Cole Abate

Cole Anthony Abate, nicknamed “Ice Cole,” was born on November 16, 2004, in Beaumont, Texas, and grew up in San Antonio. He started Jiu-Jitsu at age 5, with Rodrigo Pinheiro as his first coach. In 2019 his family moved to Costa Mesa, California, and he began training at Art of Jiu-Jitsu (AOJ) with the Mendes brothers.

He drew attention in 2021, when he won the ADCC East Coast Trials at 66 kg (145 lb) at age 16, while still a blue belt. At the 2022 ADCC he lost his first match to Fabricio Andrey by decision. At purple belt he was world champion in 2022 and, at brown belt, he won Europeans, Pans and Worlds in 2023.

He got his black belt from Guilherme Mendes on July 10, 2023. In 2024 he won the No-Gi Pans and No-Gi Worlds and made his ONE Championship debut by submitting Shinya Aoki. In 2025 he won the Brazilian Nationals, took silver at Pans, in a final closed out with teammate Diego “Pato” Oliveira, and bronze at Worlds.

He closed 2025 with two titles. At The Crown he beat Danilo Moreira, Kennedy Maciel and, in the final, João Mendes to take the featherweight crown. At No-Gi Worlds he moved up to lightweight and submitted all four opponents.

In 2026 he lost the Europeans final to Kennedy Maciel, 4-2, then won Pans and Worlds, both finals against Samuel Nagai. It was his first gi world title as a black belt.

The reigning Crown featherweight champion, as of October 5 he was not among the athletes the IBJJF had confirmed for the 2026 edition, set for November 8.