# Devhonte Johnson

Devhonte Johnson, commonly known as "Bones", is an American grappler and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt competitor and coach. A multiple time IBJJF World, Pan American and European champion in lower belt divisions; Johnson is a black belt IBJJF World No-Gi, Pan American No-Gi and European Open No-Gi Champion.

## Career

Devhonte M. Johnson was born in Paterson, New Jersey. During his senior year in Eastside High School he started training Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) under Coach Edson Carvalho with whom he stayed until purple belt.
In 2015, Johnson joined Unity Jiu Jitsu in New York City training under head instructor Murilo Santana. During this time, Johnson started competing winning the IBJJF World No-Gi Championship and the Pan IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship at every belt level. Johnson specializes in the Lasso Guard and Stack Pass techniques. While teaching at Unity HQ in Manhattan Johnson opened his own Unity Jiu-Jitsu affiliate in New Jersey.
In 2018 Johnson participated in numerous competitions as brown belt, winning the IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championship, IBJJF World No-Gi Championship, IBJJF European Open Championship as well as the IBJJF Pans No-Gi Championship.

### Black belt career

In August 2019, Johnson was awarded his black belt by Santana, that same year Johnson opened his own gym, Bones BJJ in Clifton, NJ. In 2021 he won Pan No-Gi and World No-Gi titles for the first time at black belt. In 2021 Johnson was ranked No. 1 in the IBJJF no-gi super heavyweight division.
Johnson was invited to compete in the BJJ Stars 10 Absolute Grand prix on 22 April 2023. He defeated Gutemberg Pereira by decision in the opening round before losing to eventual champion Erich Munis on points in the quarter-final.
Johnson is booked to compete against Vinicius 'Trator' Ferreira in the main event of Place of Peace Invitational 3 on August 13, 2023. He won by decision. Johnson competed in an 8-man tournament at Blue Collar FC: American Dream Conference on September 1, 2023. He lost his opening round match to Roosevelt Sousa. Johnson then entered the super-heavyweight division of the IBJJF No Gi Pan Championship 2023 on October 1, 2023, and won a silver medal.
Johnson competed in the ADCC North American East Coast Trials 2023 on October 15, winning a bronze medal in the under 99kg division.
Johnson agreed to represent Acai Republic in the over 91kg division at AIGA Champions League Final 2023 on December 13 and 14, but did not compete. Johnson then defeated Denis Gunic on points at Place of Peace Invitational 8 on September 14, 2024. Johnson then won a bronze medal in the super-heavyweight division and a gold medal in the absolute division of the IBJJF no gi Pan Championship 2024 on November 3, 2024.
Johnson won a silver medal in the absolute division at the IBJJF No Gi World Championship 2024. He then represented North America in the Polaris Squads Intercontinental Championship 2025. He went 2-2 against Team Europe at Polaris 32, but Team North America lost the match.

