Our Team
Rich Rodriguez - Founder, Head Striking Coach, Director of Operations
Originally from the Bronx, Rich began boxing when he was still in middle school under his father in Poughkeepsie, NY. After joining the now defunct Snoops Boxing, Rich trained at numerous Hudson Valley boxing gyms before discovering mixed martial arts and joining Precision MMA in 2005. After returning to New York City, Rich began teaching boxing and self defense lessons to support himself while enrolled in The New School for Jazz & Contemporary Music, where he fell in love with teaching. Over the past several years, Rich has ran SEL and mentoring programs in public, private, and charter schools throughout NYC and coached boxing and MMA after school programs to students that would otherwise be unable to afford martial arts training. This experience ultimately led to him creating HFFA. Rich has competed under USA Boxing, and is currently a purple belt under Alex Ecklin and Van Flores at Masterskya in Manhattan
Matthew Gioia - Director of Fundraising, Head Grappling Coach
Matt started his martial arts journey at the age of 16 when he joined a kickboxing program in New York City quickly falling in love with combat sports. However he found his true passion in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Under the guidance of Arun Subramanian of Foundations Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Madison, Wisconsin, Matt dedicated himself to the sport, training, teaching, and writing about the sport for various publications including Flo Grappling. Joining the Harlem Free Fight as an assistant coach in 2021, Matt has ample experience teaching children, teens, and adults as he currently instructs at Unity Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Jersey City, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy NYC, and Juntos Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Matt is currently a purple belt under Rafael Babilonia.
Katie Zhang - Financial Officer
Originally from Shanghai, China, Katie began her athletic journey as a dancer at the age of four and discovered Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in college. She now trains under Murilo Santana at Unity Jiu-Jitsu. Over the years, Katie has taken on various roles within the BJJ community, including working part-time for an online instructional website and becoming a sponsored athlete for Al Leone, a sports apparel brand. She joined Harlem Free Fights in 2024 to help make combat sports more accessible to youth in the community. In addition to her sports background, Katie is majoring in Economics at NYU with a minor in Business of Entertainment at Stern. She has completed internships in accounting, venture capital, and asset management. She hopes to use her skills in finance to help with the organization.
An avid competitor, Katie recently earned her blue belt under Murilo Santana.
Andrew Lee - Assistant Coach
Andrew began his journey with martial arts in 2006, at Arizona Combat Sports in Phoenix AZ.
He quickly fell in love with the sport, learning mixed martial arts under UFC veteran Jamie Varner, and Brazilian jiu jitsu under ADCC veteran Gustavo Dantas. In 2012 he had the chance to teach his first MMA class and discovered his passion for teaching the sport, and continued to teach until moving across the country in 2019 to New York City.
When he was introduced to Harlem Free Fight, he was excited by the mission and jumped at the chance to teach kids that normally wouldn’t get the opportunity.
Andrew is currently a purple belt, training at Unity School of Jiu Jitsu under Murilo Santana.
Jose Carlos - Substitute Assistant Coach
With 13 years of collective experience, Jose has trained with numerous instructors throughout New Jersey & New York. Jose began his martial arts journey with Tae Kwon Do in middle school. He went on to find his passion for martial arts & combat sports through joining the wrestling team in high school and starting Brazilian Jiu Jitsu shortly after. At the age 20, Jose began his striking training under the tutelage of Muay Thai legend, Kaensak Sor Ploenjit. Jose would go on to make his amateur Mixed Martial Arts debut in 2014.
Jose obtained his B.S. in Business Management from Ramapo College of New Jersey in 2015. Jose left the real estate industry after a decade working in sales, marketing, recruitment, coaching, & education positions, to devote his full-time efforts towards martial arts.
A member of the LGBTQ+ community, Jose resides in Harlem, where he is working to help create a more inclusive space for people to be able to partake in martial arts. Jose is currently a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Weiss Sakhizada of Sucker Free Jiu Jitsu, & trains Muay Thai under Danny Millet & Maggie Rickman of Kings Combat Williamsburg.
Seth Schraier - Board Member
Seth Schraier first got involved with boxing when his wife was tired of him always playing video games at the end of the day. So they found Rich in August 2017 and started training with him for boxing each week. Seth is the founder and primary attorney of the Law Office of Seth D. Schraier, P.C., a family law and matrimonial law firm located in Harlem and representing clients in the New York City area. He is also part of the Manhattan 18-b panel of family law attorneys, helping represent low income individuals in matters involving custody, visitation, paternity and orders of protection. He is also assigned to represent children in custody disputes. Through his practice he has been able to form relationships with members from communities all across Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. Having seen firsthand the trauma that broken families can have on children growing up in the city, he hopes that Harlem Free Fight Academy can serve as an important source of stability and positive reinforcement for youth in our communities.
Raj Atri - Board Member
Raj embarked on his martial arts journey in 2019 training Muay Thai. He later started training BJJ at Unity Jiu Jitsu in New York, joining inauspiciously in February 2020, but continued training and is currently a blue belt at Unity.
A passionate advocate and frequent volunteer for projects designed to expand opportunities to all, Raj jumped at the chance to be part of Harlem Free Fight’s mission of bringing combat sports training to students in Harlem. He believes strongly that the lessons of team work and overcoming the inherent struggles presented by combat sports helps bring out the best in every one, especially students.
Professionally, Raj has over a decade of experience working at Bank of America in various credit trading roles.
Francisco Marte II - Board Member
Motivated by his passion for Harlem and a strong commitment to community development, Francisco has eagerly joined Harlem Free Fight in its mission to offer combat sports training to local students. With an extensive background in business, leadership, and deep connections across New York City, Francisco is well-positioned to make a meaningful contribution. He believes that the perseverance, discipline, teamwork, and leadership developed through combat sports are critical to helping young people achieve their full potential.