Mateo Cardona

Mateo Cardona is a jiu-jitsu black belt under Oscar Cardona and Guilherme Mendes, who first made waves in the sport while representing the Cardona BJJ Academy as a junior athlete, and later the Art Of Jiu-Jitsu (AOJ) team in the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) adult circuit, where he won numerous important titles such as the World, Pan, and European Championships in the amateur divisions before being promoted to the black belt rank.

Mateo Cardona Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Mateo Cardona

Nickname: n/a

Lineage 1: Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Carlos Gracie Junior > Marcelo Ribeiro > Oscar Cardona > Mateo Cardona

Lineage 2: Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Carlson Gracie > André Pederneiras > Ramon Lemos > Guilherme Mendes > Mateo Cardona

Main Achievements:

• 1st Place IBJJF JJ Con (2025)
• 1st Place IBJJF JJ Con NOGI (2025)

Main Achievements (Colored Belts Adult):

• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship (2024 purple, 2025 brown)
• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship NOGI (2023 purple)
• 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2024 purple, 2025 brown)
• 1st Place IBJJF European Championship (2024 purple, 2025 brown)
• 3rd Place IBJJF World Championship (2023 purple)
• 3rd Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2023 purple)

Main Achievements (Juvenile):

• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship (2021)
• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship NOGI (2021)
• 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2021)
• 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship NOGI (2021)
• 2nd Place IBJJF World Championship (2021*)

* Absolute
** Weight and Absolute

Favorite Position/Technique: Well-rounded

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

Team/Association: Art Of Jiu-Jitsu (AOJ)

Mateo Cardona Biography

Mateo Cardona was born in March 2004 in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA.

By his 7th birthday, his father, Oscar Cardona, was already an avid jiu-jitsu enthusiast, and it was he who initiated the young Mateo into jiu-jitsu, while also enrolling him in wrestling classes. His mother, Claudia Cardona, also joined the family in the sport of grappling and later became a well-respected competitor in the Masters division.

Colombian-born Oscar Cardona soon started his own jiu-jitsu school in Lake Worth, the Cardona Jiu-Jitsu Academy, of which Mateo became one of the star students in the kids and juvenile divisions.

As Mateo transitioned from the junior to the adult category, he and his family believed he had the potential to reach the top of the sport, but lacked the adequate tools to get there in a smaller academy. As both Mateo and his father were big fans of the Mendes Brothers and the work they were doing with their team, the Cardonas funded Mateo’s move to Costa Mesa, California, to work at Guilherme Mendes’ AOJ school.

Mateo arrived at AOJ as a purple belt and hit the ground running with an incredible run in the colored belt division. His 2025 brown belt campaign was one of his highest moments as he went on to earn IBJJF World, Pan-American, and European titles, finishing all his matches but one via submission. He received his black belt on May 30 of that year, moments after his final match of the World Championships, from the hands of his coach, Guilherme Mendes.