On 4 June, ARMA's head coach Ffion Davies stepped into the UFC BJJ Bowl in Las Vegas and submitted Amanda Bruse with an armbar, with just 11 seconds left on the clock. It was a tight fight. Bruse had Davies in real trouble early on with a flying triangle attempt that nearly ended things the other way. Davies escaped, worked her way to the back, hunted the choke, switched to the armbar when Bruse defended, and got the tap right before the buzzer.

For anyone training at ARMA, that result isn't just a nice headline. It's a reminder of exactly who's running the sessions on the mats in Clapham.

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Who is Ffion Davies?

If you're new to BJJ, you might not know the name yet. You will soon.

Ffion Davies is a Welsh black belt and one of the most decorated grapplers in the sport, in both gi and no-gi. She's a multiple IBJJF World Champion, an ADCC World Champion, and the first British or Welsh black belt to win world titles in both gi and no-gi formats. She started in judo as a junior before moving across to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and she's been near the very top of the women's rankings for years.

She's also ARMA's Head Coach.

That's not an honorary title. Despite a competition schedule that now includes UFC BJJ, ADCC and IBJJF Worlds, Ffion teaches regular weekly sessions on the mats at ARMA, including gi fundamentals and advanced classes, no-gi competition training, and the no-gi beginner's cohort. Members aren't just training at a gym she's attached her name to, they're training under her, week in, week out. You can see Ffion's full weekly teaching schedule on the timetable.

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What happened at UFC BJJ 9

UFC BJJ is the UFC's dedicated no-gi grappling promotion, streamed on UFC Fight Pass. It's become one of the biggest stages in the sport outside of ADCC and the IBJJF circuit, and it's increasingly where the top names in jiu jitsu go to test themselves in a true 1-on-1 format. Matches can still end on points if there's no finish, scored by judges on position and control, but a submission ends things immediately regardless of the score, which is exactly what kept Davies' fight alive right to the final seconds.

Davies' match against Amanda Bruse on the UFC BJJ 9 card was a genuine back-and-forth. Bruse's early flying triangle attempt was dangerous enough that it looked, for a moment, like the fight could have gone either way. Davies stayed composed, escaped, and methodically worked her way to a finish in the closing seconds of the round.

It's the kind of performance that tells you everything about how she coaches, too: composure under pressure, problem-solving rather than panic, and the patience to wait for the right opening instead of forcing a bad one.

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What this means for training at ARMA

Because Ffion teaches regularly rather than just lending her name, this isn't a case of training at "a gym a champion is loosely affiliated with." It's training under someone who's actively competing and winning at the very top of the sport, then bringing that same problem-solving and composure she showed against Bruse straight onto the mats with members.

"I trained with Ffion, Frankie and Nia and I could not ask for better coaches. They all went above and beyond to make it a safe and comfortable environment for everyone to train and they were the best coaches I've seen and will probably ever see. I learned so much from them in such a short period of time and also had the most fun I've had in training. I did my first class with Ffion and she was super fun, kind, patient and supportive. She explained things in ways that were easy to understand and always went out of her way to be helpful. I only planned to train once or twice but her class made me really love jiujitsu for the first time and I ended up showing up every day because I had such a great and life changing experience with her."

What we can say confidently: when your coach is being tested at the highest level the sport has to offer, the technique you're learning isn't theory. It's being actively stress-tested against the best grapplers in the world, then taught to you directly.

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Why this matters if you're thinking about starting BJJ

You don't need to know who Ffion Davies is to start training at ARMA, and you don't need any experience at all to walk through the door. But it's worth knowing that the coaching staff includes someone competing and winning on one of the biggest stages in the sport right now, because it tells you something about the standard of instruction you're walking into, whether you're a complete beginner or training for competition yourself.

If you're curious about what a first class actually looks like, our beginner's guide walks through exactly what to expect.