Shelby Murphey

Shelby Murphey is a jiu-jitsu black belt under Guilherme Mendes as well as a representative of the Mendes Bros’ well-known Art Of Jiu-Jitsu (AOJ) academy, for whom she won numerous titles of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) from the kids’ divisions to the adult categories. Shelby Murphey is also the first elite black belt built under the AOJ roof from “scratch” as her very first class was done at the academy, having never had any other coaches outside the team’s workgroup.

Shelby Murphey Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Shelby Lena Murphey

Nickname: N/A

Lineage: Carlos Gracie > Carlson Gracie > André Pederneiras > Ramon Lemos > Guilherme Mendes > Shelby Murphey

Main Achievements:

• 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2024)
• 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship NOGI (2024)
• 1st Place IBJJF European Championship (2024)
• 1st Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals (2024)
• 1st Place IBJJF Asian Championship (2023)
• 1st Place CBJJ Sul Americano NOGI (2024)
• 2nd Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2025)

Main Achievements (Colored Belts):

• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship (2021/2022 purple, 2023 brown)
• 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2021/2022 purple)
• 1st Place IBJJF European Open (2021 purple)
• 2nd Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2023 brown)

Main Achievements (Juvenile):

• 1st Place IBJJF European Open (2019* / 2020)
• 2nd Place IBJJF European Open (2020*)
• 3rd Place IBJJF World Championship (2019)

* Absolute
** Weight and Absolute

Favorite Position/Technique: Chest-to-Chest Passing

Weight Division: Peso Galo (48,50 kg / 107.0 lbs)

Team/Association: AOJ

Shelby Murphey Biography

Shelby Murphey was born on July 10, 2003, in Costa Mesa, California, USA, where she was raised.

Growing up Shelby was very active with sports and extra-curricular activities, first playing soccer for her school – where she was nicknamed “Bulldog” for being short and strong – and later following swimming and gymnastics at a recreational level.

Shortly after the Art Of Jiu-Jitsu school opened in Costa Mesa, Murphey’s parents enrolled her younger brother in the gym’s kids program. It was watching her sibling on the mats and how much fun he was having that sparked Shelby’s interest in the sport, eventually leading her to those same AOJ mats.

Under the supervision of coach Guilherme Mendes, Shelby quickly became a force in the sport’s lighter divisions at the kids and juvenile levels, a momentum she carried through to the adult categories. This excellent and constant good form earned Murphey her belts in quick fashion, eventually leading to her black belt promotion on June 2023.