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BJJ Fanatics Instructionals

Margot Ciccarelli

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Margot Ciccarelli is a jiu-jitsu black belt under Murilo Santana who worked extensively with other coaches such as Rodrigo Caporal, Jude Samuel, and Guilherme Mendes. Ciccarelli gained notoriety early in her career not only due to her extensive medal tally, but also thanks to her innovative jiu-jitsu style, heavily reliant on positions such as the Berimbolo, Crab-Ride, Lapel-Guard(s), Leg-Drag, and other more recent technical advancements. Her dedication and study of body movement and spatial awareness have also led Margo to co-create Jitz-Jamming, an art form closely connected to her grappling background (more info on that here).

Margot Ciccarelli Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Margot Ciccarelli

Nickname: Mars – short for Margot. Ciccarelli also goes by “Nomadic Mars” on social media. The athlete explained the name by saying: “I was born in London, UK, and based there until age 19, after which, I was traveling and living between the UK, Hong Kong, and the US, first California and now New York. These three countries are my home so I often think of myself as a nomad, especially since I hold an Italian passport—hence, my username, “the Nomadic Mars.”

Lineage: Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Rickson Gracie > Marcelo Behring > Mario Yamasaki > Murilo Santana > Margot Ciccarelli

Main Achievements:

  • 1st Place IBJJF European Championship (2024)
  • 1st Place IBJJF Asia Open (2023**)
  • 2nd Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2021 / 2023)
  • 2nd Place AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro (2021)
  • 3rd Place IBJJF World Championship (2021 / 2023)
  • 3rd Place AJP South American Continental Pro (2021)
  • 3rd Place AJP Grand Slam, MIA (2021)

* Absolute
** Weight and Absolute

Main Achievements (Colored Belts):

  • 1st Place IBJJF World Championship (2018 / 2019 purple)
  • 1st Place IBJJF World Championship NoGi (2019 brown)
  • 1st Place AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro (2018 & 2019 purple)
  • 1st Place IBJJF European Open (2017 / 2018 purple, 2020 brown)
  • 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship NoGi (2021, brown)
  • 1st Place IBJJF American Nationals (2020 brown)
  • 1st Place IBJJF American National NoGi (2020 brown)
  • 1st Place IBJJF Asian Open (2016 / 2017 / 2018 purple)
  • 1st Place IBJJF Pan Pacific Championship (2016 purple)
  • 1st Place AJP Grand Slam, TYO (2018 purple)
  • 2nd Place UAEJJF Grand Slam, LA (2019 brown + black)
  • 2nd Place IBJJF World Championship NoGi (2017 purple)
  • 2nd Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2016 purple)
  • 3rd Place UAEJJF Abu Dhabi World Pro (2020 brown + black)

Favorite Position/Technique: Modern Guard(s)

Weight Division: Peso Leve (64 kg / 141.5 lbs)

Team/Association: Unity JJ

Margot Ciccarelli Biography

Margot Ciccarelli was born on November 17, 1993, in London, England, United Kingdom, where she lived up until her 19th birthday.

Drawn to martial arts from an early age, Margot started practicing Wushu at the age of 6, then progressing into Chinese kickboxing and Wing Chun Kungfu during her teenage years. Although these are well-known combat systems, Ciccarelli’s early intentions in these activities were exclusively for introspective reasons as explained by the Londoner to BJJ Heroes in July 2021:

I did not see these [Chinese] arts as competitive; my focus was on self-growth. I was in love with the process of doing the work to get better—to know and understand myself more deeply. I have also always been fascinated with movement and body control, so each art and sport that I immersed myself in became a new lens of how to perceive the world. Today, even though I am a competitive athlete, it’s still so important to me to have overall aesthetic movement—to win with beautiful, superior movement quality and not just win for winning’s sake.

During her mid-teens, Ciccarelli gained an interest in bodybuilding. Although drawn to the sport from a cosmetic perspective, she opted to pursue powerlifting instead, keeping true to her long-term goals of improving movement and functional strength. It was while embedded into gym culture that Margot discovered jiu-jitsu, through a training partner who was already a student of grappling.

