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As the final stage of the World Professional Jiu Jitsu Cup is near, the trials all over the world start happening, on this page you can follow them as they go along throughout the world, from Brazil (Gramado and Rio de Janeiro), Canada (Montreal), Europe (Portugal, Poland, Finland, England, etc), USA (San Diego & New York) and Oceania (Australia, Sydney). You can also check here any World Pro Jiu Jitsu Cup live streams that may be happening at this point.

Considered at one point as the number 2 ranked fighter in MMA’s middleweight division, Paulo Filho is also a BJJ black belt under the late Master Carlson Gracie and one of the most talented fighters of his generation. Sadly, Paulo Filho (a former world jiu jitsu champion) fell victim to depression at the peak of his career, a problem that would damage his career and cause it to end prematurely.

One of the true legends in the sport of MMA, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, also known as “Minotauro” is considered by many the best heavyweight Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has produced in mixed martial arts. With a prosperous career in BJJ in the late 1990’s, Minotauro turned to MMA, where wins over emblematic fighters such as UFC Hall of Fame Randy Couture & Mark Coleman as well as Josh Barnet, Dan Henderson, Mirko Filipovic, Tim Sylvia just to name a few.

The French Laurence Cousin Fouillat is regarded as the first European female black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. An incredibly accomplished grappler Laurence was also the 2nd non Brazilian to win a gold medal at the world Jiu Jitsu championship in the black belt division.

Rigan Machado is a legendary BJJ figure and one of the most feared Jiu Jitsu competitors of the 1980’s. Rigan was the first black belt of Carlos Gracie Junior and the founder of Machado Jiu Jitsu, one of the most prosperous grappling academies in the USA.

Jair Lourenço is one of the top Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & MMA coaches in the world, having brought to the limelight a legion of incredible fighters such Renan Barão, Michele Tavares, Jussier “Formiga”, Marcelo “Caneta”, Ronny Markes, Claudia Gadelha, Gleison Tibau to name a few, helping to put the northeast region of Brazil on the BJJ map.

Marina Ribeiro is a top Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitor from the Checkmat Team out ofRio de Janeiro,Brazil. A proof of just how talentedMarinais was her meteoric rise to black belt, which took her only 4 years, training under the legendary and former BJJ World Champion, Ricardo Vieira.

Another edition of the European Jiu Jitsu Championships, opening the Jiu Jitsu season for the year of 2012. Many were looking forward for a …

Marcus Norat is a former Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt World Champion (2002) and a representative of the illustrious Gracie Humaita in the early 2000’s. The man from Belem do Pará, Brazil also became the founder of Norfight, a successful academy in the region, while serving several mandates as the president of Parana’s Jiu Jitsu Federation.

One of the most prestigious figures in the Cia Paulista academy, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt Paulo Gazze Junior holds an extensive list of achievements in BJJ having defeated fighters such as Dean Lister (2x ADCC Champion), BJ Penn (World BJJ Champion/ UFC Champion), Fabio Leopoldo (World BJJ Champion) and in MMA where Gazze Junior has won against significant athletes such as Chris Leben (UFC fighter) and Dwayne Ortiz (Former Olympian for USA’ Wrestling team).

Daniel Gracie is a Renzo Gracie Team representative and a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under Carlinhos Gracie. Daniel is an ADCC veteran that managed to reach the highest stage of BJJ in the mid 1990’s, medalling in all of the most important tournaments in the world, a standard he managed to keep for many years and carry into his MMA career where he competed at the highest level in tournaments such as the Pride FC and Bellator FC.

Grand Master Joao Alberto Barreto (9th degree red belt in BJJ) is a legendary figure for Jiu Jitsu world wide. Graduated by Helio Gracie himself, Joao Alberto became one of the top competitors of the Gracie Academy in the 1950’s being unbeaten in Vale Tudo matches (the early MMA). Barreto was also part of the Ultimate Fighting Championship as a referee in the early stages of the famous organization.

The Companhia Paulista, commonly know as Cia Paulista, is a historical Brazilian Jiu Jitsu team enrooted in São Paulo,Brazil. Cia started as a small local team though it grew into one of the top Jiu Jitsu academies in the world since its birth in the 1980’s. Cia Paulista is famed for producing high calibre fighters such as Eduardo Santoro, Carlos Vieira, Roberto Godoi.

Interview with one of the biggest legends in Jiu Jitsu, Hannette Staack, 6 times world champion and one of the leaders of the Brazil 021 team in the United States and Brazil. Hannette talks about her busy schedule, her training habits, her day to day life, her social projects and the future of the sport. Get to know the woman behind the champion through this interview.

One of the founding members of the Brazilian Top Team academy, Bebeo Duarte is also a highly decorated black belt in Jiu Jitsu, having won important tournaments such as the Mundial (World BJJ Championships) and the Pan American. This Carlson Gracie black belt is also a manager for many important MMA fighters, such as Alexandre “Cacareco”.

The first Swedish female black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Ida Hansson is also one of the top competitors of her generation, having fought throughout the world, medalling in some of the world’s most important grappling tournaments. Hansson fights out of the Checkmat team in Denmark (Arte Suave) one of the top high level BJJ academies in Europe.

The 2011 edition of the Nogi BJJ Mundials black belt divisions had fantastic matches in all categories, click here to check out how the action went throughout the event, IBJJF’s most important Nogi trophy.

A great competitor for Gracie Barra in the turn of the century, Carlos Lemos Junior, also known as “Escorrega” (slippery), is one of the main names in the GB family and one of the first black belts to come over to Europe to coach and lanch Jiu Jitsu schools to help develop the sport in the old continent.

One of the strongest Brazilian Jiu Jitsu teams in current times, the Grappling Fight Team (most commonly known as GFTeam) has been on the spotlight of the sport with consistent wins at the Brazilian National Championship and the big wins of fighters such as Rodolfo Vieira at the most important tournaments in the world such as the Mundial and the Pan Americans.

The Checkmat Jiu Jitsu team is one of the fastest rising teams in the BJJ world. Since their launch in 2008, Checkmat has steadily established itself as one of the main Jiu Jitsu academies on the planet, having medalled in the top grappling tournaments at black belt level, such as the Worlds (Mundial), the European Open and many others.