Leonardo Santos (Nova Uniao)

Leonardo Santos is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt from the Nova Uniao team, being one of the most important fighters for BJJ in the early 2000′s. With numerous titles in his career, Leo Santos was regarded by many as the best lightweight fighter of his generation, having victories over several great fighters such as Leo Vieira and Thiago Alves. He put an end to his career with the kimono to follow his brother’s footsteps (Wagnney Fabiano) in turning into a professional MMA fighter.

Leonardo Santos in Detail

Full Name: Leonardo Silva dos Santos

Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Luis Franca > Oswaldo Fadda > Sebastião Ricardo > Wendell Alexander > Leonardo Santos

Weight Division: Peso Lebe (76Kg/167lbs)

Favourite Technique: Butterfly Guard Sweep

Main Achievements/Record (BJJ):

• 4x World Cup Champion (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005),
• Silver World Medalist (2001 Black Belt Division);
• Bronze World Medalist (2000 Black Belt Division);
• ADCC Brazilian Trial Champion (2005)
• 4th Place in the ADCC Finals (2005)

Association/Team: Nova Uniao

Leonardo Santos Biography

Leonardo Santos was born on the 5th of February 1980 in Rio de Janeiro. He started training Jiu Jitsu when he was 4 years old under the legendary trainer Wendell Alexander (Co-Founder of Nova Uniao) in Sao Joao de Meriti (Rio de Janeiro) at the Mello Tenis Club. Although Leo as a kid had other interests (mainly soccer) and didn’t enjoy training all that much, he felt obliged to train as his older cousin and brother (MMA fighter Wagnney Fabiano) were avid Jiu Jitsu practitioners. With time Leo Santos started enjoying the benefits of Jiu Jitsu and also started enjoying the BJJ routine, success in BJJ Comps came with this new found love for the gentle art.

In 1995 Mr Alexander (Leo’s Coach) joined arms with Dedé Pederneiras to make one of the strongest teams in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu the world had seen, Nova Uniao, and Leo Santos soon was one of Nova Uniao’s star competitors.

In 2002 Leo stopped competing at the Mundial (CBJJ World Championships) as this competition did not offer prize money to it’s competitors. This was something that a lot of fighters pressed for and which catapulted the rise of CBJJO, Leo Santos started competing in CBJJO’s tournaments only (with Gi) and was undefeated for over 5 years in that organization becoming widely considered by the media and the followers of the sport as one of the top 3 lightweights in BJJ at the time.

In 2006 after a short spell helping his brother Wagnney with his academy in Canada, Leonardo started dedicating himself fully to MMA having fought consistently for several different organizations.

Leonardo Santos vs Mitsuyoshi Hayakawa (Superfight)

Leonardo Santos vs Roberto Werneck (World Cup 2003)

Leonardo Santos vs Jackson Moura (World Cup 2004)

Leonardo Santos vs Thiago Alves (World Cup 2005)

Leo Santos vs Paulo Pinheiro