## Fight history

| Opponent | W/L | Method | Competition | Weight | Stage | Year |
| Thiago Sa | L | Referee Decision | No Gi Pan Am. | 91KG | 4F | 2018 |
| Nick Calvanese | L | Referee Decision | F2W 91 | ABS | SPF | 2018 |
| Nicholas Albin | L | Referee Decision | ADCC EC Trials | 99KG | R1 | 2018 |
| Gilvan Costa | W | Armbar | NY Fall NGO | 97KG | F | 2018 |
| Adriano Silva | W | Kimura | NY Fall NGO | ABS | 4F | 2018 |
| Gabriel Almeida | W | Pts: 0x0, Adv | NY Fall NGO | ABS | SF | 2018 |
| Fernando Henrique | W | RNC | NoGi Worlds | 91KG | R1 | 2018 |
| Arnaldo Maidana | W | Pts: 2x0 | NoGi Worlds | 91KG | 4F | 2018 |
| Jackson Sousa | L | Pts: 0x0, Adv | NoGi Worlds | 91KG | SF | 2018 |
| Charles McGuire | W | Submission | Atlanta WO | 94KG | F | 2019 |
| Julian Synan | W | Bow and arrow | Atlanta WO | ABS | R1 | 2019 |
| JT Torres | L | Pts: 2x0 | Atlanta WO | ABS | 4F | 2019 |
| Gustavo Batista | L | Arm in Ezekiel | Pan American | 88KG | 8F | 2019 |
| Orlando Andavi | W | Choke from back | Pan American | ABS | R1 | 2019 |
| Leandro Lo | L | Pts: 2x0 | Pan American | ABS | R2 | 2019 |
| Diogo Sampaio | W | Referee Decision | Washington DCO | 88KG | SF | 2019 |
| Daniel Hampton | W | Choke from back | Washington DCO | 88KG | F | 2019 |
| Nathan Santos | W | Pts: 3x0 | Boston Sp. Open | 88KG | SF | 2019 |
| Diogo Araujo | W | Pts: 2x2, Adv | Boston Sp. Open | 88KG | F | 2019 |
| Faisal AlKitbe | L | Pts: 0x0, Pen | World Pro | 85KG | 4F | 2019 |
| Viking Wong | W | Pts: 6x0 | World Pro | 85KG | RPC | 2019 |
| William Dias | W | Pts: 2x0 | World Pro | 85KG | RPC | 2019 |
| DJ Jackson | L | Referee Decision | World Pro | 85KG | 3RD | 2019 |
| Matt Leighton | W | Referee Decision | F2W 111 | 85KG | SPF | 2019 |
| Tarsis Humphreys | L | Pts: 2x0 | World Champ. | 88KG | R1 | 2019 |
| Tim Spriggs | L | Pts: 2x2, Pen | NY BJJ Pro | 94KG | F | 2019 |
| Keenan Cornelius | L | Pts: 4x2 | No Gi Pan Am. | 97KG | SF | 2019 |
| Jonnatas Gracie | W | Referee Decision | No Gi Pan Am. | ABS | R1 | 2019 |
| Vinicius Trator | W | Pts: 2x0 | No Gi Pan Am. | ABS | 8F | 2019 |
| Frederik Vosgrone | W | Pts: 2x0 | No Gi Pan Am. | ABS | 4F | 2019 |
| Keenan Cornelius | L | Armlock | No Gi Pan Am. | ABS | SF | 2019 |
| Marcelo Gomide | W | Adv | European NoGi | 97KG | 4F | 2019 |
| Samir Krvavac | W | Pts: 7x2 | European NoGi | 97KG | SF | 2019 |
| Helton Jose | W | Referee Decision | European NoGi | 97KG | F | 2019 |
| Santeri Lilius | W | Pts: 6x0 | European NoGi | ABS | R1 | 2019 |
| Freddy Vosgrone | W | Adv | European NoGi | ABS | 8F | 2019 |
| Max Bickerton | W | Pts: 11x0 | European NoGi | ABS | 4F | 2019 |
| Muslim Patsarigov | W | Referee Decision | European NoGi | ABS | SF | 2019 |
| Marcelo Gomide | L | Referee Decision | European NoGi | ABS | F | 2019 |
| Eliot Kelly | W | Referee Decision | F2W 131 | 120KG | SPF | 2019 |
| Gabriel Araujo | W | Pts: 11x0 | NYC Fall Open | 100KG | F | 2019 |
| Max Gimenis | L | Pts: 2x0 | NYC Fall Open | ABS | SF | 2019 |
| Paul Ardila | W | Pts: 2x0 | NYC Fall NGO | 97KG | F | 2019 |
| Gabriel Almeida | W | Pts: 11x0 | NYC Fall NGO | ABS | 4F | 2019 |
| Yuri Silva | W | N/A | NYC Fall NGO | ABS | SF | 2019 |
| Arya Esfandmaz | W | Referee Decision | Polaris 12 | 104KG | SPF | 2019 |
| Fellipe Trovo | W | Pts: 0x0, Adv | NoGi Worlds | ABS | 4F | 2019 |
| Roberto Abreu | L | Referee Decision | NoGi Worlds | ABS | SF | 2019 |
| Roberto Alencar | W | Pts: 2x0 | NoGi Worlds | 91KG | 4F | 2019 |
| Jackson Sousa | L | DQ | NoGi Worlds | 91KG | SF | 2019 |
| T. Clark | W | Choke from back | SUBVERSIV | ABS | R1 | 2020 |
| Fellipe Andrew | W | Referee Decision | SUBVERSIV | ABS | SF | 2020 |
| Fellipe Trovo | L | Triangle | SUBVERSIV | ABS | F | 2020 |
| J. Oliver Jansen | W | Pts: 10x0 | Pan American | ABS | R1 | 2020 |
| Guilherme Augusto | W | Pts: 0x0, Adv | Pan American | ABS | 8F | 2020 |
| Max Gimenis | L | Choke from back | Pan American | ABS | 4F | 2020 |
| Guilherme Augusto | L | Pts: 8x2 | Pan American | 100KG | SF | 2020 |
| Vinicius Trator | W | Referee Decision | F2W 155 | 124KG | SPF | 2020 |
| Patrick Gaudio | L | Pts: 0x0, Adv | BJJ Stars 4 | 100KG | SPF | 2020 |
| Guilherme Augusto | W | Referee Decision | F2W 159 | 94KG | SPF | 2020 |
| Jackson Douglas | W | Referee Decision | Dallas Open | O100KG | SF | 2021 |
| Guilherme Augusto | L | Pts: 0x0, Adv | Dallas Open | O100KG | F | 2021 |
| Lucas Norat | W | Choke from back | Houston Open | 100KG | SF | 2021 |
| Daniel Hampton | W | Pts: 18x0 | Houston Open | 100KG | F | 2021 |
| Michael Perez | W | Pts: 0x0, Adv | NoGi Pan Am. | 97KG | 4F | 2021 |
| Diego Ramalho | W | Referee Decision | NoGi Pan Am. | 97KG | SF | 2021 |
| Arnaldo Maidana | W | Pts: 4x0 | NoGi Pan Am. | 97KG | F | 2021 |
| Yuri Simoes | L | Referee Decision | F2W 172 | 124KG | SPF | 2021 |
| Lucas Norat | W | Pts: 7x0 | Pan American | 100KG | 4F | 2021 |
| Guilherme Augusto | L | Referee Decision | Pan American | 100KG | SF | 2021 |
| Fellipe Andrew | W | Anaconda choke | NoGi Worlds | 97KG | 4F | 2021 |
| Elliot Kelly | W | Pts: 0x0, Pen | NoGi Worlds | 97KG | SF | 2021 |
| Joe Dierkhising | W | Pts: 4x2 | NoGi Worlds | 97KG | F | 2021 |
| Kristopher Torres | W | RNC | ADCC EC Trials | 99KG | R1 | 2021 |
| Jon Beale | W | Armbar | ADCC EC Trials | 99KG | R2 | 2021 |
| Brandon Conrad | W | RNC | ADCC EC Trials | 99KG | R3 | 2021 |
| Joe Dierkhising | W | Pts: 4x0 | ADCC EC Trials | 99KG | 4F | 2021 |
| Paul Ardila | W | Referee Decision | ADCC EC Trials | 99KG | SF | 2021 |
| Mason Fowler | L | Referee Decision | ADCC EC Trials | 99KG | F | 2021 |
| Arnaldo Maidana | W | Referee Decision | F2W 188 | 100KG | SPF | 2021 |
| Lucas Norat | W | Pts: 16x0 | World Champ. | 100KG | 8F | 2021 |
| Fellipe Trovo | W | Pts: 3x0 | World Champ. | 100KG | 4F | 2021 |
| Fellipe Andrew | L | Pts: 4x2 | World Champ. | 100KG | SF | 2021 |

