Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine Levels Up In Jiu-Jitsu, Earns High-Ranking Brown Belt

Dave Mustaine has been been promoted. In jiu-jitsu that is. The Megadeth leader has been actively involved in the Brazilian-style martial arts for some years now, climbing up the ladder of colored belts awarded to practitioners once they reach certain levels of accomplishment.

On Friday night (Oct. 7), Mustaine was awarded the esteemed brown belt in the sport, the highest level just below the ultimate pinnacle black belt. The brown belt typically takes five years from a beginner level to achieve and is a very competitive level to rank at, even more impressive for the 61-year-old musician who maintains a regular touring schedule and was fighting cancer not too long ago.

As Loudwire previously reported, Mustaine last earned his purple belt in early 2021, a relatively short time after announcing he was cancer-free.

The Megadeth frontman regularly practices at the Gracie Barra Spring Hill BJJ & Self-Defense center, just outside his home in Nashville, Tennessee. The practice's owner Reggie Almeida (a third-degree jiu-jitsu black belt holder and a respected teacher in the martial art) was the one to promote Mustaine and shared the news with a few photos and a video of the ceremonial belt awarding on social media.

"Congratulations @davemustaine. All of us know how hard is to stay focus and work towards our goals. But with small and steady paces we will get there! One step closer!" Almedia wrote.

Mustaine also holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and Ukidokan karate, so he seems to be on course to maintain that level of discipline and craft in jiu-jitsu too.

And he's not the only rocker to do so. Tool/Puscifer/A Perfect Circle frontman Maynard James Keenan is also an astute jiu-jitsu practitioner, awarded his own brown belt in late 2021. Now we just need to see Mustaine and Keenan in the ultimate match up.