Jiu Jitsu Super Super Heavy Weight Division

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 …

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.

Victor Honório is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under José Honório Filho and a member of GF Team. On the 9th of May 2015, Honório turned many heads his way after reaching the 2nd place of Copa Pódio’s Heavyweight GP, one of the main professional events in the jiu jitsu circuit, as a fairly unknown brown belt. Since then Victor has been widely recognized as one of the most talented ultra heavyweight grapplers of his generation.

André Luiz Candido da Silva, commonly known in the Brazilian jiu jitsu community as André ‘Marola’ is a black belt under Wendel Alexander, and the head coach of Nova União’s jiu jitsu team, at the academy’s headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, having replaced the legendary André Pederneira’s position as coach in the team in 2008.

Gustavo Dias is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under Cristiano Marcello and Ocimar Costa, who competes for the Gracie Humaita team, Dias has a long list of accomplishments

Leo D’avila is a Jiu Jitsu black belt under Benevenuto Antunes, having become an accomplished grappler with medals at the highest level of the sport, such as the US Nationals, Brazilian Nationals and the Pan American Championships. D’avila is also a coach at the world class Atos Academy in San Diego.

Bruno Mendes, more commonly known in the Brazillian Jiu Jitsu world by his nickname “Tank”, is one of the leaders and founding members of the BJJ team: Soul Fighters. A black belt under Alvaro Mansor, Tank spent several years working behind the scenes of IBJJF competitions before fouding his own team with his brother, the world champion Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes, Leandro Escobar and Rafael Barbosa.

Abraham Marte is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under Abraham Tabar from team Basico BJJ of the Dominican Republic. Marte was the first high end competitor to come out of the Dominic Republic and the first to medal at the World Championships in a black belt division.

Francisco Fernandes Júnior, commonly known by his nickname: “Chiquinho de Cuiaba”, is a former Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world champion of the famed Gracie Barra academy. Being from a family with strong connections to Jiu Jitsu (his father trained with Rolls Gracie and his sister is the also world champion Luzia Fernandes) Chiquinho de Cuiaba became one of the top grapplers of his generation.

Orlando Sanchez, also known as “The Cuban Tree Stump”, is an American born Jiu Jitsu black belt under Jose Olimpio (AKA Ze Radiola) who competes at ultra heavyweight for Gracie Barra in BJJ competitions. Orlando Sanchez is also known for his drug dependence which he overcame through practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, becoming in the process one of the fastest Americans to have reached the degree of black belt in the sport (4 years).

An accomplished Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt with numerous medals in some of the most prestigious grappling tournaments in the world, Victor Costa is also the founder of Koral Fight Co. a jiu jitsu brand of kimonos and fightwear.

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.

A fantastic Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner from Danmark, Alexander Trans had a rampant career as a purple and brown belt, winning every major tournament in the world before earning his black belt from Leonardo Vieira late in 2011. Alexander is a Checkmat representative in Copenhagen, training alongside Ida Hansson, Shimon Mochizuki and many others.

The first North American black belt awarded by master Claudio Franca, Garth Taylor is also one of the most accomplished BJJ competitors of his generation, having medalled several times in important Jiu Jitsu tournaments such as the Mundial and the Pan American. A black belt since December 2000, Garth is also an accomplished coach.

Alessandro Capodeferro is the leader of the “Escola Bragantina de Jiu Jitsu” an affiliate of the Barbosa Jiu Jitsu team in Bragança Paulista (State of Sao Paulo). Capodeferro is an instructor and a competitor having achieved podium spots at several important tournaments such as the Sao Paulo State Championship and the World Cup.

Jose Junior is an accomplished Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt who managed to slip under the radar of many BJJ enthusiasts until he submitted one of BJJ’s top players, Bernardo Faria, on the World Pro Jiu Jitsu Cup tournament in 2011. A student of master Juarez Soares for many years, Jose Junior moved to the United Arab Emirates to be part of the BJJ schooling program there, where he became a grappling coach.

A Jiu Jitsu black belt under Carlinhos Gracie, this Gracie Barra coach has trained with some of the best BJJ practitioners in the world, such as Erik Wanderlei and Marcio Feitosa. He has also been the sparring partner of Royce Gracie in preparation for several of his fights.

Roberto Traven was one of the top jiu jitsu practitioners at turn of the millennium. A black belt under Romero “Jacaré” Cavalcanti, Traven conquered some of the most prestigious tournaments of his time such as the Brazilian Nationals, the Mundial and the ADCC. Roberto has also had a relevant career as a coach having taught alongside Muzio de Angelis in Rio de Janeiro, moving to the USA at a later stage to coach and compete in MMA.

A historical figure at the turn of the century for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Castello-Branco fought some of the best fighters of his generation. He is also one of the main figures of the Alliance BJJ team and one of the founding members of Brasa.

A young competitor from the Alliance team, this Brazilian National champion has been one of the main forces of the Super Pesado and Pesadissimo weight divisions since he received his black belt in 2008. Today he is considered one of the best fighters out of a star studded Alliance camp in Sao Paulo, Brazil.