We are rapidly approaching the end of 2015. For this reason we went through a few of the top brown belts in the world this year, competitors who have not yet leaped into the stage that is the black belt adult division, though they are expected to cause an immediate impact there as soon as they reach their hard earned belts.
Thiago Abreu, commonly known as Thiago “Baiano” is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Rodrigo Cavaca and a representative of the Checkmat team in the sport’s competitive circuit, having conquered medals in some of the main tournaments of the grappling world, including the World Championship (Gi and No-Gi) as well as the Pan American Championship and Sao Paulo Open.
Known as one of the “bad boys” of the sport, enfant terrible Erberth Santos has now officially left the team that made him famous, …
Results for the Brazilian National Pro held this weekend in Sao Paulo, one of UAEJJF’s top tournaments in the country, one that had some of the top talent in Brazil battling for the free ticket to the World Pro next year.
Daniel Wanderley, also known as “Cachorrão” or Big Dog, is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Gutenberg Melo commonly known for his involvement in the development of mixed martial arts (MMA) stars such as Anthony Pettis, Erik Koch and Ben Askren at the Roufusport MMA academy. As a competitor, Wanderley has also ventured into MMA, while achieving important medals in jiu jitsu, particularly in the “over 30” category (masters) where he won the Pan American No-Gi Champion and placed 2nd in the World No-Gi Championship.
Thiago Gaia is one of the top Brazilian competitors in jiu jitsu today. A former student of Leo Vieira and black belt under Barbosa, Gaia made waves this past weekend with his Instagram post, showing an iBJJF official attempting to block Gaia’s message on the podium. On this piece we speak to Gaia about his message and the event.
Analysing raw data from Brazilian jiu jitsu matches to give grappling fans an insight into the differences between the submission only and the point style match-ups.
Felicia Oh is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Jean Jacques Machado, being part of the Woman’s BJJ Dirty Dozen as the 6th woman outside Brazil to achieve the rank in this martial art (5th in the USA). Oh is also an accomplished competitor in both gi and no-gi, having medalled in important events such as the World and Pan American Championships (gi and nogi), the ADCC as well as the US Open, to name a few.
The biggest no-gi event in Brazil has just passed us on the 25th of October 2015 and as expected it gathered the cream of …
Fábio Nascimento, commonly known as Fábio “Negão” is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Moises Muradi, who is widely recognized as one of the best competitors of the 2000’s decade, a period in which he earned numerous titles and defeated many big names of the sport, including Ronaldo Souza, Demian Maia, Roger Coelho and many others. Nascimento is also a highly regarded BJJ referee as well as a former professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter.
Jorge Pereira is a Brazilian jiu jitsu coral belt (7th degree) who earned his black belt training under Rickson Gracie (1986). Pereira is known …
In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) “The Gauntlet”, or in Portuguese “Corredor Polonês” (Polish Corridor) often abbreviated to “Corredor”; is a traditional ritual/initiation process in which the person being initiated is whipped by his fellow training partners, who use their own jiu jitsu belts for the thrashing process.
Jared Dopp is an American competitor in the sport of jiu-jitsu and a black belt under Rafael Lovato Junior. Dopp became widely recognized as …
Chris Haueter is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Rigan Machado, a grade achieved on December 1996 which made Haueter part of the BJJ Dirty Dozen, the first 12 practitioners outside Brazil to achieve the rank of black belt in this martial art. Haueter is also a former US marine and creator of the Combat Base Jiu Jitsu school, being known among the grappling community for his pioneering teaching style and conceptual coaching ability.
Deborah Christine Maxwell, commonly known as DC Maxwell is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Saulo Ribeiro, being part of the Woman’s BJJ Dirty Dozen as the 3rd woman outside Brazil to achieve the rank in this martial art (2nd in the USA). Maxwell is an extremely important figure in the development of the sport/martial art in the East Coast of the United States, particularly within the Delaware Valley and Tri-State area, where DC was one of the very first female athletes and jiu jitsu gym owners.
One of the main Brazilian jiu jitsu tournaments of this year’s fall, the Azusa Pacific University was the host to the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tour – Los Angeles. Find the full results of the black belts here.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Los Angeles – Oct 18th, 2015- Free live broadcast is starting. This is for the second edition of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam, an event produced by the UAEJJF. This the Grand Slam Tour has now reached Los Angeles after an amazing show in Tokyo, producing high value prize money and a roster of amazing grapplers.
Mahamed Aly is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Lloyd Irvin, and a former student of Everaldo Penco as well as Antônio Rogério & Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. Aly made a name for himself in the lower belt divisions of the sport, particularly in the brown belt category where he conquered important titles such as IBJJF World Champion, European Open Champion, as well as Pan American (No Gi) and American National Champion.
The production of high level submission artists in grappling is not a monopoly of Brazilian jiu jitsu, many athletes have come forward in the past few years with backgrounds in a variety of martial arts styles. In this article we go through a few of the top non-BJJ grapplers we have seen compete in recent times.
André Glodzinski is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Master Max Trombini being one of the top representatives of Cia Paulista in the United States. One of the most prestigious referees in the sport, Glodzinski is also known for his inspirational life story, one that saw André return to activity with a prosperous career as a coach and a competitor after a severe car crash which left permanent physical damage.
