When news broke out early last year that actor Ashton Kutcher had been promoted to purple belt by Rigan Machado, the BJJ community had mixed reactions. Some were happy about the news, many were not and some made comments about Kutcher not knowing how to tie a belt (according to the picture below).

The problem seems to be the speed at which he was promoted to purple belt. Back in February 2014 he was a promoted straight to a ‘2 stripe blue belt’ by Machado. Kutcher wrestled all throughout his chilhood but he only started training under coral belt Rigan Machado in California about two years ago. While on trips abroad he has trained namely at Ricardo De La Riva’s in Rio de Janeiro and Roger Gracie academy in London. After daily private lessons for a year, he was promoted to BJJ blue belt (2 stripes) under Rigan Machado in February 2014.

When Machado was asked by reporters how Kutcher would do against UFC fighter and BJJ brown belt Conor McGregor in a grappling match, Machado told TMZ Sports:

“I put all my money (on) Ashton Kutcher. I think he could do really, really good. He’s 200 pounds, 6-2, 6-3, he’s the best.”

“Ashton Kutcher, for me, is my No. 1 student. He’s a purple belt but he has a really good background in wrestling. I think he has a chance to be one of the top guys in jiu-jitsu.”

Rigan Machado recently gave an interview to BJPenn.com where he gave more insight on Kutcher’s real level in BJJ:

“For those who don’t know, Machado is known to train a few celebrities at his gym in California. So just for fun we asked the legend which celebrity has the best grappling skills. It turns out it’s Kelso from That ’70s Show. That’s right, when asked who had the best skills Machado said, “I think Ashton Kutcher.” Machado even gave a breakdown about why he thinks the star is so talented, “He’s a phenomenal wrestler, I think people don’t know, but his background in wrestling is a very high level. I was shocked.” He said that Kutcher really loves jiu-jitsu and could probably do very well as far as competing because he has the right body for it, “He has the long legs, the body size like Roger Gracie. Great balance as a wrestler.”

Watch from 2:12:40 to 2:13:30 for Joe Rogan’s opinion on Ashton Kutcher receiving his purple belt. Rogan is BJJ black belt under’s Rigan’s brother Jean Jacques Machado and is also a 10th planet Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Eddie Bravo. Do you agree with Rogan?