Luan Andrei

Luan Andrei Albuquerque is a professional grappler and a jiu-jitsu black belt under Roberto “Gordo” Corrêa and Márcio “Pé de Pano” Cruz, who represents the R1NG team coalition in the sport’s international circuit. Luan gained notoriety during his colored belt career, a time when he won important tournaments of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) and Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Pro Tour (AJP), going on to confirm his talent during his debut year in the professional division with a gold medal at the IBJJF American National No-Gi Championships (2021).

Luan Andrei Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Luan Andrei Barros de Albuquerque

Nickname: N/A

Lineage: Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Carlos Gracie Jr. > Roberto Corrêa & Márcio Cruz > Luan Andrei

Main Achievements:

• 1st Place IBJJF American Nationals NOGI (2021)
• 1st Place IBJJF Orlando Summer Open (2021)
• 1st Place IBJJF Orlando Summer Open NOGI (2021)

Main Achievements (Colored Belts):

• 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championships NOGI (2020 brown)
• 1st Place AJP Grand Slam, RJ NOGI (2016 purple)
• 2nd Place IBJJF Pan Championships (2018 brown)
• 2nd Place IBJJF Pan Championships NOGI (2019 brown)
• 2nd Place IBJJF Brazilian Nationals NOGI (2016 purple)
• 3rd Place IBJJF Pan Championships (2019 / 2020 brown)
• 3rd Place IBJJF World Championships NOGI (2015 purple)

Favorite Position/Technique: Well-Rounded

Weight Division: Peso Leve (76,00 kg / 168.0 lbs)

Team/Association: R1NG

Luan Andrei Biography

Luan Andrei was born on December 21, 1992, in Niterói, Brazil, a large city near Rio de Janeiro, however, Andrei grew up in the neighboring town of São Gonçalo.

Martial arts entered Luan’s life during his early teens, more precisely, he was 13 years of age when he first joined a local Thai boxing club. Although that first experience was short-lived, Andrei would return to his striking skills later in life, when he competed in mixed martial arts, years later.

In 2008 a local weights gym opened a jiu-jitsu class and Andrei decided to try it out. The mats turned out to be much more appealing to the young Brazilian than Muay Thai had been in the past. He fell in love with grappling almost immediately under the tuition of coaches Luciano Manão and Hygor Camara.

Although Luan gained an interest in jiu-jitsu’s competitive circuit, he belonged to a very small gym with hardly any aspirations in the local tournament scene. Andrei’s first interaction with a jiu-jitsu athlete was with Rodrigo Barbosa, a black belt under Roberto Corrêa (Gordo) who visited the gym fairly regularly. Luan and Barbosa became close, with Rodrigo helping Andrei with many aspects of his grappling game and in day-to-day life as he became much of a father figure in the absence of Luan’s real dad.

In 2011 Luan joined the airforce. During that period, Rodrigo Barbosa continued incentivizing Andrei to train jiu-jitsu, bringing him to the Gordo Jiu-Jitsu Academy regularly to train at one of Rio de Janeiro’s top grappling teams. Luan was a blue belt when he became a regular student at Gordo’s.

Although a military career offered financial stability, Andrei opted to leave the airforce to pursue a career in jiu-jitsu back in 2014, a decision heavily influenced by the advice of Rodrigo Barbosa.

Luan’s early days as a professional jiu-jitsu athlete meant sleeping at gym and barely earning enough to get by. Seeing Andrei’s daily struggle, Régis Calixto – one of Gordo’s team members – proposed that Luan moved to the United States, to spend some time at Régis’ newly opened academy in Florida.

Traditionally, the Gordo Jiu-Jitsu School and the Márcio Cruz Academy have been on very good terms as both of the team’s leaders, Gordo and Pé de Pano, were teammates developed in the legendary Gracie Barra program of the 1990s. The teams have also competed regularly under the same banner (R1NG). As such, considering Régis Calixto’s gym was just starting and students were scarce, Calixto visited Márcio Cruz‘s nearby academy, regularly, where he found a wider variety and more experienced training partners.

When Régis brought Luan to the US, he introduced Andrei to coach Márcio Cruz and the two formed a strong bond. Márcio “Pé de Pano” Cruz became a mentor for Andrei while he developed into one of the top competitors on the US national circuit.

Luan’s good form would earn him a promotion to brown belt (by Cruz) and later, his black belt, awarded by both Pé de Pano and Roberto Gordo on January 3rd, 2021.