At age 20, Cardenas left his native Texas and settled in
Los Angeles to audition for a
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers role that would change his life. His character, Rocky DeSantos, replaced
Jason Lee Scott as the Red Ranger in the
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV series, and later became the Blue Zeo Ranger for
Power Rangers Zeo. He had no previous acting experience and had to learn on the job. Cardenas left the
Power Rangers series and retired from acting during
Power Rangers Turbo, due to contract disagreements, and possibly to focus on his martial arts career. Many years later, starting at the 2007 Power Morphicon convention, he began making convention appearances with other former cast members. After
Power Rangers, he owned a
martial arts studio in Burbank, California and one in his hometown of San Antonio. In 2009, he started a kids-specific program at Hollywood
Brazilian jiu-jitsu studio in West Hollywood, and in 2011 he opened the Force/Balance
Brazilian jiu-jitsu &
Yoga school. The studios have since been closed. Cardenas had become interested in
Brazilian jiu-jitsu after losing a friendly match against "a blue belt in BJJ... [he] choked me out in 10 seconds! He was only training for a year and a half at that time and I had been training for 10 yrs. It was an immediate eye opener." The style was more difficult for him to learn than other martial arts disciplines. He holds multiple awards from martial arts contests, including two silver medals at Copa Pacifica (2009 and 2011), Gold Medal winner of the 2009 American National Championship, Gold Medal in the 2010 Jujitsu Pro Gear Open, and silver medal in the 2010 No-Gi World Championships. For the first time since
Power Rangers Turbo, Cardenas returned to the
Power Rangers franchise in
Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel for the 25th anniversary episode reprising his role as Rocky DeSantos. He also reprised the role in the
Netflix special,
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always, which celebrated the 30th anniversary of the
Power Rangers franchise. ==Filmography==