Margot was nearly 19YO when she took her first jiu-jitsu class at the Mill Hill BJJ club in North London with Nick Brooks, Daniel Strauss, and Oliver Geddes. The experience only lasted a couple of weeks as Ciccarelli left London for a work placement in Maui, Hawaii soon after, but the love for jiu-jitsu had grown roots already. She never stopped training from that moment forward.

While progressing in jiu-jitsu Margot immersed herself in a variety of movement-based activities, working with professional coaches in-house and hip hop dancing as well as circus skills, martial arts, and more. Ciccarelli’s movement research, and friendship with the former professional contemporary dancer Stephanie Lee, led to Jitz Jamming, an creative art form deeply rooted in jiu-jitsu movement developed by both. A subject BJJ Heroes covered in 2018.

Nomadic by nature, Margot rarely spent lengthy amounts of time in one place during her journey to black belt. From London to Hong Kong, to the United States, Ciccarelli traveled many miles, often. As a result, her coaching and promotions came from an array of instructors. Rodrigo Caporal (Atos Hong Kong) promoted Margot to blue belt, Jude Samuel (Inglorious Grapplers, London) to purple belt, and lastly Murilo Santana (Unity Jiu-Jitsu, New York) with the brown and, in May 2021, the black belt rank.

Margot Ciccarelli Grappling Record

43 WINS
  • BY POINTS
    19 (44%)
  • BY ADVANTAGES
    5 (12%)
  • BY SUBMISSION
    15 (35%)
  • BY DECISION
    4 (9%)
  • BY PENALTIES
    0 (0%)
  • BY DQ
    0 (0%)

15 SUBMISSIONS WINS

#214eb8
Tarikoplata
33
5
#86e620
Toe hold
13
2
#5AD3D1
Straight ankle lock
13
2
#d1212a
Bow and arrow
7
1
#fad11b
Triangle armbar
7
1
#f58822
Choke from back
7
1
#224aba
Kimura
7
1
#ff9124
RNC
7
1
#bf1f6c
Kneebar
7
1
15
(100%) SUBMISSIONS
16 LOSSES
  • BY POINTS
    4 (25%)
  • BY ADVANTAGES
    6 (38%)
  • BY SUBMISSION
    5 (31%)
  • BY DECISION
    1 (6%)
  • BY PENALTIES
    0 (0%)
  • BY DQ
    0 (0%)

5 SUBMISSIONS LOSSES

#214eb8
Loop choke
20
1
#86e620
Kneebar
20
1
#5AD3D1
Armbar
20
1
#d1212a
RNC
20
1
#fad11b
Inside heel hook
20
1
5
(100%) SUBMISSIONS

