Pablo Lavaselli

Pablo Lavaselli is an Argentinian grappler who competes in the black belt division of the sport’s international black belt circuit – a rank awarded to him by Eduardo Duarte. Widely regarded as one of his generation’s top lightweights, a reputation earned while battling in the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) and Abu-Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Pro (AJP) tours, one of Lavaselli’s most impressive achievements has been his training methodology, considering that most of Pablo’s development in the sport occurred under no coaching supervision as the Buenos Aires native trained mainly from his residence, with friends, from blue to black belt.

Pablo Lavaselli Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Pablo Lavaselli

Nickname: N/A

Lineage: Carlos Gracie > Carlson Gracie >Andre Pederneiras > Eduardo Duarte > Pablo Lavaselli

Main Achievements:

• 1st Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals (2022)
• 1st Place IBJJF American Nationals (2022)
• 1st Place AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro (2021 / 2021+)
• 1st Place AJP South America Continental Pro (2022)
• 2nd Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2023)
• 2nd Place AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro (2022)
• 2nd Place IBJJF American Nationals (2020)

Main Achievements (Colored Belts):

• 1st Place CBJJE World Championship (2018 brown)
• 1st Place AJP South American International (2019 brown)
• 1st Place AJP South American Continental Pro (2018 brown)
• 1st Place AJP Argentina National Pro (2017 purple)
• 2nd Place IBJJF American Nationals (2019 brown)
• 2nd Place AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro (2018 brown)
• 2nd Place AJP Grand Slam, RJ (2018 brown)
• 3rd Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals (2017 purple)
• 3rd Place AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro (2019 brown)

+ The AJP federation ran two Abu Dhabi World Pro events in 2021, one in April and another in November, the “+” sign represents the 2nd event, in November.

Favorite Position/Technique: Berimbolo

Weight Division: Peso Leve (76,00 kg / 168.0 lbs)

Team/Association: Renzo Gracie

Pablo Lavaselli Biography

Pablo Lavaselli was born on May 31, 1995, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he grew up.

As a child, Lavaselli was adept at physical activities, with tennis being one of his passions and a sport he played extensively up until his teens. As he started reaching adulthood, however, Pablo lost his interest for the courts and understood he was training out of habit and for the many friendships he had in the game. Once he realized that sentiment, he decided to quit and turned towards mixed martial arts (MMA), a sport he had grown fond of.

At the age of 17, Pablo Lavaselli joined an MMA gym where a friend of his already trained. Although with the intention of testing his skills inside the fighting cage at some point, the young Argentinian soon realized he had much more fun in the grappling classes than he did in the striking ones. For that reason, he chose to leave the MMA academy and join a jiu-jitsu one.

Team 360 in Belgrano, Buenos Aires, was Pablo’s home for a while with coach Eduardo Amarante – the man who graded Lavaselli up until his blue belt. Shortly after the grading, however, Lavaselli decided to sever ties with coach Amarante due to personal differences and started training at home, with friends.

With vast experience as a tennis player, Pablo had the work ethic as well as a strong idea of how his training should be structured. He built a mini gym, with mats at his residence and invited friends and others to come. There was no shortage of training partners for Lavaselli, as such his career, although very much under a “ronin” style training regime, did not stagnate.

During this process of training at his residence with friends and people of different gyms, Pablo connected with Eduardo Duarte and Miguel Alderete of Nova União. Although not part of these two black belts’ academies, they took charge of Lavaselli’s promotions, Duarte being the one who graded Pablo with his black belt on August 3, 2019.

Early in 2020, Lavaselli was invited by Andre Porfirio to come to Orlando, and train with Porfiro for a while, a move also supported by a BJJ project named “Agora”, led by Patrick Cooligan, which helps talented young athletes with their first steps in the sport. There Pablo had access to the best grappling circuit in the world, the USA, earning high praise when competing on the IBJJF circuit.