recovery process been going? Q12: They took out your whole meniscus. Do you know why? Was the tear so bad they couldn’t save any of it? Q13: How did the opportunity to coach wrestling at Mt Vernon Township HS come about & how’s it been going? Q14: Do you think your knee injury has contributed to your success as a coach? In terms of freeing up time for you, by not focusing on being an elite competitor, allowing you to devote more time to your athletes. Q15: Do you want to talk about some of your goals for yourself & your team for 2022? You can follow Danny on twitter — @DannyOD_BJJ, or instagram — @dannyod_bjj. His co-host, Jake Watson can be found on instagram — @disciple_jiujitsu & @maracaba_bjj. The show’s insta is @openguardcast, or on Fb. This week’s guest, Alejandro Wajner is on insta & fb too. PSF can be found on insta as well — @pedigosubmissionfighting. For tons of free content, visit the Pedigo Submission Fighting YT channel. If you enjoy our shows, "heart" us here on SC, or "like" & share over on whichever BE Presents Podcast Channel happens to be your listening platform of choice.