Seif-Eddine Houmine

Seif-Eddine Houmine was born on June 24, 1988, in Oujda, in northeastern Morocco. As a teenager he did hammer throw, judo and rugby. At 17 he moved to France to study.

He found Jiu-Jitsu as an adult, in Lille, with Jackson Paulo Jacinto, who coached him up to blue belt. In Paris he began training with Zakaria Arhab and Mathias Jardin, of GFTeam, and got his black belt in April 2018.

In his first years as a black belt he made the Europeans podium three times, with silver in 2020 and bronze in 2019 and 2023. At the 2024 Worlds he lost his semifinal by disqualification and was awarded the gold months later, when the IBJJF revised the podium after USADA sanctioned Yatan Bueno and Pedro Alex. He became the first Moroccan to win an IBJJF world title at adult black belt.

In 2026 he reached the podium at all four IBJJF Grand Slam tournaments: gold at Europeans, Pans and Worlds and bronze at the Brazilian Nationals. In the Worlds final, at age 37, he submitted Gutemberg Pereira with an amassa-pão collar choke. After the match he left his belt on the mat and, the next day, wrote that the gesture marked the end of his international career.

Months later, the IBJJF announced the two-time world champion for the ultra-heavyweight bracket at The Crown, on November 8. It will be his debut at the event.