Leonardo “Leo” Leite

Leo Leite received his black belt from Alexandre “Gigi” Paiva a few days before the 1999 Worlds, when he was already registered as a brown belt. In his debut at the new rank he won the super-heavyweight title, beating Mário Sperry 4-0 in the final. The following year, for Alliance, he won the ultra-heavyweight division and took bronze in the open class.

Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1978, he started judo at age 6 and reached Brazil’s national team, winning the 2001 Pan American title at under 100 kg. From judo he brought the takedowns and pressure that defined his game. He told GRACIEMAG that he is driven by challenges and that, as a judoka, he liked to fight in every tournament.

He kept reaching Worlds finals for more than a decade. He was ultra-heavyweight runner-up in 2003 to Fabrício Werdum, in 2006 to Gabriel Gonzaga and in 2008 to Roger Gracie.

In MMA he had 13 fights with 11 wins, won the Legacy FC light heavyweight and middleweight belts and fought in Bellator. He retired in 2022 with a win at LFA in Rio. He opened Instituto Double L in Gávea and still competes in the masters divisions, winning the 2021 Brazilian national title.