Maria Alencar

Maria Raniele Alencar Lima was born in December 2000 in Crato, in the Brazilian state of Ceará. She started Jiu-Jitsu at 15 with coach Pierry Góis, who trained her up to purple belt. On the circuit she is also known by her middle name, Raniele.

Still a purple belt, she moved to São Paulo to train at Fratres. In 2024 she won the Brazilian Nationals and Worlds at heavyweight and was runner-up in the open class at Worlds, in a final against Sarah Galvão. At brown belt in 2025 she won Europeans, took double gold at Pans, beating Luane Carvalho in both finals, and won the open class at Worlds.

Now with Atos, she got her black belt from André and Angélica Galvão on May 31, 2025. She made her debut at the new rank at that year’s Crown: she submitted Izadora Cristina, lost the semifinal to Gabrieli Pessanha and lost the bronze-medal match to Larissa Dias.

In 2026 she reached two Grand Slam finals. At Pans, at super-heavyweight, she lost the final to Gabrieli Pessanha. At Worlds she dropped to heavyweight and was submitted by Larissa Dias with a toe hold. In September, at the Jiu-Jitsu CON, she took bronze in her weight class and the open class in the gi, with two losses to Hazel Butcher-Salazar, and won heavyweight in no-gi.

She returns to The Crown on November 8, for her second appearance.