Sam Nagai

Samuel Nagai Hatchwell, known as “Samurai,” was born in the Brazilian state of Amazonas on May 26, 2000. He has a Japanese great-grandfather and moved with his family to Japan as a child. He started Jiu-Jitsu through his older brother, Jackson, and had Emerson Noriaki as his first coach; he also trained with Junior Handa and Marcos Souza.

Back in Amazonas, the brothers trained with Marcio Pontes and Carlos Holanda. Samuel was juvenile world champion in 2017 and purple belt world champion in 2018. In the United States he joined Checkmat, trained with Lucas Leite in California and, in late 2019, moved to Texas to work with Keiser Girão, who gave him his black belt in August 2020.

In his first year at black belt he took bronze at Pans, and in 2022 he reached the Worlds podium, also with bronze. The world title came in 2023: he submitted Isaac Doederlein in the semifinal and beat Diego Sodré in the final, 4-2. That same year he won the first edition of The Crown at featherweight, with wins over Diego “Pato” Oliveira and Isaac Doederlein.

In 2025 he competed at pro events: he beat Kennedy Maciel in his UFC BJJ debut and Fabricio Andrey at KCombat, both by referee decision, and lost to Dorian Olivarez at UFC BJJ 4. In IBJJF competition, he won the Asian Championship at lightweight.

In 2026, competing for Inevat Jiu-Jitsu, the same team as his brother, he reached the finals of Pans and Worlds and lost both to Cole Abate, 6-4 and 4-2. Along the way he beat Jun Yong Cho and Mateo Cardona, who are also in the Crown featherweight bracket.

He returns to the tournament on November 8 and could become the first two-time champion in the division.