Thamires Monteiro, also known as Tami Monteiro, is a jiu-jitsu black belt under Lucas Leite, who represents the Checkmat Team in the sport’s international circuit. Monteiro became one of the most revered grapplers of her generation after a dominant run as a brown belt on the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) league (from 2020 to 2021) where she conquered gold titles in the World No-Gi and Pan Championships as well as silver medals in the World (gi) and Pan No-Gi tournaments.
Thamires Monteiro Jiu-Jitsu
Full Name: Thamires Arruda Monteiro
Nickname: “Tami” which is a shortened version of Thamires.
Lineage: Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Rolls Gracie > Romero Cavalcanti > Leonardo Vieira > Lucas Leite > Thamires Monteiro
Main Achievements:
- 1st Place IBJJF World Championship NOGI (2021 brown)
- 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2020 purple, 2021 brown)
- 1st Place IBJJF American Nationals NOGI (2020* brown)
- 1st Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals NOGI (2016 blue)
- 1st Place F2W SUBVERSIV Tournament (2021)
- 2nd Place IBJJF World Championship (2021 brown)
- 2nd Place IBJJF Pan Championship NOGI (2017 blue, 2021 brown)
- 3rd Place IBJJF World Championship NOGI (2016 blue)
- 3rd Place IBJJF American Nationals (2020* brown)
Favorite Position/Technique: Pressure Passing
Weight Division: Peso Leve (64 kg / 141.5 lbs)
Team/Association: Checkmat
Thamires Monteiro Biography
Thamires Monteiro was born on January 08, 1998, in Vila Mariana, São Paulo, growing up in Mogi das Cruzes, also located in the Brazilian state of São Paulo.
Throughout her childhood, Thamires was not particularly sporty. She did, however, practice dancing and a bit of swimming during her early teenage years, prior to finding her calling in grappling.
Tami’s first steps in jiu-jitsu were made by the end of 2014, at the age of 16. Initially, Monteiro entered the mats solely in a show of support for a good friend who was interested in the Gentle Art but was too shy to try on her own. Although arriving with no long-term goals, Thamires immediately fell in love with jiu-jitsu and decided to join the club.
Monteiro’s time at her original gym was short-lived as she decided to pursue jiu-jitsu as a career during the early stages of her training. Competing nearly every weekend for the first few years, Thamires opted to join the New School Brotherhood team, Leandro Lo‘s (then) newly formed squad, in search of professional training, where Monteiro was promoted to purple belt.
During her travels to the United States, to compete in BJJ’s top tournaments, purple belt Thamires made friends and represented the Atos Team of San Diego, California. Although she built a strong relationship with André and Angelica Galvão‘s workgroup, Thamires would eventually opt to join her husband, Jackson Douglas, at the Checkmat La Habra Academy with coach Lucas Leite. A gym also located in California.
It was while representing Checkmat that Thamires Monteiro was promoted to the brown and black belt ranks by Lucas Leite, the latter promotion taking place in December 2021.
