Brazilian Jiu Jitsu’s Medium Heavy Weight Division (the peso meio pesado). This is a comprehensive list of this weight division’s most recognizable fighters.
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.
Patrick Gaudio is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt, a rank awarded by his father, Fabiano Gaudio. Patrick made a name for himself in the lower belt divisions of sport jiu jitsu, fighting for the Top Brother academy and later for GF Team, with whom he conquered the brown belt world title and a world professional championship in 2014.
Thiago Sá Fortes is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under Ricardo Vieira, and a top level competitor in the IBJJF tournament circuit, representing the Checkmat academy.
Keenan Cornelius is a Hawaiian and a famous Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitor with a tremendous fan base in the United States. The talented fighter received his black belt from André Galvão in September 2013 though he started his career as a grappler training under BJ Penn and Lloyd Irvin’s tuition where he won all the top tournaments in the purple and brown belt levels, being considered the most accomplished brown belt of all time.
Kurt Osiander is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructor and black belt from the Ralph Gracie Academy in San Francisco. Osiander is one of the cult heroes in BJJ’s community due to his video blog “Kurt Osiander’s Move of the Week” where is personality and technical habilities captured the interest of 1000’s of BJJ fans.
Rafael de Lima is one of the Correa brothers which are among the most important siblings in BJJ. Rafael Gordinho is a Jiu Jitsu black belt world champion and one of the main figures in competitive BJJ at the turn of the 20th century, he has also been involved in the development of the sport and other teams such as his brother’s academy, Gordo Jiu Jitsu and Renzo Gracie Academy in New York.
Eduardo Santoro, also known as Eduardo “Português” (Portuguese), is one of the top medium heavyweight jiu jitsu competitors of his generation. A black belt under Max Trombini from Cia Paulista, Eduardo Santoro won some of the most important Brazilian jiu jitsu tournaments in the world, such as the Brazilian National, the Pan American and the World Championships (on two separate organizations).
Felipe “Preguiça” Pena is a BJJ black belt from the famous Gracie Barra academy affiliate in Belo Horizonte, a camp that has brought us fighters such as Romulo Barral, Marcelo Azevedo, Pablo Silva and many others. Felipe Pena was regarded as one of the biggest prospects in the jiu jitsu world while he was still a brown belt, after his amazing performances in tournaments such as the World Championships and the Copa Podio.
Nicolas Gregoriades is a South African grappler who was the first jiu jitsu practitioner to have received a black belt from the renowned Roger Gracie. Gregoriades is also an accomplished competitor and one of the founders of the “Jiu Jitsu Brotherhood”, a BJJ community with affiliates all over the world.
Josh Griffiths is a BJJ black belt under former UFC title contender Kenny Florian, and the main instructor of the Clockwork Jiu-Jitsu Academy. Josh Griffiths started his career in jiu jitsu under Fabio Clemente of Alliance, and trained with Marcelo Garcia for a long period of time before he severed his ties with the Alliance Academy duo in a well debated case all over the internet which ended in a lawsuit against Garcia & Clemente (later dismissed), and shook the BJJ community back in 2007. Josh Griffiths was also one of the top competitors in the New York BJJ scene with wins at the Pan American Championship as a brown belt and multiple World Jiu Jitsu Pro Cup trials wins.
Frederico Tisi is mostly recognized for being the first Italian to receive a black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu. A true globetrotter of BJJ, Frederico Tisi found himself travelling all over the world in order to receive adequate jiu jitsu instruction in a time when BJJ was scarce in Europe. Frederico Tisi is also the founder of Tribe Jiu Jitsu, one of the most famous academies in Rome, he is also the founder of the “Unione italiana Jiu Jitsu” an Italian jiu jitsu federation which represents IBJJF in the Italian Republic.
Vitor Toledo, also known as “Gigante” is a jiu jitsu black belt under Erivaldo Junior with a long list of achievements in the black belt medium heavy weight division. Since moving to the Atos team Toledo started making a bigger impact in the main events of the BJJ calendar, namely two silver medals at the Pan American & the World Pro Cup (2012). Vitor is also the cousin of another established black belt, Eduardo Toledo.
Rodrigo Fajardo is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under the illustrious Gustavo Muggiati who fights for the Gracie Barra – Curitiba team camp. Rodrigo Fajardo has been a top competitor for the medium heavyweight division since the mid 2000’s conquering several important tournaments including the European Open, the Brazilian national championship and the south American championship.
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.
Ian Mcpherson is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under Master Romero “Jacaré” Cavalcanti and one of the top competitors from the Alliance HQ academy in Atlanta, Georgia, USA where he also learned a great deal from “Cobrinha”. Mcpherson made a name for himself by winning the World BJJ Championship and the Pan American as a brown belt back in 2010.
One of the most prestigious figures in the Cia Paulista academy, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt Paulo Gazze Junior holds an extensive list of achievements in BJJ having defeated fighters such as Dean Lister (2x ADCC Champion), BJ Penn (World BJJ Champion/ UFC Champion), Fabio Leopoldo (World BJJ Champion) and in MMA where Gazze Junior has won against significant athletes such as Chris Leben (UFC fighter) and Dwayne Ortiz (Former Olympian for USA’ Wrestling team).
Yuri Simões is one of Jiu Jitsu’s rising stars and a representative of the Checkmat academy fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Awarded with his black belt on December 2011, Yuri made a name for himself in the lower ranks after wining several important competitions such as the Mundial, the World Nogi Championships, the European Open to name a few. Yuri Simões is also the adopted brother of another BJJ starlet, Ary Farias.
Thiago Leiras is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under the prestigious Flavio Aleluia and a member of the Brazil 021 BJJ team. Having medalled in important tournaments such as the Rio Open, Copa América and Copa Cyclone, Leiras reached the degree of black belt in August 2011.
Salvatore Pace is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under Carlos Lemos Jr and a BJJ Coach with international experience, having taught in both …
Bruno Ferreira is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt graduated by the inimitable Master Francisco Albuquerque (also known as Toco). Ferreira has medalled in several important events such as the Campeonato Brasileiro (Brazilian Nationals), the South American Championship and the Brazilian Teams Tournament.