Larissa Dias

Larissa de Almeida, commonly known as Larissa Dias, is a jiu-jitsu black belt under Vinícius Marinho who worked extensively with coaches Isaque Bahiense and Melqui Galvão while climbing the ranks of the sport. Dias first made waves in grappling during her colored belt career, a time when Larissa conquered World, Pan, and South American titles on the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) circuit.

Larissa Dias Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Larissa Dias de Almeida

Nickname: N/A

Lineage: Luis França > Oswaldo Fadda > Monir Salomão > Júlio César Pereira > Vinicius Marinho > Larissa Dias

Main Achievements:

• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship (2022)
• 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2023)
• 1st Place IBJJF American Nationals (2022)
• 1st Place AJP World Pro BRA Qualifier (2021)
• 1st Place AJP Grand Slam, RJN (2021)
• 3rd Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2022)
• 3rd Place AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro (2021)

Main Achievements (Colored Belts):

• 1st Place IBJJF World Championships (2019 purple)
• 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championships (2021 brown)
• 1st Place IBJJF South American Championship (2017 blue)
• 1st Place IBJJF Brazilian Nationals (2017 blue, 2019 purple)
• 1st Place AJP Grand Slam, RJ (2021 brown + black)
• 1st Place AJP World Pro Brazilian Qualifiers (2021 brown + black)
• 2nd Place IBJJF World Championships (2018 blue)
• 3rd Place AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro (2021 brown + black)

Favorite Position/Technique: Closed Guard

Weight Division: Peso Pesado (79,30 kg / 175.0 lbs)

Team/Association: MJN Jiu-Jitsu

Larissa Dias Biography

Larissa Dias was born on September 03, 1998, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, growing up in the Meiér neighborhood.

Growing up Larissa was not a sporty kid. Her sedentary lifestyle led Dias to produce an overweight issue that she decided to tackle at the age of 17 by joining Vinicius Marinho‘s jiu-jitsu class at the local GF Team Academy.

Joining the competitive scene early on, Larissa tested her skills at the national stage for the first time in 2018, winning the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals as a white belt. This victory cemented Dias’ intentions of becoming a professional jiu-jitsu athlete, a goal she spent the following years perfecting not only on the mats but also at school where Larissa studied nutrition with the purpose of helping further her career.

While climbing the ranks of jiu-jitsu, Larissa was incentivized by her instructor to work with other classrooms, particularly as coach Vinicius Marinho moved to Qatar to settle his life in the Middle East. The relocation of her coach opened the opportunity for Larissa to start working with the Dream Art group, where she earned her brown belt rank. She would later join coach Melqui Galvão‘s squad while maintaining a close bond with Marinho.

On November 24, 2021, after a remarkable career in the colored belt divisions, Larissa was promoted to the black belt rank by her long-time instructor, Vinicius Marinho.

NOTE REGARDING LARISSA DIAS’S RECORD

Traditionally, the records displayed in BJJ Heroes’ profiles only account for adult black belt matches as these signify an athlete’s entry into our sport’s elite ranks. Larissa, however, is a special case as she competed against black belts – with excellent results – during her brown belt rank, in the AJP tour. This left BJJ Heroes with a delicate predicament of defining when to start accounting for Dias’s match records.

Considering the level of opposition and the extensive list of professional athletes Dias overcame in those tournaments, we ultimately opted to include these on her record for historic purposes. Please take into account that any result prior to the 2021 Balneário Open event (Larissa’s black belt debut), was done as a colored belt.