Mateo Cardona
Mateo Cardona · West Palm Beach, Florida, United States
A world champion at purple and brown belt, the American from AOJ won the 2026 Asian Championship in his first full season as a black belt and enters the Crown featherweight bracket.
- wins
- 24
- losses
- 10
- straight seasons winning Europeans, Pans and Worlds at colored belts
- 2
Who is Mateo Cardona
Mateo Cardona was born in March 2004 in West Palm Beach, Florida. He first stepped on the mats at age 5 and began training regularly at 7 with his father, Oscar Cardona, who opened Cardonas Jiu-Jitsu in Lake Worth with his mother, Claudia.
While still a purple belt he moved to Costa Mesa, California, to train at Art of Jiu-Jitsu (AOJ), the Mendes brothers’ academy. In 2024, at purple belt, he won Europeans, Pans and Worlds. He repeated all three titles in 2025 at brown belt and got his black belt from Guilherme Mendes on May 30, 2025, after Worlds.
He debuted at black belt with two golds at the 2025 Jiu-Jitsu CON, gi and no-gi, and was invited to The Crown at middleweight, where he lost in the quarterfinals to Andy Murasaki by referee decision.
In 2026 he was runner-up at Europeans at lightweight, losing to Will Wilson in the final, and beat Leo Souza in a superfight at the IBJJF Absolute Grand Prix. At Worlds he dropped to featherweight, beat Israel Almeida and Brian Mahecha and lost in the quarterfinals to Sam Nagai by one advantage. In July he won the Asian Championship at lightweight. In September, back at featherweight, he closed out the Jiu-Jitsu CON final with teammate Steven Gomez.
He competes at The Crown on November 8, now at featherweight.
Recent wins
- 2026Matheus AzancotJiu-Jitsu CON, featherweight, semifinal · 6-0
- 2026Cory PerezJiu-Jitsu CON, featherweight, quarterfinal · choke
- 2026Giuliano SperaAsian Championship, lightweight, final · advantage
- 2026Youngseung ChoAsian Championship, lightweight, semifinal · 6-0
- 2026Jadson AraújoAsian Championship, lightweight, quarterfinal · arm triangle
- 2026Lucas BritoAmerican Nationals, lightweight
- 2026Brian MahechaWorlds, featherweight, round of 16 · decision
- 2026Israel AlmeidaWorlds, featherweight · 2-0
Recent losses
- 2026Sam NagaiWorlds, featherweight, quarterfinal · advantage
- 2026Tarcisio SantosOrange County Spring Open, open class, final · decision
- 2026Tarcisio SantosOrange County Spring Open, lightweight, final · 5-0
- 2026Gabriel CardosoPans, lightweight, quarterfinal · advantage
- 2026Gabriel CardosoDallas Winter Open, lightweight, final
- 2026Tarcisio SantosOrange County Winter Open, lightweight, semifinal · 2-0
- 2026Will WilsonEuropeans, lightweight, final · 2-0
- 2025Andy MurasakiThe Crown, middleweight, quarterfinal · decision
Major titles
2026
- IBJJF Asian Championship Lightweight Gold
- IBJJF Europeans Lightweight Silver
- IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu CON Featherweight Silver
- IBJJF American Nationals Lightweight Silver
2025
- IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu CON Lightweight Gold
- IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu CON No-Gi Middleweight Gold
Before black belt
- IBJJF Worlds, Pans and Europeans 2025, brown belt, lightweight Gold
- IBJJF Worlds, Pans and Europeans 2024, purple belt, middleweight Gold
- IBJJF No-Gi Worlds 2023, purple belt Gold
- IBJJF Worlds and Pans 2021, juvenile Gold