Wow, it doesn’t seem right but it is, the Pan American Championship is at our doorstep once again and a year has passed since Rodolfo Vieira made his first big statement of 2011, winning both his weight and the open weight divisions. This year’s event will be held from the 29th of March until the 1st of April.
One of the most widely recognized Brazilian Jiu Jitsu academies in the world, the Gracie Barra academy has also been one of the strongest teams in the BJJ circuit since its inauguration in the 1980’s era. Led by Carlinhos Gracie (son of Gracie Jiu Jitsu founder Carlos Gracie) the Gracie Barra team has conquered many tournaments, being the world jiu jitsu championships their most significant titles.
Samy Al Jamal is a 4th degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and one of the highest ranking BJJ coaches of Arabic origin. He has been one of the great propellers for the sport in countries such as Jordan and Palestine where he made BJJ available by starting the very first grappling and MMA academies in these countries (Source MMA), opening it also to women and the under privileged, forming, very possibly, the first women’s BJJ team in the Middle East and the first MMA academy in Palestine.
One of the most talked about academies in the world, the Carlson Gracie academy reached its pinnacle in the 1980’s, a time in which the team heavily dominated the Jiu Jitsu scene in Brazil. In this article you will read the history of this great team and how it developed into this legendary camp of fighters from which many legendary competitors came out.
Rodrigo Fajardo is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under the illustrious Gustavo Muggiati who fights for the Gracie Barra – Curitiba team camp. Rodrigo Fajardo has been a top competitor for the medium heavyweight division since the mid 2000’s conquering several important tournaments including the European Open, the Brazilian national championship and the south American championship.
Walter Mattos is a historic Jiu Jitsu figure and one of the broadcasters for Jiu Jitsu in the southern region of Brazil, being alongside his friend Ze Mario Sperry, the founder of Sul Jiu Jitsu one of the biggest academies in the area, responsible for producing great fighters such as Fernando Paradeda.
With affiliated academies all around the world, Equipe Fabricio has become one of the most well represented teams in BJJ today. The team’s leader, Fabricio Martins is a black belt from the Osvaldo Alves academy in Rio de Janeiro, Martins has managed to produce very strong talent and is highly requested for seminars around the world due to his coaching prowess.
Considered to be one of the top grappling coaches in Japan, Mitsuyoshi Hayakawa is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under Master Alexandre Paiva, an achievement accomplished in 2002. Mitsuyoshi Hayakawa is also the leader of the famous Tri-Force academy in Tokyo, Japan.
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.
Ivaniel Oliveira is one of the top Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belts of his generation in the rooster weight division. A pupil of the renowned Cristiano Carioca, Ivaniel has won important tournaments such as the World Cup (WLPJJ & CBJJO) and the Rio International Open (CBJJ), though his difficulty in getting a visa for the USA prevented him to compete at the highest level (the Mundial) for a long period of time.
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 first American black belt awarded by Renzo Gracie, Matt Serra is a former UFC champion and an ADCC silver medallist, considered to be one of the best grapplers produced by Renzo’s academy in New York.
A great martial artis and true competitor, Fernando “Boi” Marques was one of the best heavyweight grapplers of his generation having won a world title in jiu jitsu back in 2001. A black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Master André Pederneiras , Fernando Marques is also an accomplished freestyle and Greco roman wrestler, having won national titles and been a part of the Brazilian national wrestling squad for the Pan Americans as well as a former full contact kickboxer.
Valmyr Neto is one of the top BJJ black belts competing and coaching in the United Kingdom. Originally from Belém do Pará (the birthplace of Jiu Jitsu in Brazil), Neto travelled to England after he earned his black belt from Walter “Broca”, where he established his team in the region of Gravesend.
Marcos de Souza is an accomplished Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under his father, Adilson de Souza. Marcos comes from a family of competitors including his father Master Adilson (RIP) and his brothers Mauricio Dai Souza, Roberto Satoshi and Cristiane Yukari de Souza. Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, Marcos moved to Japan in 2007 where he opened a BJJ academy together with his brothers.
Rodrigo Cabral
A good friend of BJJ Heroes, Rodrigo Cabral “Brucutu” has moved toTexas, US recently where he has been coaching is awesome Jiu Jitsu (at John’s Gym). We got together with theAllianceblack belt and asked him a few questions, not only about his recent move, but also about some current issues as gym affiliation and fighters switching camps.
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.
One of the men responsible for GFTeam’s success, Huanderson Pavão is one of those guys that is not mentioned often enough in the sport. A top level grappler with a vicious no-gi game and one of the top coaches out there, BJJ Heroes was lucky enough to drag him out of his busy schedule to talk to us about his past enterprises in the USA, his future and the release of his new website
James Puopolo is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under Rafael Lovato Junior who became one of the most highly regarded American submission grapplers in the BJJ circuit having won several important tournaments at a national and international level.
