Gabriel Moraes

Gabriel Moraes, most commonly known as Gabrielzinho Moraes, is a historical figure for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, having won the world championship on three separate occasions while being the first and only competitor to date to win BJJ’s most prestigious tournament consecutively as a blue belt (2003) and as a black belt the following year (2004), jumping two belt categories in the process. Gabriel Moraes is also one of the very selected group of competitors to have submitted Caio Terra in competition.

Gabriel Moraes Jiu Jitsu

Full Name: Gabriel Moraes

Nickname: Moraes is usually called “Gabrielzinho”, which is a friendly was of saying Gabriel.

Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Royler Gracie/Rolker Gracie > Guto Monteiro > Gabriel Moraes

Main Achievements:

• World Champion (2002*, 2003 blue, 2004 & 2013 black)
• Brazilian National Champion (2004 purple)
• Amazing Meeting Champion (2011**)
• World Championship Runner-up (2005 black)
• Pan American Championship Runner-up (2016)

* closed bracket with team mate Fernando Vieira.
**closed bracket with team mate Carlos Vieira Holanda.

Favourite Technique: Choke from Back.

Weight Division: Peso Galo (58kg/126lbs)

Team/Association: Alliance

Gabriel Moraes Biography

Gabriel Moraes started practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at the age of 15 in his city of Manaus. He was taught by the Monteiro Brothers who ran one of the strongest teams in the Amazonas region, the “Academia Monteiro”, where Gabriel quickly made a name for himself has a talented competitor in the lower ranks. After winning the world championship tournament as a blue belt twice, Gabriel was promoted to purple belt, he quickly became one of the most successful purple belts in the country, winning the Brazilian National Championship.

Gabriel Moraes’ career was also heavily influenced by Carlos Vieira Holanda, who accompanied Moraes regularly on his trips to compete around the country. Shortly after Gabriel Moraes won the purple belt national championship, he was ready to quit jiu jitsu, finding no sponsors and no way to sustain the lifestyle of a competitor in Jiu Jitsu, however, on Gabriel’s return to Manaus, his long time coach Augusto “Guto” Monteiro awarded the young prodigy his black belt, jumping from purple straight to black belt, a rare case in BJJ (although not unheard of as were the cases of: Sergio Penha and Fredson Paixao).

Being a black belt, opened the doors for sponsorships (helped by the good contacts of Carlos Holanda), these sponsorships helped maintain Gabriel Moraes’ in Jiu Jitsu. It was also Carlos Holanda who introduced Gabriel to Ricardo Vieira and Checkmat, a team he trained with during his trips to Rio de Janeiro and which he started representing in competitions up until 2015.

In 2004, only a few months after he received his black belt, Gabriel Moraes won the world championships, an unprecedented event that catapulted the Gabrielzinho to the rings of BJJ history.

Please note the information compiled for Gabriel Moraes’ grappling record as an adult black belt is incomplete. There are dozens of matches from his early days as a black belt that remain unaccounted due to lack of information regarding those tournaments. This is, however, the best assessment of his competitive career we have found through research.

Gabriel Moraes vs Caio Terra

Gabriel Moraes vs Bernardo Pitel