Alexandro Ceconi

Alexandro Ceconi arrived at the 2016 Worlds as that year’s Pans runner-up, beaten in the super-heavyweight final by Luiz Panza with a foot lock from 50/50. In Long Beach the two met again in the final, and the title went to the Santa Catarina native, who was competing for his own team, Ceconi Team.

Born in Santa Catarina, he trained while working as a car salesman, doing conditioning in the morning and Jiu-Jitsu at lunch and at night. A student of Rilion Gracie, who gave him his black belt, and of Romulo Reis, he turned professional in 2008. He was runner-up at the Brazilian Nationals in 2009 and champion in 2010 and 2012. In 2010 he won the Gramado trials and the Abu Dhabi World Pro, a title he still held when he won the open class at the Houston Open in February 2011. In MMA he debuted in December 2009 with a first-round armbar over Eder Junior.

At Worlds, before the title, he took bronze at heavyweight in 2009, still with Rilion’s academy, in the open class in 2011 and at heavyweight in 2012. In late 2011 he left Rilion’s academy to build his own team. In 2016, besides the world title, he was called up for the IBJJF Pro League grand prix in Las Vegas as the replacement for an injured André Galvão. He later moved to the masters divisions and, in July 2021, had the match of the night at Fight 2 Win 177 in Houston, losing a decision to Rafael Lovato Jr. Today he runs Ceconi BJJ, with a school in the United States and branches in Otacílio Costa and Lages, in Santa Catarina.