## Championships and accomplishments

Main Achievements (black belt level):
* IBJJF World Championship No-Gi Champion (2021)
* IBJJF Pan Championship No-Gi Champion (2021)
* IBJJF Houston Open Champion (2021)
* IBJJF European Open No-Gi Champion (2019)
* IBJJF Washington DC Open Champion (2019)
* 2nd place IBJJF European Open No-Gi (2019)
* 3rd place IBJJF World Championship (2021)
* 3rd place IBJJF World Championship No-Gi (2018)
* 3rd place IBJJF Pan Championship (2020 / 2021)
* 3rd place IBJJF Pan Championship No-Gi (2019)
Main Achievements (colored belts ):
* IBJJF World Champion (2017 purple / 2018 brown)
* IBJJF World No-Gi Champion (2014 blue / 2015 purple / 2016 purple / 2017 brown)
* IBJJF Pans Champion (2016 purple / 2017 purple)
* IBJJF Pans No-Gi Champion (2014 blue / 2016 purple / 2018 brown)
* IBJJF European Open Champion (2017 purple / 2018 brown)
* IBJJF American Nationals No-Gi Champion (2017 brown)
* IBJJF NY Summer Open Champion (2017 brown)
* IBJJF NY Summer Open No-Gi Champion (2017 brown)
* IBJJF New York Fall Open No-Gi Champion (2018)
* 2nd place IBJJF World Championship (2016 purple)
* 2nd place IBJJF Pans Championship (2018 brown)
* 2nd place IBJJF European Open (2017 purple / 2018 brown)
* 3rd place IBJJF World Championship (2016 purple)
* 3rd place IBJJF World Championship No-Gi (2015 purple)
* 3rd place IBJJF Pans Championship (2015 purple)
* 3rd place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals (2018 brown)

## Instructor lineage

Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Rickson Gracie > Marcelo Behring > Mario Yamasaki > Murilo Santana > Devhonte Johnson