Currently making waves in the Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Pro Tour (AJP) is Tamara “Tami” Toros, a representative of the Atos Shield in the sport’s international circuit. Despite her extensive grappling resume and a Brazilian-sounding name, Toros is not of Latin origin nor does she train at the famous team headquarters in San Diego, California. Instead, Tamara is European-made and one of the first world-class talents to arise from Hungary, developed partially in Barcelona, Spain, at the local Atos training center with coach Gustavo Galvão, Andre Galvão’s brother.
Toros jumped onto our radar last year when she competed at the AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro tournament in the professional category as a purple belt (!). She competed as a purple belt due to the event’s ruleset which states that anyone who wins the World Pro in the colored belt division is forced to compete in the following belt from then on, regardless of whether they have been promoted. 18-year-old Tamara won the event in 2022 as a purple belt and therefore she had to compete in the pro-division with the brown and black belts in 2023. There, despite being a massive underdog, Toros was able to reach a venerable #4 place with wins over international professional names such as Rose El Sharouni and Miranda Galban.
This and other outstanding performances in the AJP circuit last year where Toros earned gold medals at the London Grand Slam, and Spanish Nationals led BJJ Heroes to interview the hot prospect in January 2024. In this chat, Tami told us she initiated her sporting career through Gymnastics and Athletics, practicing and competing in these sports from her childhood to her early teens.
The love for jiu-jitsu started at the age of 13, she told us: “My uncle was a brown belt and invited me for a training session back in 2018. I was always very active and wanted to learn how to defend myself, but also do something competitive. I really liked it from the start and since then, I have never stopped“.
Starting with coach Szkeres Àkos in Hungary, Tamara’s competitive nature shined through early and results appeared, cementing Toros’ desire to become a pro athlete. With her parents’ full support, one year into her training, the young Hungarian made her first trip to Barcelona to train at the Atos Academy, explaining that “my father and I chose Atos Barcelona because of the history of the Galvao family and their amazing curriculum“.
After a few trips to Barcelona, then 15 yo Tamara decided to make a permanent move to Spain so she could dedicate herself almost full-time to her sporting career while finishing her mandatory academic studies (which ended in 2022).
This shift towards professionalism was also boosted by the aforementioned AJP federation due to the organization’s ethos of fast-tracking the best talents to the more challenging categories by moving them up in rank, “I managed to anticipate my career by 1 or 2 years [due to the ruleset] and I think it was a very important step. It allowed me to challenge myself and envision my future in this division. I prefer AJP for giving this opportunity to the athletes and providing us with values that help us.” said the Hungarian talent.
This year, 2024, the 19-year-old grappler began her second year as a full-time competitor and is off to a good start, having earned a silver medal at the IBJJF European Championship where she submitted 3 opponents, losing in the final by a couple of advantages. Despite her dedication, Toros still struggled financially last year and missed a few important tournaments due to a lack of funds. For this reason, she left us with a message: “If there’s anyone that would be interested in sponsoring and helping us achieve our goals I would be very grateful. We are not giving up until I become a black belt world champion and everyone knows my name.“
Tami Toros Resume So Far:
2024
Silver – IBJJF European Championship
2023
Gold – IBJJF European No-Gi Championship
Gold – Road To Abu Dhabi (Spanish World Pro Qualifier)
Gold – JJIF World Championship
Gold – AJP Spanish Nationals
Gold – AJP Grand Slam, London
Gold – IBJJF London Open (Silver in Absolute)
#4 AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro (Black & Brown Div as a purple belt)
2022
Gold – IBJJF World Championship
Gold – IBJJF Pan Championship
Gold – IBJJF European Championship
Gold – CBJJ Brazilian Nationals
Gold – AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro Championship
Gold – IBJJF Dublin Fall Open
Gold – IBJJF London Open
Gold – IBJJF London Open, Absolute
Gold – IBJJF London No-Gil Open
Gold – IBJJF London No-Gil Open, Absolute
2021
Gold – IBJJF World Championship
Gold – AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro Championship
Gold – CBJJ Brazilian Nationals
