Leo Vieira

Leonardo Vieira, also known as Leozinho or simply Leo Vieira, is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Romero Cavalcanti, being famous for combining one of the most crowd-pleasing games in BJJ with an amazing track record. Leo Vieira was also the co-founder of important teams such as Brasa Clube de Jiu-Jitsu and Checkmat BJJ, becoming in the process one of grappling’s most important coaches by developing athletes such as Marcus Almeida ‘Buchecha’, Lucas Leite, João Assis, and many others. Leozinho is also one of the Top BJJ Competitors of All Time by BJJ Heroes.

Leonardo Vieira Jiu Jitsu

Full Name: Leonardo Alcantara Vieira

Nickname: “Leozinho” which means little Leonardo, or just Leo.

Lineage: Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Rolls Gracie > Romero Cavalcanti > Leonardo Vieira

Main Achievements:

• 1st Place ADCC (2003, 2005)
• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship (1999)
• 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2002/2004)
• 1st Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals (1998)
• 2nd Place ADCC (2011/2007)
• 2nd Place IBJJF World Championship (1997)
• 3rd Place IBJJF World Championship (2000)

Main Achievements:

• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship (1996 brown)

Weight Division: Peso Leve (76 kg / 167 lbs)

Favorite Position/Technique: Brabo Choke, Guard Passing.

Association/Team: Checkmat

Leozinho Vieira Biography

Leonardo Vieira was born on the 23rd of March 1976, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The son of a janitor Leonardo was raised in humble conditions, starting his grappling tuition at the Academia Master with Romero Cavalcanti at the age of 6. In 1993 his Cavalcanti merged with a few of his former students from the Academia Strike to formed Team Alliance, Leo competed for this new team for many years, receiving his black belt under the Alliance banner when he was 21 years old, from the hands of his master, after winning the historic first World Championships event as a Brown Belt (1996), in a final fought against Mauricio Mariano from Gracie Barra.

The following year, his first as a black belt, Leo fought his way to the final against Marcio Feitosa in the first of many historical duels between the two. This first fight went to the Gracie Barra fighter, Feitosa, but in 1998 when the two met once again in the final, Leonardo was the victor in one of the hardest fights of the event. 1998 was the last time Leonardo won the World Championship, although he did make the final again in 1999 (losing to Royler Gracie) and placed 3rd in 2000.

His career’s highest point had not been reached however, that came in 2003 when Leonardo won the World’s most prestigious Submission Grappling title, the ADCC (Abu Dhabi Combat Club), a gold medal achieved again in 2005.

In between this period, Leozinho moved to Sao Paulo and was training under Fabio Gurgel at the Team Alliance HQ there until 2002 when a group of competitors joined up against the head coach Gurgel. Leonardo left the team together with most of the black belts that trained there. The argument (in broad strokes) was over the ‘Mundial‘ (World Championships by IBJJF federation) which occurred a week after the Copa do Mundo (World Cup). As the Copa do Mundo offered a good prize money to its competitors and the Mundial didn’t, Leonardo and his teammates felt they should support this organization (CBJJO – Confederação de Jiu Jitsu Olimpico) and compete in it, Gurgel however decided against it for reasons that were never made public. The fighters went on to fight at the ‘Copa’ and Gurgel banned them from the gym, and so Leozinho and the others formed another team, ‘Master Team’ to honor the gym where this group had started training in the 1980’s. The Master Team later became Brasa Clube de Jiu Jitsu.

The Brasa Team went on for years and still exists today, but in 2008 Leo and his brothers decided to open another team in which they had more autonomy, this team called Checkmat.

In 2011 Leozinho came out of competitive retirement after he was invited to compete at the prestigious ADCC once again, the invitation was for the vacant slot was for the ‘below 77kg’ weight division, a class above what he fought throughout his career, and arguably, the hardest divisions in the tournament. Many did not give Leonardo a fighters chance, labeling him too old to be competitive, but the veteran raised quite a few eyebrows once again in the 7th ADCC of his career by defeating the cream of the crop of the new generation and placing 2nd in the competition.

A record of Leonardo Vieira’s matches in the most important tournaments in sport jiu jitsu, both with the Gi (Kimono) and without it (No Gi/Submission Wrestling).

Leo Vieira vs Baret Yoshida