Fábio Leopoldo

Fábio Leopoldo won the heavyweight division at the 2002 Worlds by beating Jefferson Moura on points in the final. It was the peak of a run that began at purple belt: silver in 1998, silver at brown belt in 1999 and brown belt gold in 2000. At black belt he also took bronze in 2001, at super-heavyweight in 2003 and at heavyweight in 2005.

Born in São Paulo in 1977, he started training at 15 with Roberto Lage and in 1996 moved to Ryan Gracie’s academy, receiving his black belt from him about five years after he began jiu-jitsu. In 1999 he founded Gracie Morumbi in São Paulo.

In 2006 he moved to the United States at Renzo Gracie’s invitation and fought MMA for the New York Pitbulls in the IFL, with wins over Ryan McGivern, Chris Albandia and Gerald Harris. He closed his MMA career with five wins and three losses.

He settled in California, where he opened academies in Ventura and Thousand Oaks, now operating as Morumbi Jiu Jitsu. He keeps competing and in 2025 won the World Master title at medium-heavyweight. In an interview with VC Reporter he summed up his philosophy: “With hard work and good intentions, you can achieve anything.”