The first American black belt awarded by Renzo Gracie, Matt Serra is a former UFC champion and an ADCC silver medallist, considered to be one of the best grapplers produced by Renzo’s academy in New York.
A great martial artis and true competitor, Fernando “Boi” Marques was one of the best heavyweight grapplers of his generation having won a world title in jiu jitsu back in 2001. A black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Master André Pederneiras , Fernando Marques is also an accomplished freestyle and Greco roman wrestler, having won national titles and been a part of the Brazilian national wrestling squad for the Pan Americans as well as a former full contact kickboxer.
Valmyr Neto is one of the top BJJ black belts competing and coaching in the United Kingdom. Originally from Belém do Pará (the birthplace of Jiu Jitsu in Brazil), Neto travelled to England after he earned his black belt from Walter “Broca”, where he established his team in the region of Gravesend.
Marcos de Souza is an accomplished Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under his father, Adilson de Souza. Marcos comes from a family of competitors including his father Master Adilson (RIP) and his brothers Mauricio Dai Souza, Roberto Satoshi and Cristiane Yukari de Souza. Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, Marcos moved to Japan in 2007 where he opened a BJJ academy together with his brothers.
Rodrigo Cabral
A good friend of BJJ Heroes, Rodrigo Cabral “Brucutu” has moved toTexas, US recently where he has been coaching is awesome Jiu Jitsu (at John’s Gym). We got together with theAllianceblack belt and asked him a few questions, not only about his recent move, but also about some current issues as gym affiliation and fighters switching camps.
The French Laurence Cousin Fouillat is regarded as the first European female black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. An incredibly accomplished grappler Laurence was also the 2nd non Brazilian to win a gold medal at the world Jiu Jitsu championship in the black belt division.
One of the men responsible for GFTeam’s success, Huanderson Pavão is one of those guys that is not mentioned often enough in the sport. A top level grappler with a vicious no-gi game and one of the top coaches out there, BJJ Heroes was lucky enough to drag him out of his busy schedule to talk to us about his past enterprises in the USA, his future and the release of his new website
James Puopolo is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under Rafael Lovato Junior who became one of the most highly regarded American submission grapplers in the BJJ circuit having won several important tournaments at a national and international level.
Roberto “Toshi”, is the son of the late Master Adilson de Souza, he is also one of the top competitors in the Jiu Jitsu lightweight division. Having been a BJJ black belt since May 2011, Roberto Satoshi has already beaten some of the division’s top athletes, such as Michael Langhi and JT Torres havin won important tournaments including the Mundial, the European Open, the Asian Open and many others.
A professional MMA fighter, Jiu Jitsu black belt and Capoeira Master, Delson Heleno, also known as Pe de Chumbo is part of the elite grapplers of the world, having been a former Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World and Pan American champion at the black belt level. He is a student of Adilson Lima from the city of Teresopolis.
Rigan Machado is a legendary BJJ figure and one of the most feared Jiu Jitsu competitors of the 1980′s. Rigan was the first black belt of Carlos Gracie Junior and the founder of Machado Jiu Jitsu, one of the most prosperous grappling academies in the USA.
Jair Lourenço is one of the top Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & MMA coaches in the world, having brought to the limelight a legion of incredible fighters such Renan Barão, Michele Tavares, Jussier “Formiga”, Marcelo “Caneta”, Ronny Markes, Claudia Gadelha, Gleison Tibau to name a few, helping to put the northeast region of Brazil on the BJJ map.
Marina Ribeiro is a top Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitor from the Checkmat Team out ofRio de Janeiro,Brazil. A proof of just how talentedMarinais was her meteoric rise to black belt, which took her only 4 years, training under the legendary and former BJJ World Champion, Ricardo Vieira.
