Male Jiu Jitsu Competitors

A Jorge Pereira black belt, Guigo is a World and Pan American Champion from Rio de Janeiro. Today he lives in Sao Paulo where he leads his own BJJ team.

An incredible figure in jiu jitsu’s history, master Pinduka was one of the first big stars to have come out of Carlson Gracie’s gym. He was also the original coach of the Gama Filho team and a major figure in Copacabana in the 1980s.

3x BJJ World Champion and 5 BJJ World silver medals. This impressive resume defines this amazing competitor from Gracie Barra, today the head coach of GB America.

Another talented fighter from the illustrious Alliance jiu jitsu team, this BJJ black belt under Jamelao is also one of Brazil’s top wrestlers, having competed in the Brazilian National Olympic Team.

Igor Silva is one of the top players in the heavyweight black belt division. Feared for his dangerous closed guard Igor has won several important titles such as the Mundials (World Championship), the Brazilian Nationals and more recently the Rio Open.

One of Rickson Gracie’s toughest opponents, Sergio Penha has had an amazing life story from his quick rise to black belt to his sudden career change at the age of 44. Truly a legend in Jiu Jitsu.

A De La Riva black belt, made famous at the age of 45 for giving Xande Ribeiro one of his toughest fights of the Mundials in 2006.

“Gigi” is often considered an unsung hero in Jiu Jitsu’s history. A former world champion in the sport, he has also produced some of the most important competitors of our days and formed one of the biggest teams on the planet.

With a fantastic list of achievements, this natural born competitor was one of Sao Paulo’s start jiu jitsu practitioners. Today living in the United States where first came to compete in MMA’s IFL, he teaches in California at the Gracie Morumbi headquarters.

Helio “Soneca” Moreira is a BJJ legend. A former black belt world champion, having also dwelled in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and he is one of the most sought out grappling coaches in the world.

Josef Manuel Junior, mostly known by his “war name” of “Zé Cobra”, is a martial artist with over 20 years experience in the fight game. He is also a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under one of the legends in the sport, the honourable Robson Moura.

A black belt under Carlson Gracie, Rodrigo Medeiros is also the leader and founder of BJJ’s Revolution Team. Rodrigo is today considered to be one of the top Jiu Jitsu instructors teaching in US soil.

Joao Assis is a top grappler from Checkmat. He also competes in MMA and coaches at Carlson Gracie’s gym in Temecula, California.

Ramon Lemos is the head jiu jitsu coach and co-founder of the famous Atos BJJ Team, having formed some of today’s top BJJ fighters, competitors such as Guilherme and Rafael Mendes, Gilbert Burns, Rodrigo Caporal amongst others. Ramon Lemos has also been involved with the grappling tuition of top Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters such as UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Rodrigo “Minotauro”.

Bruno Bastos is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu 5th-degree black belt, a rank awarded by Master Wendell Alexander. Bruno is well known for his past as …

One of the most important figures of the Nova Uniao team, Wendell is the co-founder of Nova Uniao and has formed fantastic competitors such as Bruno Bastos, Leonardo Santos amongst many others.

A Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt from the creative Atos BJJ team. Caporal is also an up and comming Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter.

He is one of the most successful Jiu Jitsu coaches in California, today. The founder of Paragon BJJ academy has been one of the main culprits in the United States’s BJJ boom, having been responsible for the tuition of great fighters such as Jeff Glover, Bill Cooper and Tyrone Glover. Miller has also managed to maintain a successful competitive career of his own.

Many sportsmen dream of one day becoming a legend in their sport, Murilo Bustamante achieved this status in two of the most demanding sports in the world, jiu jitsu (BJJ) and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). At one point Murilo was one of the stars of the famous Carlson Gracie team, arguably the best BJJ team of all time. He then moved on to Mixed Martial Arts and formed one of the stronguest MMA teams the world had ever seen, BTT (Brazilian Top Team), a team he leads to this date.

John Danaher is a New Zealand born BJJ black belt under Renzo Gracie who is considered one of the best grappling and MMA instructors in the World, having worked extensively with UFC welterweight champion, George Saint Pierre. Danaher gained notoriety as a jiu jitsu & MMA coach, though he also completed a Masters Degree in Philosophy.