Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Team History, Fighter Stats, Biographies and News

Fresh news for the upcoming 5th and 6th editions of the Eddie Bravo Invitational (EBI) events, one of the leading competitions in the sport of submission wrestling/jiu jitsu.

A rundown of the top jiu jitsu grapplers currently competing in the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA), from the UFC to One Fc, among all cage fighting organizations. Top 15 jiu jitsu fighters in the sport.

A tribute to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, also known as “Minotauro” and “Big Nog”. A legend in the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) and a great ambassador for Brazilian jiu jitsu in the fighting world.

Full results and video footage of the main matches of the Guatemala Open (GT Open), a competition that brought some of the top Brazilian jiu jitsu black belts in the world to Central America,

Lucas Rocha is a black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu under “Zé Radiola”, being one of the most well respected competitors to have come out of the Gracie Barra – Recife academy, a school that has produced several elite grapplers such as Otávio Sousa, Bruno Alves, Braulio and Victor Estima, to name a few. After a stellar campaign in the lower belt divisions, where Lucas earned World, Pan American and Brazilian National titles, Rocha moved to the United States, establishing himself as the head coach of Gracie Barra Arcadia in California, while still competing at the highest level.

Lucas Barbosa, commonly known as Lucas “Hulk”, is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under André Fabiano, who became known among the mainstream grappling community competing for Márcio Rodrigues’ team. Lucas Hulk’s breakthrough in the sport occurred in 2014 after his dominating performances throughout the “THE TEAM” episodes, a web based show produced by Copa Pódio in which he participated as a member of Leandro Lo’s squad. Lucas Barbosa’s talent was later cemented with wins at Abu Dhabi’s World Pro, the IBJJF World Championships as well as the Brazilian Nationals.

Garry Tonon is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Tom deBlass and Ricardo Almeida, having earned important medals for his team (Renzo Gracie Academy – NJ/Ocean County), including titles at the IBJJF World and Pan American Championships. Known as a No Gi specialist, Tonon earned his reputation through various accomplishments in prestigious grappling events, particularly in the submission only format such as: Metamoris, Polaris and Eddie Bravo Invitational (EBI). Garry Tonon has also worked extensively with coach John Danaher at RGA – NYC.

An insight to the academies producing the largest amount of high level competitors in the sport of Brazilian jiu jitsu, basing the results on competitive achievements in the sport’s most important tournaments, at the purple and brown belt level.

Joaquina Bonfim is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under the illustrious coach “Zé Radiola”, leader of Gracie Barra – Pernambuco, an academy that has produced a long list of talented grapplers, such as Lucas Rocha, Otávio Sousa or Victor Estima. One of the main female black belt competitors to have come out of her state, Joaquina has cinched important titles on a national and international level, such as Brazilian National Champion (CBJJ/IBJJF), National Pro Champion (UAEJJ) or World Champion (CBJJE).

Manuel Ribamar, also known as “Riba”, is a black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu under Rodrigo Pinheiro and Cicero Costha, being regarded as one of the top middleweight competitors of his generation in the sport. Born in the state of Amazonas – Brazil, Ribamar has had a few different coaches going up the ranks, but it was at Cicero Costha’s PSLPB academy that his grappling style truly developed, earning him titles at the World and South American Championships.

While all eyes were set on Polaris 2 (results here), on the other side of the planet some of the world’s top Brazilian jiu jitsu athletes were going to war in IBJJF’s Asian Jiu Jitsu Championship in Tokyo – Japan. The tournament captured the interest of a few big names such as Mackenzie Dern, Rikako Yuasa, Andris Brunovskis, Roberto Satoshi, Koji Shibamoto, Isaque Paiva, to name a few.

The tournament passed with no big upsets, below are the results:

The wait is finally over and Polaris delivers yet again an amazing show. As predicted the event had exciting matches throughout, a result of some fantastic …

A quick look at the villains in Brazilian jiu jitsu culture. The reasons and the consequences of the vilification of some of the sport’s biggest names, from the Gracie’s to the new schools of the sport such as Mendes and Bravo.

3 time open weight jiu jitsu World Champion Marcus Almeida, commonly known as “Buchecha”, is making a move to mixed martial arts (MMA) in 2016. He has recently been more outspoken about his planned shift to the cage. More details inside.

Jamie Cruz is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Renzo Gracie, being regarded as one of the top grappling instructors in the state …

Márcio Rodrigues is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Irami Gomes Rocha, and the founder of Equipe Márcio Rodrigues from where he has developed several high end athletes such as Lucas “Hulk” Daniel, Ygor Rodrigues as well as Yago and Ana Rodrigues. Master Márcio Rodrigues is also a reformed convict who turn his life around through jiu jitsu and used his knowledge to develop a social project focussed on the sport, with the purpose of taking kids away from the drugs and violence of some of Rio de Janeiro’s troubled favelas.

Explanation and history of the stand-up guard pass, also known as Carlson Gracie guard pass. A method of opening a Jiu Jitsu closed guard, whose creation is attributed to the late Master Carlson Gracie during the mid 1980s.

One of the top Brazilian jiu jitsu/grappling events in the world, Polaris 2, will kick off on Saturday – 12th of September 2015. In this piece, BJJ Heroes goes through the matches and what this fantastic “submission only” event represents to the sport’s landscape.

Alan Marques, commonly known as “Gumby”, is a figure of great importance for the development of Brazilian jiu jitsu in the USA. A black belt under Ralph Gracie, Gumby became the co-founder of OnTheMat (OTM), a company that revolutionized jiu jitsu’s industry through their unbiased and innovative approach to the sport through both journalism and retail. Alan Marques is also the founder of Heroes Martial Arts, one of the prime grappling academies in San Jose, California.

Analysing the data for the 2015 edition of the ADCC, by the numbers. We go through this year’s tournament, revealing important information about the submissions, the champions and the state of this historic submission wrestling competition in our sport.