Last year we ran a data based assessment on Sao Paulo’s relevance in the sport of Brazilian jiu jitsu. The article counted all the medals collected at the 2016 IBJJF World Championship, a tournament dominated at the lower belt divisions level by athletes from this well known Brazilian state.
This year the dominance of the ‘Paulistas’ in the coloured belt categories has continued to grow, and as we stand, with all the top IBJJF tournaments behind us (European Open, Brasileiro, Pans and Worlds), this discrepancy between the strength of Sao Paulo and the other worldly locations can be felt with one glance at the federation’s rankings: The purple belt catalogue showing 4 Sao Paulo based competitors out of the top 5 ranked athletes, brown belt shows 2 out of 5 (#6 being also from SP).
The fact that the region is home to some of the most fruitful BJJ hubs in the world is one of the key factors to the state’s success. Fábio Gurgel/Michael Langhi + Luciano Nucci’s Alliance hubs, Caio and Diogo Almeida‘s successful academy (home to Bianca Basilio, Cleber Clandestino, Erberth Santos and many others), Leandro Lo‘s New School Brotherhood, Rodrigo Cavaca‘s Zenith JJ, Luiz Guilherme‘s Guigo JJ, Marco Barbosa‘s B9 and, of course arguably the biggest producer of coloured belt talent in the world – Cicero Costha‘s PSLPB (Projeto Social Lutando Pelo Bem).
This effervescent jiu jitsu location is developing one of the most skilfull generations this sport has ever seen, and on this article we will be looking into 10 of those athletes who BJJ Heroes believes will be playing a major role in the future of our sport/martial art. Many other high level competitors weren’t included on this piece as we chose to focus on a smaller group, though names such as Italo Moura (PSLPB), Kaynan Duarte (Atos) or Leo Lara (Almeida JJ) could definitely be a part of a hot prospects list as well. As for the ones we selected, they are:
GUSTAVO BATISTA – ‘BRAGUINHA’ (Ns Brotherhood)
Under any other circumstance Gustavo would be classed as the ‘Most Likely to Succeed’ in a class of 2017, but there is too much talent here for us to say only one will be a king in his respective division. Braguinha has it all, a savvy guard player with tremendous passing pressure and a cool head over his shoulders, Gustavo has been stacking gold medals since his blue belt days. His talent also earned him a win this year over the legend Alexandre Ribeiro in a mixed brown/black division this year.
RESUME:
Medium-Heavyweight (88,30 kg)
IBJJF European Open Champion brown belt – weight + absolute (2017)
IBJJF World Championship 2nd Place brown belt (2017)
IBJJF European Open Champion purple belt – weight + absolute (2016)
CBJJ Brazilian National Champion purple belt – absolute (2016)
IBJJF World Championship 2nd Place purple belt (2016)
IBJJF European Open Champion blue belt (2015)
IBJJF World Champion blue belt – weight + absolute (2015)
CBJJ Brazilian National Champion blue belt – weight + absolute (2015)
IBJJF Pans Champion blue belt – weight + absolute (2015)
FELLIPE ANDREW (Zenith)
A student of Adriano Silva (Zenith instructor, not to confuse with ‘Grifo’ the Barbosa JJ athlete), Fellipe was produced inside a small academy in Santos – on the coast line of Sao Paulo state. Lesser known to the general crowd for now, Andrew is a long legged grappler who loves to use his length to his advantage from the guard. This year’s Pan American champion is also a finisher, a style that will likely please fans of technical heavyweights.
RESUME:
Heavyweight (94,30 kg)
IBJJF Pans Champion brown belt (2017)
CBJJ Brazilian National Champion brown belt – weight + absolute (2015)
IBJJF World Champion purple belt (2016)
CBJJ Brazilian National Champion purple belt (2016)
CBJJ Brazilian National Champion purple belt (2015)
FELLIPE TROVO (Ushirobira JJ)
Much like the aforementioned Andrew, Trovo is also a big man who enjoys the bottom game. A very creative guard player with a keen eye for the submission, Fellipe Trovo is a student of the highly decorated André Ushirobira. Trovo’s eye catching performances have earned him two participations on the Copa Podio line-up and (even though he is still a brown belt), he will be returning to this well known Grand Prix again this month.
RESUME:
Super-Heavy (100,50 kg)
CBJJ Brazilian National Champion brown belt (2017)
IBJJF São Paulo International Open Champion brown belt (2016)
IBJJF Pans Champion brown belt (2015)
IBJJF World Championship 3rd Place brown belt (2015)
IBJJF São Paulo International Open Champion purple belt (2014)
VINICIUS GAZOLA – ‘TRATOR’ (Alliance)
A star in the making since his juvenile blue belt days just three years ago, Gazola stays true to his nickname (Tractor) by mixing forward movement and world class pressure. With one of the greatest guard passers of all time by his side (Fábio Gurgel) on a daily basis, it is easy to understand where Vinicius finds his inspiration. Gazola is also an excellent competitor without the gi, having defeated a few big name black belts of the No-Gi world this year, while running for Brazil’s ADCC spot – a tournament held in Sao Paulo, where Trator placed second.
