Chloé McNally

Chloé McNally is a grappling competitor and a black belt in jiu-jitsu under Murilo Santana, who represents the Unity Jiu-Jitsu Team of New York in the sport’s professional circuit. Chloé first made waves while competing in the colored belt divisions of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) where she conquered Pan American and World No-Gi titles and medaled in numerous other important tournaments before making her mark at the professional level.

Chloé McNally Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Chloé McNally

Nickname: N/A

Lineage: Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Rickson Gracie > Marcelo Behring > Mario Yamasaki > Murilo Santana > Chloé McNally

Main Achievements:

• 2nd Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals (2022)
• 2nd Place IBJJF Pans Championship (2022)
• 3rd Place IBJJF World Championship (2021)

Main Achievements (Colored Belts):

• 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2019 purple, 2020 brown)
• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship NOGI (2017 blue)
• 1st Place IBJJF European Open NOGI (2019 brown)
• 1st Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals (2018 purple)
• 2nd Place IBJJF World Championship (2017* blue, 2019** purple)
• 2nd Place IBJJF World Championship NOGI (2018** purple)
• 2nd Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2020* brown)
• 2nd Place IBJJF Pan Championship NOGI (2017 blue)
• 3rd Place IBJJF World Championship (2017 blue)
• 3rd Place IBJJF World Championship NOGI (2019 brown)
• 3rd Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2017 blue, 2018 purple)
• 3rd Place IBJJF Pan Championship NOGI (2017* blue)
• 3rd Place IBJJF European Open NOGI (2019* brown)
• 3rd Place IBJJF American Nationals (2020 brown)

Favorite Position/Technique: DLR Hook

Weight Division: Meio-Pesado (74 kg / 163.1 lb)

Team/Association: Unity

Chloé McNally Biography

Chloé McNally was born in San Francisco, California, USA, growing up in the city’s Bay Area.

Sports were a big part of Chloé’s upbringing, particularly equestrian activities, a field she competed in extensively for 12 years, being particularly proficient at Eventing (one of the disciplines) where McNally reached the AAU’s Junior Olympic Games. Although fully committed to her horses, her training, and traveling for competitions bi-weekly, McNally still made it to her high school’s basketball team.

Despite her natural curiosity for martial arts, the frenetic pace of her extra-curricular activities never allowed McNally the time to try them – the exception being a short-lived experience in Kempo karate at the age of 7. That changed once Chloé arrived in New York to pursue her studies as she was finally able to find the space in her schedule to feed that curiosity. This led her to join a local martial arts gym where she dipped her toes in Muay Thai and Jeet Kune Do.

While in New York, Chloé made friends with an avid jiu-jitsu practitioner who convinced her to try a jiu-jitsu class in 2014. The initial experience with BJJ was described as “uncomfortable” by McNally in an interview given to Unity JJ’s YouTube channel back in 2020 (see here) but decided that the benefits exceeded that initial emotional barrier and opted to keep showing up on the mats. That resilience eventually lead Chloé to focus on the competitive aspect of the sport and train every day.

Although happy at Anderson Martial Arts, where she started, as she became more submerged in the local tournament scene, Chloé started looking for a more sport-oriented team to train with, eventually finding her way to Josh Griffiths’ Clockwork Jiu-Jitsu in NYC, where she earned her blue belt.

It was also as a blue belt that McNally had her first class with coach Murilo Santana at Unity. The craftsmanship and the environment Santana had created in this space immediately appealed to Chloé who eventually moved to the famous New York gym in 2016. It was at Unity, under the instruction of Murilo Santana, that Chloé McNally earned all subsequent belts, including her black belt – the latter in a ceremony that took place on May 22, 2021.