Letsos is a 3-time
Pan Am medalist, as well as a 3-time Gracie World Champion. Letsos began training in
Jiu Jitsu in
high school at the Carlson Gracie Academy in downtown Chicago, and won several matches in the Jiu Jitsu World Championships as a purple belt. He then lived and train Jiu Jitsu in Brazil for four years, spending many hours on the mat with Osvaldo Alves and
Carlson Gracie. He is featured in the book
The Gracie Way by Jiu Jitsu journalist Kid Peligro. Letsos has trained alongside many of the world's best Jiu Jitsu fighters and
mixed martial artists, such as
Fredson Paixao,
André Galvão,
Tony DeSouza, and
Miguel Torres. He is friends with
Eddie Bravo,
Kenny Florian,
Jeff Glover, and
B.J. Penn. Letsos lived and trained with Penn at his mixed martial arts academy in
Hilo, Hawaii, where he eventually suffered a devastating injury to his neck while
surfing. Since then, Letsos' emphasis has been on training students in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at his gym, Rio Jiu Jitsu Academy, in
Chicago's
Irving Park neighborhood. == Instructor lineage ==