RESUME:
Heavyweight (94,30 kg)
IBJJF World Champion brown belt (2017)
IBJJF Pans Championship 2nd Place brown belt – weight + absolute (2017)
ADCC Brazilian Trails 2nd Place (2017)
IBJJF World Champion purple belt (2016)
IBJJF Pans Champion purple belt (2016)
CBJJ Brazilian National Champion purple belt (2016)
CBJJ Brazilian National Champion purple belt (2015)
São Paulo International Open Champion purple – weight + absolute (2015)
IBJJF South American Championship 2nd Place purple belt (2015)
JONNATAS GRACIE (Atos)
We’ve been keeping a close eye on Jonnatas since his blue belt days, a time when we interviewed the young talent after an incredible performance at the ADCC trials (2015) – a tournament where Gracie reached the semi finals. Back then Jonnatas was a student of Luiz Guigo in the Sao Paulo area, and was already winning state and national titles all around the country. In 2017 Gracie joined coach André Galvao at Atos San Diego, CA. This has allowed Jonnatas to compete internationally on a regular basis and gain the credit he deserves, while the benefits of training with the current IBJJF World Champion team will have certainly helped develop his game even further.
RESUME:
Lightweight (76,00 kg)
IBJJF World Champion purple belt – weight + absolute (2017)
IBJJF Pans Champion purple belt (2017)
Royal Invitational Champion purple belt (2017)
IBJJF European Open Champion purple belt (2016)
IBJJF American Nationals Champion purple belt (2016)
CBJJ Brazilian National Champion purple belt (2016)
CBJJ Brazilian National Champion blue belt (2015)
EDUARDO TINOCO (Almeida JJ)
Tinoco is a super talented middleweight/medium-heavy who is yet another gifted athlete to emerge from the Almeida JJ academy, a gym that has proved to have have an immensely competent grappling program by delivering high end talent repeatedly over the past 3 years. The recent affiliation with Atos JJ in the US has greatly benefited athletes such as Tinoco, giving them an international platform from which to shine. This opportunity was grabbed with both hands by Eduardo, who this year conquered his first world title.
RESUME:
Middleweight (82,30 kg)
IBJJF World Champion brown belt (2017)
IBJJF São Paulo BJJ Pro Champion brown belt (2017)
CBJJ Brazilian National Championship 3rd Place brown belt (2017)
FPJJ São Paulo State Champion brown belt (2016)
CBJJ Brazilian National Championship 2nd Place brown belt (2016)
UAEJJF Brazil National Pro Champion purple belt (2016)
JONAS ANDRADE (PSLPB)
Cicero Costha has arguably the best lightweight team in the coloured belt division today, and Jonas Andrade is one of the top competitors on that team. A crafty guard player, Andrade is long for his weight class and knows how to use this God given tool to his advantage by mixing an old school ‘Collar and Sleeve’ style game with the more modern DLR variations. He is one of the most active purple belt competitors in the IBJJF circuit and has an incredible future in this sport/martial art.
RESUME:
Light-Featherweight (64,00 kg)
IBJJF European Open Champion purple belt (2017)
IBJJF American Nationals Champion purple belt (2017)
IBJJF European Open No-Gi Champion purple belt (2017)
IBJJF New York Summer Open Champion purple belt (2017)
UAEJJF Abu Dhabi Grand Slam – London Champion purple belt (2017)
CBJJ Brazilian National Championship 3rd Place purple belt (2017)
DIEGO OLIVEIRA – ‘PATO’ (PSLPB)
Although Pato is from the same team and weight class as the aforementioned Jonas Andrade, the two have completely opposite styles and body types. Diego is shorter and makes of his agility his strongest weapon, tools with which he took the world by storm this year. A blue belt in the beginning of 2017, Oliveira conquered the UAEJJF World Pro and CBJJ Brasileiro in that belt division being promoted midway through the year, still on time to conquer his first world title at purple belt. The sky’s the limit for this incredible athlete.
RESUME:
Light-Featherweight (64,00 kg)
IBJJF World Champion purple belt (2017)
IBJJF American Nationals Champion purple belt (2017)
IBJJF American Nationals Championship 2nd Place purple belt – Absolute (2017)
UAEJJF World Pro Champion blue belt (2017)
CBJJ Brazilian National Champion blue belt (2017)
ANDRÉ GOIS – ‘NÊGA’ (ALLIANCE)
A student of one of the top Alliance instructors (Master Luciano ‘Casquinha’) Góis is another middleweight with incredible potential. Although he doesn’t have the same international recognition as some other names on this list, having competed almost exclusively inside Brazilian borders, Nêga is expected to break through at any time – given a chance to do so. A very entertaining guard player with an aggressive sweeping game and some of the most creative back attacks in the middleweight division.
RESUME:
Middleweight (82,30 kg)
CBJJ Brazilian National Champion purple belt (2017)
IBJJF Pans Champion purple belt (2016)
São Paulo International Open Champion purple (2016)
Rio Winter International Open Champion purple (2016)
FPJJ São Paulo State Champion purple belt (2016)
CBJJ Brazilian National Championship 2nd Place purple belt (2016)
THALISON SOARES (PSLPB)
Likely to be one of the big players in the rooster weight division in a couple of years, Thalison has been sometimes referenced as ‘Little Miyao’ given his slight physical resemblance with the famous PSLPB black belts and his affinity with the Miyao brothers game. But Thalison is much more than a copy of the Miyaos, Soares is without a shadow of doubt the most dominant purple belt of 2017, having won the BJJ Grand Slam by a landslide. Keep your antenas on this boy, he is going places.
RESUME:
Roosterweight (57,50 kg)
IBJJF World Champion purple belt (2017)
IBJJF Pans Champion purple belt (2017)
IBJJF European Open Champion purple belt (2017)
CBJJ Brazilian National Champion purple belt (2017)
