Tell me about David Avellan? I know he beat Cyborg in 2009.....
He beat Tarsis at ADCC 2009
Cool guy and great grappler. I've trained with him a couple of times since ADCC 2009.
I wouldn't exactly say he BEAT Cyborg. I have watched that match 5 times and I still don't understand how David won that. I know David is a very skilled grappler worthy of his spot at ADCC but I seriously think Cyborg was robbed of his points in that match. 
I know a little bit about the guy :)
He has beaten a lot of great grapplers. Some of the guys he has beaten are Rafael Lovato, Mike Fowler, Cyborg Abreu, Moacir "Boca" Olivera, Rodrigo "Baga" Ramos, Jorge Pereira, Anthony Tolone, Bull Shaw, Rener Gracie, Jay Herion, Joe D'Arce, Xande Ribiero, Luke Stewart, Amaury Bitteti, Jorge Santiago, Leonel Perez, Tarsis Humphreys, Justin Garcia, Todd Margolis, Beto Arruda, Roy Nelson, and others.
He has also fought about 7 amateur MMA fights (he actually fought Pablo Popovitch to a decision victory in a shootfighting event back in 1999 or 2000) and has done 3 pro MMA fights (2-1 record). Here is a video of his fight in Bodog versus Antony Rea, pretty good fight:
David Avellan vs Antony Rea - BodogFight
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He has also competed three consecutive times in ADCC (2005, 2007, 2009) and finished 3rd under 89kg last year, submitting three out of four of his opponents. Below I included a video of him submitting Tarsis Humphries:
In the absolute, in the first round, he faced Cyborg, who took 2nd place in super heavyweight (two weight classes above) and David won in overtime by advantage. Concerning the point count, the confusion comes because Cyborg was called for passivity and was penalized with a point deduction, which tied the score and sent it to overtime. I haven't seen the pro-release of the video, but apparently it isn't addressed in the video (I was there live). David had a great performance in the opening round of the previous ADCC as well, beating the Super Heavyweight Champion (again two weight classes heavier) Xande Ribeiro in double OT.
Yes, I'm very proud of my little brother :)
He is also one of the owners and head instructors at the Freestyle Fighting Academy. He graduated #1 in his class in Electrical Engineering and after a year of working at a power plant, he quit his job to pursue martial arts full time. He is an interesting and smart guy, very quiet, and when he puts his mind to something, he is hard to stop. He also has a facebook fanpage at www.Facebook.com/DavidAvellan
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Thanks man, that is what surprised me the most, he has an awesome record but seems to be a discreet guy! Cool for sharing!!!!
My pleasure, if you got any other questions, feel free to hit me up, I don't get on here as much as I used to but I can be reached on my facebook at www.MarcosAvellanFans.com
David is one of the guys I really enjoy watching. I like how he blends wrestling with Bjj.
Marcos, did he start with wrestling first then BJJ? Who did you guys learn from? thank you again!
My brother started training in martial arts at 14 years old in Jeet Kune Do. Then at 15 years old, he quit JKD and got into wrestling, starting as a sophmore, under Coach Tirso Valls. Coach Valls wrestled Div I in Lock Haven - and has continued training and coaching us to this day (he is a Purple Belt, 3-0 in MMA, and currently coaching wrestling at FFA). David did well in Florida, was a strong contender every year, but came up short when it counted and never placed in States. Upon graduating from high school, he got into martial arts again, training under Master Ibarra.
Master Ibarra was not trained in BJJ, but rather had his own style of grappling and MMA. Back in 1998, he had black belts in Judo, TKD, and Karate, and back in the day was definitely ahead of the curve with regards to MMA. Then in 2000, Master Ibarra moved up north and my brother and I began training together on our own.
In 2000, we opened up a small grappling program out of a tae kwon do school and we called it "Avellan Grappling". A year and a half later, we left the TKD school and opened up our own gym in Miami, the Freestyle Fighting Academy. In 2002, we teamed up with one of FFA's current head instructors, Master Efrain Ruiz, who has a BJJ black belt under Ricardo "Hellraiser" Teixeira. For a few years, we also trained with Hellraiser until he moved back to Brazil, where he currently resides. I'm not sure exactly when, but I think it was 2003 or 2004 that we also trained for three or four years under three-time Kickboxing World Champion Eric "El Tigre" Castanos, who was an assistant coach to former Boxing World Champion Jermain Taylor. During that time, Coach Castanos was the head striking instructor at FFA until we parted ways around 2006 or 2007. David also spent a month training in Thailand last year.
In 2008, he opened up a 2nd gym in Davie, FL. Since 2002, our Miami location has expanded three times. Between our two schools, we have over 1,000 students. David teaches everyday in Miami and teaches two to three times a week in Davie.
He hasn't competed since ADCC but has just started training again and I think is looking to compete again before the end of the year. Since ADCC, he has been extraordinarily busy coaching and teaching. This year our fight team, so far, has over 32 MMA and Kickboxing victories. Our previous best year was 25 victories.
That is a pretty complete breakdown :)
wow....homebrew then!! ;)
That says a lot. Thank you bro!
I would like to add that both coach Marcos and his brother kick your ass in class on a consistent basis. :p
Never a dull day in FFA
Graduating #1 in your class in Electrical Engineering is most impressive.
plus the brothers are no gi bjj black belts! Even though I hear they can run through you with the gi when they want to as well.
Simply amazing. The Avellan bros are like the self taught grapplers working out with each other that most bjj practioners would doubt initially, until you hear about all that they've accomplished. Awesome.
The Avellans spent time at my gym in Thailand, Tiger Muay Thai. During that time they taught several classes and ran a seminar for the guest of the gym....They were very popular and I still get positive comments about their time instructing out of the gym.
I recommend anyone in their area to stop by and check out their gym.
avellans did it from scratch.
no bjj.
they were winning in the grappling scene and paving their own way.
they are an inspirational story.
i was most greatful of the time marcos told me of his brother's issues as a child (learning/speech issues) and how his dad quit work and got the kid to where he is today... a true success story and helped me out when i was going thru shit w/ my own son. thank god it turned out ok and my son is fine now and getting all the help he needs.
it was a good post back then and i remember it.
Empire, can you re-post it? I don't think I ever got the pleasure of seeing that as that is awesome with the way things turned out.
avellans have competed and won at the highest levels
David is awesome. Doesn't get nearly the recognition he deserves.