Ricardo Libório

Ricardo Libório arrived at the first Worlds ever held, in 1996, as one of the Carlson Gracie team’s leading names and left with two medals. At super-heavyweight he submitted Dutchman Remco Pardoel with an armbar and beat Leonardo Castello Branco in the final to take gold. In the open class he reached the final and conceded the title to teammate Amaury Bitetti, taking silver.

Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1967, he received his black belt from Carlson Gracie in 1993. In no-gi he took bronze at ADCC 1999 in the under 88 kg division and silver in 2000, when he lost the final to Saulo Ribeiro. In 2015, in an ADCC masters superfight, he beat Zé Mario Sperry, another pillar of Carlson Gracie’s old guard.

He was one of the founders of Brazilian Top Team and, in 2001, of American Top Team in the United States, where he established himself as a coach of MMA fighters. In 2018 he opened Martial Arts Nation, and he also teaches jiu-jitsu at the University of Central Florida.

On March 17, 2024, he received his coral belt at a ceremony at AABB. On social media he sums up the philosophy he brings to the mat by saying that, in the end, everything is jiu-jitsu: the details change, but the principles remain.