Mateus Rodrigues

Mateus Rodrigues de Souza is a professional jiu-jitsu athlete and a black belt under Guilherme Mendes who represents the Art Of Jiu-Jitsu (AOJ) Academy in the sport’s international circuit. Mateus Rodrigues became one of the most recognizable faces in grappling while competing on the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) circuit in the colored belt divisions, where he earned World (gi and no-gi) as well as Pan American titles. Rodrigues is also the son of former NHB fighter Silvio Rodrigues and the younger brother of another prolific jiu-jitsu athlete, Lucas Rodrigues.

Mateus Rodrigues Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Mateus Rodrigues de Souza

Nickname: N/A

Lineage: Carlos Gracie > Carlson Gracie > André Pederneiras > Ramon Lemos > Guilherme Mendes > Mateus Rodrigues

Main Achievements:

• 2nd Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2024)

Main Achievements (Colored Belts):

• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship (2018** blue, 2021 brown)
• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship NOGI (2019 purple)
• 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2018** blue)
• 3rd Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2019 purple, 2021 brown)

Main Achievements (Teen / Juvenile):

• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship (2016 / 2017)
• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship NOGI (2017**)
• 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2017)
• 1st Place IBJJF European Open (2017)
• 1st Place IBJJF South American Championship (2016**)
• 1st Place IBJJF American Nationals (2017**)
• 1st Place AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro (2017)
• 1st Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals (2014 / 2015)
• 2nd Place IBJJF World Championship NOGI (2016)
• 3rd Place IBJJF World Championship NOGI (2016*)
• 3rd Place IBJJF European Open (2017*)
• 3rd Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2016)

Favorite Position/Technique: Omoplata / Well-Rounded

Weight Division: Peso Médio (82,30 kg / 181.5 lbs) and Meio Pesado (88,30 kg / 195.0 lbs)

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

Mateus Rodrigues Biography

Mateus Rodrigues was born on May 19, 2000, in Curitiba, the capital of the southern Brazilian state of Paraná.

The city of Curitiba is well-known in the martial arts world for being the birthplace of the Chute-Boxe Academy, a groundbreaking gym in mixed martial arts, and one of the most important talent stables in the history of that sport. Chute-Boxe is also the team that produced No Holds Barred pioneer Silvio Rodrigues, also known as “Urutum”, one of the first athletes developed by the squad, who is also Mateus’ father.

Growing up in a gym environment, it didn’t take long for Mateus and his older brother Lucas to start practicing combat sports. Boxing, Muay Thai, and Jiu-Jitsu were all part of the Rodrigues brothers’ upbringing. For Mateus, however, a loss suffered at the age of 9 in a jiu-jitsu tournament led his competitive nature to come out. From that moment forward Rodrigues decided to focus on developing his grappling skills above all else.

While climbing the jiu-jitsu ladder in the kids, teen, and juvenile divisions, Rodrigues worked with a number of instructors while admiring coach Guilherme Mendes‘ work from a distance. His admiration for the work done by Gui at the Art Of Jiu-Jitsu Academy Kids Program in California led the young Paraná native to email Mendes on a few occasions, asking the renowned instructor for a chance to train with his team. The requests were not answered at the time.

Time went passed and in 2016 Mateus’ career started picking up some traction on the international stage as the juvenile athlete conquered IBJJF World and South American titles as well as a silver medal at the No-Gi Worlds. The success found on the mats was met with a message by Guilherme Mendes replying to Rodrigues’ old messages, offering to take the young athlete under his program. An ecstatic Mateus immediately contacted his father and the two agreed this was a positive change for Rodrigues’ career. 6 weeks after the initial contact, Mateus Rodrigues moved to the United States to work at AOJ.

Arriving as a juvenile blue belt, Mateus Rodrigues immediately made an impact in the sport. conquering many medals and all his following belts from Guilherme Mendes, this included his black belt promotion in a ceremony that took place in December 2021.