Diego Bispo

Diego Bispo is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Alan Moraes, and a member of the Ares Jiu-Jitsu team, formerly a representative of the Carlson Gracie Academy. Known as one of the top competitors of his generation, you will find among Bispo’s most prestigious achievements a range of medals in the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) circuit, including at the No-Gi World, Masters World, and European Championships.

Diego Bispo Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Diego Bispo Conceição

Nickname: N/A

Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie > Carlson Gracie > Carlson Gracie Júnior > Alan Moraes > Diego Bispo

Main Achievements:

1st Place IBJJF World Masters Championship (2017/2018 Master 1)
1st Place IBJJF World No-Gi Championship (2016 Master 1)
1st Place IBJJF European Open (2019 Master 2)
2nd Place IBJJF World Masters Championship (2015/2016 Master 1)
2nd Place IBJJF World No-Gi Championship (2018 Master 1)
2nd Place IBJJF Pan No-Gi Championship (2015/2017 Master 1)
2nd Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2015 Master 1, 2019* Master 2)
3rd Place IBJJF World No-Gi Championship (2015/2017 Master 1)
3rd Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2019 Master 2)
3rd Place IBJJF European Open (2019* Master 2)

Main Achievements (Colored Belts):

1st Place CBJJF Brazilian Nationals (2014 brown)
1st Place IBJJF International Masters & Seniors Championship (2014 Master 1)
2nd Place IBJJF Rio International Open (2014 brown)
3rd Place CBJJF Brazilian Nationals (2010 purple)

Favorite Position/Technique: Well Rounded

Weight Division: Peso Pena (70,00 kg / 154.5 lbs)

Team/Association: Ares JJ

Diego Bispo Biography

Diego Bispo was born on March 30, 1983, in Salvador, the capital of Brazil’s northeastern state of Bahia, moving to Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro, at the age of 6.

As a child, Bispo was far removed from the world of martial arts, and more akin to traditional sports, particularly basketball. It was only once he saw jiu-jitsu as a competitive outlet that grappling sparked an interest in Diego. At the time Bispo was 19 years of age and started attending a few of his friends BJJ tournaments. Realizing that BJJ was a highly competitive sport, he decided to join an academy.

Diego’s first training ground was at the Associação Caxiense de Jiu-Jitsu (ACAJJ), located close to his neighborhood, where he met, and trained under professor Claudio Marculino. His training at ACAJJ was short-lived as once the young athlete got accepted by a Rio de Janeiro University, (Bispo has a Masters Degree in Computer Science at Pontifical Catholic University, RJ,) he was forced to leave his gym, then picking up BJJ training at the Strauch Academy in Gavea, with coach Victor Leite (Maninho) where he remained until his brown belt.

As a brown belt Bispo started training at the world famous Carlson Gracie Academy headquarters, under the tutelage of Alan Moraes. The work with Moraes proved to be of great relevance to Diego’s evolution, as he went on to conquer the most important titles of his colored belt career, at brown belt, namely the Brazilian Nationals and the most important Masters division tournament in the sport at the time: the IBJJF International Masters & Seniors tournament (2014), conquering his black belt from Moraes while on the podium of that same event.

By the end of 2014 Diego Bispo was invited to come and train at a gym in Virginia Beach in southeastern Virginia. In an odd turn of events, the academy closed down after 6 months of Bispo arriving. Unsure of how to proceed from there, Bispo decided to seize the moment and start his own gym – a venue that opened its doors on that same town, in 2015, quickly becoming recognized as one of the best academies in the region.

In 2016 the Ares team was created with the support of Alan Moraes, who left CGA and joined Ares. In a show of support for his instructor, Diego Bispo also joined the team that same year.

Diego Bispo vs CJ Murdock