Margot Ciccarelli Fight History

ID Opponent W/L Method Competition Weight Stage Year
26485Julia AlvesJulia AlvesLPts: 5x4SA Cont. Pro62KG4F2021
27280Betina PereiraLPts: 4x3Grand Slam MIA62KGSF2021
27653Nathalie RibeiroLPts: 2x2, AdvPan American64KGF2021
28346Heather RafteryLPts: 0x0, AdvNoGi Worlds61KG4F2021
28361Gabrielle McCombLPts: 0x0, AdvNoGi WorldsABSR12021
29271Beatriz MesquitaBeatriz MesquitaLLoop chokeWorld Pro62KGF2021
29629Beatriz MesquitaBeatriz MesquitaLReferee DecisionWorld Champ.63KGSF2021
30666Nathalie RibeiroLPts: 0x0, AdvEuropean Open64KGSF2022
31727Maria MalyjasiakMaria MalyjasiakLKneebarPan AmericanABS4F2022
31746Ffion DaviesFfion DaviesLArmbarPan American64KGSF2022
33085Ffion DaviesFfion DaviesLPts: 7x0World Champ.64KGSF2022
33212Nadia FranklandLRNCADCC AUS Trials60KGSF2022
36940Claire NorthClaire NorthLInside heel hookNoGi Worlds61KG4F2022
38560Anna RodriguesAnna RodriguesLPts: 4x2Pan American58KGF2023
39984Thamires MonteiroLPts: 2x2, AdvHouston Open69KGF2023
40495Anna RodriguesAnna RodriguesLPts: 2x2, AdvWorld Champ.58KGSF2023
26481Gabi PereiraWPts: 10x2SA Cont. Pro62KGR12021
26489Eloise ColdibeliWTriangle armbarSA Cont. Pro62KGRPC2021
26490Vi VieiraWPts: 3x3SA Cont. Pro62KGRPC2021
26491Dulce RosenthalWPts: 7x1SA Cont. Pro62KG3RD2021
27278Kristin MikkelsonWPts: 1x0Grand Slam MIA62KG4F2021
27283Amber AgeeWToe holdGrand Slam MIA62KGRPC2021
27284Kristin MikkelsonWPts: 6x6Grand Slam MIA62KG3RD2021
27348Sarah RiceWPts: 6x2Charleston SOABS4F2021
27349Laurah HallockWPts: 0x0, AdvCharleston SOABSSF2021
27350Michelle WeltiWPts: 2x0Charleston SOABSF2021
27652Nikki SullivanWReferee DecisionPan American64KGSF2021
28163Andreza CostaWPts: 4x2Charlotte OpenABSSF2021
28165Sarah RiceWPts: 16x0Charlotte OpenABSF2021
28345Jessica BuchmanWStraight ankle lockNoGi Worlds61KGR12021
29268Yara KakishWReferee DecisionWorld Pro62KG4F2021
29270Julia MaeleWPts: 3x2World Pro62KGSF2021
29626Fernanda FigueiraWPts: 8x6World Champ.63KG4F2021
31579Ashley BendleWReferee DecisionPolaris 1965KGSPF2022
31742Fernanda FigueiredoWPts: 0x0, AdvPan American64KG4F2022
32542Ashley NicoleWPts: 27x0Atlanta SPO64KGSF2022
32544Hope DouglassWReferee DecisionAtlanta SPO64KGF2022
33080Erin JohnsonWPts: 14x0World Champ.64KG8F2022
33084Luciane SantosWPts: 4x0World Champ.64KG4F2022
33206Taylah BisshoppWStraight ankle lockADCC AUS Trials60KGR12022
33209Arabella CelineWPts: 3x0ADCC AUS Trials60KG4F2022
33214Georgia BalthazarWPts: 3x0ADCC AUS Trials60KG3RD2022
38555Alexa YanesWPts: 0x0, AdvPan American58KG4F2023
38559Larissa CamposLarissa CamposWPts: 12x10Pan American58KGSF2023
39983Yasmim PinheiroWPts: 4x0Houston Open69KGSF2023
40490Thauany CorreaWChoke from backWorld Champ.58KGR12023
41383Nanami IchikawaWPts: 10x2Asian Open64KGF2023
41385Thais LoureiroThais LoureiroWKimuraAsian OpenABSSF2023
44048Elizabeth LieraWTarikoplataOC Open64KGSF2023
44049Jaine FragosoWTarikoplataOC Open64KGF2023
45117Desyana GWRNCADCC IDN65KGF2023
45118Shella ChristianaWToe holdADCC IDNABS4F2023
45119Simone JuliaWKneebarADCC IDNABSSF2023
45120Nina ChrestelaWTarikoplataADCC IDNABSF2023
46480Camila RoqueWBow and arrowEuropean Open58KG4F2024
46484Rafaela RosaWTarikoplataEuropean Open58KGSF2024
46486Gabriela PereiraGabriela PereiraWPts: 2x2, AdvEuropean Open58KGF2024
47252Ashley YoderWTarikoplataLA NG Open61KGF2024
47253Thais LoureiroThais LoureiroWPts: 0x0, AdvLA NG OpenABSF2024
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One Comment

  • fatuma tepatondele says:

    Many thanks for this website and its great information. Belgian cheers from Brussels, Belgium, Europe 🙂

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