Today we’d like to introduce you to Sean Stebbins.
Hi Sean, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I began my martial arts career with High-School wrestling. In 2009 I finished my High-School wrestling career by winning the section championship, placing top 12 at the state tournament and competing for the Minnesota Storm at Senior Nationals. Upon completion of High-School I I was introduced to the Army Combatives program a year later. I placed 2nd at the Army Combatives National Championship in 2010 and 2012. Greg Nelson, the owner and founder of The Academy offered to train the Minnesota Army Combatives team in preparation for the tournaments. This was the beginning of my transition into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, and MMA. I have been a member since the first day I stepped foot in the gym in 2010. As of 2026 I have approximately 30 fights in various disciplines including MMA, Muay Thai, and Army Combatives. I finished my Amateur MMA career with a record of 11-2 with the local Minnesota title, the United States National title, and as the International Mixed-Martial Arts Federation world bronze medalist. I have been competing in Professional MMA since 2019. In addition to my own training, I have been coaching youth wrestling since 2018.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has taken many years to get to this point. I have been training in various martial arts for my entire adult life. Countless hours on the mats averaging anywhere from 2-5 hours per day depending on when the next competition is. 3 major surgeries including an ACL repair and 2 neck surgeries. I have 2 titanium discs in my neck from the neck surgeries. Things almost all fell apart a few months before opening, but fortunately, what I thought may be the end only ended up being about a six month delay.
As you know, we’re big fans of Coon Rapids Youth Martial Arts Academy. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
In 2025 I opened Youth Martial Arts Academy in Coon Rapids Minnesota with Gregs approval to operate as an Academy affiliate. The main difference with our program is that we are primarily oriented around the kids program. As far as I know, we are the only school in Minnesota offering a full Mixed-Martial Arts schedule to kids. We bring the total self defense package offered at The Academy to the youth level. We offer MMA, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Muay Thai to Kids ages 5 and up as well as adults. Most of the adults in our program are parents of other students that enjoy being able to take classes together with their kids which is highly encouraged. We believe that helping develop the parents knowledge about each of the martial arts will both benefit them personally as well as compound their kids development.
What’s next?
Our goal here is to develop confident, respectful, self-disciplined kids and to help them realize how much they are capable of. Being a new school we don’t have any major changes planned currently, but when it reaches the point where I can quit my weekend job we plan to add an after school martial-arts program and expand to a bigger location somewhere near by.
Pricing:
- Free 4 day trial to unlimited classes
Contact Info:
- Website: https://youthmmaacademy.org
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/youth_mma_academy
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/youthmartialartsacademy
