Herbert Burns is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Rafael “Fofitio”, and Gilbert “Durinho” Burns (Herbert’s brother). Herbert made a career in the lower belt divisions of the Brazilian grappling circuit, earning important titles such as the Brazilian No Gi Nationals and the Brazilian Teams tournament before his career change to mixed martial arts (MMA).
Mikey Musumeci, is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Gilbert “Durinho” Burns and Jonatas “Tagarela” Gurgel, who is also known to have trained extensively with the Mendes brothers: Rafael and Guilherme Mendes. Musumeci made a name for himself in the lower belt divisions of the sport, winning sequential world titles from juvenile blue, up to brown belt, earning his black belt at the age of 18. Michael is also the younger brother of another high level jiu jitsu athlete, Tammi Musumeci.
The most talked about Brazilian jiu jitsu tournament in Central America, the GT Open (Guatemala Open) is a true sign of the development jiu jitsu, as a sport, as gone through over the past 10 years. On this article we go through, one of September’s most promising grappling events, which will be streaming live and for free.
July 23rd to 26th 2015 witnessed the first edition of IBJJF’s Rio Winter Open, a tournament that gathered some of the best competitors the birthplace of Brazilian jiu jitsu has to offer. Find here the full results of the black belt divisions, in what was one of the top jiu jitsu events in Brazil this year.
Matheus Diniz is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under the illustrious Marcelo Garcia, being part of an incredible generation of athletes produced by the respected grappling coach, a generation that included competitors such as Dillon Danis, Dominika Obelenyte, Jonathan Satava, Marcus Tinoco and Mansher Khera. Diniz made a name for himself in the sport, competing in the brown belt division, where he conquered important titles such as the World No Gi and Pan American.
Guilherme Augusto is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under the illustrious Everdan Olegário, commonly known as “Mestre Dan”. A member of the Alliance academy – Cohab branch, an academy that has developed high end talent such as Sergio Moraes and Dimitrius Souza, Augusto made a name for himself in the sport’s lower belt divisions, winning important titles such as Brazilian National Champion and Sao Paulo Open champion in both his weight and the open weight divisions.
Osvaldo Augusto Moizinho, commonly known as “Queixinho” is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under the Soul Fighters founding members (Rafael Barbosa, Leandro Escobar, Bruno Mendes and Augusto “Tanquinho”), although he is also known for his time spent as a student and team mate of Caio Terra. A Rio de Janeiro native, Queixinho made his name in the sport of jiu jitsu competing in the United States, where he conquered World and Pan American titles.
Venla Luukkonen is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Pedro Duarte, of the Jyväskylän Fight Club (Hilti BJJ Jyväskylä) in Finland, being the first black belt world champion to emerge from this Northern European country. Before winning the 2014 IBJJF World Championship at black belt, Venla Luukkonen was already regarded as one of the top female grapplers of her generation, having consistently medalled in jiu jitsu’s top tournaments throughout her lower belt career.
With the passing of another gi season, some of the biggest future stars of the sport are stepping forward into the black belt division. The difference of level between brown belts and black belts is a whole too deep for many to overcome, in this article we list down the browns belts most likely to succeed in their first year at black belt.
Dean Liebenberg, commonly known as “Cu Vermelho” is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Carlos “Portugues” Vieira, being regarded as one of the top representatives of the Cia Paulista academy in Australia. A former rugby player, Dean excelled in the sport of jiu jitsu, medalling in important international grappling events such as the Pan Pacific Championship, Pan American Championship, European Open and World Championship.
Following up on our last rankings earlier this year, we present to you the July 2015 edition of our jiu jitsu sporting rankings. Much has happened in the past couple of months throughout the grappling world, including two of the sport’s main tournaments, the Brasileiro and the World Championship. The World Championship in particular had many surprises, with some of the biggest stars of the sport failing to medal. This had big repercussions to our ranking.
Beneil Dariush is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Romulo Barral, who was regarded as one of the top grappling prospects in the world before his change in career focus to mixed martial arts (MMA). A World Champion and World No Gi Champion in the lower belt divisions of BJJ, with wins over big names such as Kron Gracie, Beneil Dariush quickly climbed up the ladder of success in MMA, reaching the sport’s ultimate promotion – the UFC.
To kickstart the National Pro events created by the EmiratesJiu Jitsu Federation, “UAEJJ” organized one of the best events of the year in Rio de Janeiro’s grappling scene.. Under the watchful eye of the promotions frontman Zé Mario Sperry, we saw many big names of the “carioca” grappling scene compete for the USD $120,000 on offer, find the results here.
How long does it take to find the first female black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu? In this piece we go through the process of finding Yvone Duarte, the first women’s black belt in our sport, discovered by BJJ Heroes on November 2014, and insight to the research developed over a 4 year period.
Yago de Souza is one of the top grappling competitors of his generation as well as a black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu under Cicero Costha. Yago earned his reputation in the lower belt divisions, where he earned the world championship, European Open, Brazilian National Championship as well as the South American Championship.
The butterfly guard, a style of guard playing made famous by grapplers such as Marcelo Garcia, Terere, Leonardo Santos or Renzo Gracie (to name a few) and one of the classic guards to play in the combat style of Brazilian jiu jitsu. On this article we go through the history and the various stages of the butterfly guard in the grappling world.
On this article, we will go through the 2015 ADCC competitors list for the 99 kg + division, as well as the numbers of past tournaments. A historic weight category in the ADCC the “above 99kg” has crowned the first non Brazilian ADCC Champion, the organization’s first sequential non-Brazilian champions (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001) as well as the ADCC’s first and only African champion.
New Jersey born Tom DeBlass, is a well respected member of the grappling community both as a competitor as well as an instructor, having earned his Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Ricardo Almeida and produced high level athletes from his Ocean County Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy. DeBlass has also competed in MMA, with stints at the UFC and Bellator.
Antonio Passos, commonly known as Tony Passos, is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Moacir “Boca” Omena and Ricardo De La Riva, although he became better known as one of the louder voices of the Atos Jiu Jitsu team, a grappling camp he joined by the end of 2011. Passos is also recognized as one of the top jiu jitsu coaches in the United States, a country he moved to in 2004.
The organization of the ADCC has signed on 3 big names for the upcoming 2015 event, which is happening in two months. They are Alexandre Ribeiro, Rodrigo Cavaca and Bruno Frazatto.
