Mateus Moraes

Mateus de Moraes Coelho, commonly known as Mateus Moraes, is a professional jiu-jitsu athlete from Manaus, Brazil, and a black belt under Caio Terra, who has represented teams such as Caio Terra Association (CTA), Dream Art, and Amazonas Top Team (AMTT). Mateus Moraes first made waves in this sport while competing in the lower belt divisions where he conquered numerous important medals, mostly in the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) circuit and Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Pro (AJP) Tour.

Mateus Moraes Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Mateus de Moraes Coelho

Nickname: Cabeça or Cocão. Unlike American combat sports nicknames, which are designed to boost the fighter’s profile for marketing purposes, Brazilian/Portuguese nicknames tend to originate from familiar interactions such as banter between training partners and friends. The latter is the case of Mateus whose colloquial names came from an innuendo about the size of his Moraes’ head. “Cabeça” means Head in Portuguese and “Cocão” means large coconut.

Lineage: Carlos Gracie > Reylson Gracie > Paulo Maurício Strauch > Caio Terra > Mateus Moraes

Main Achievements:

• 2nd Place IBJJF American Nationals NOGI (2024)

Main Achievements (Colored Belts):

• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship (2024 brown)
• 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2024 brown)
• 1st Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals (2022 purple)
• 1st Place AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro (2023 brown)
• 1st Place AJP Grand Slam, LDN (2023 brown)
• 1st Place AJP Grand Slam, RJN (2021 purple)
• 2nd Place IBJJF World Championship (2023 brown)
• 2nd Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2023 brown)
• 2nd Place AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro (2021 purple)
• 3rd Place AJP Grand Slam, MIA (2023 brown)

Main Achievements (Juvenile):

• 1st Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals (2018 / 2019)

* Absolute
** Weight and Absolute

Favorite Position/Technique: Tomoe-nage Sweep (Balão in Portuguese)

Weight Division: Peso Médio (82,30 kg / 181.5 lbs)

Team/Association: Caio Terra Association

Mateus Moraes Biography

Mateus Moraes was born on April 12, 2002, in Manaus, Amazonas.

As a child, Moraes had football (soccer) in his sights and played this sport competitively for one season, before finding jiu-jitsu in 2012, driven to the mats by his curiosity for fighting.

Starting at Amazonas Top Team (AMTT) Manaus under coach Airton Santos, Moraes began competing early. By the time he was a juvenile blue belt, he was already regarded as one of the hottest prospects in the country, a status that opened a lot of doors for the young athlete.

In 2019, after back-to-back wins at the Brazilian Nationals, Caio Terra invited Mateus to come to California and train under his tuition with his professional team. Sadly, he was unable to move to North America due to visa issues and remained in Manaus. One year later, however, he earned another invitation, this time from the São Paulo-based professional jiu-jitsu squad, Dream Art.

Although Dream Art invited Mateus in 2020, he only moved to São Paulo in 2021 as a purple belt. Under Dream Art, Moraes earned his brown belt from Isaque Bahiense and competed internationally with two silver medals in 2023 at the IBJJF World and Pan Championships. After the World Tournament, Caio Terra extended his offer once again, and Moraes accepted, moving to the CTA headquarters in San Jose, California, nearly one year later, in March 2024.

After he conquered his first world title for the IBJJF as a brown belt in June 2024, Caio Terra promoted Mateus to the rank of black belt.