Erberth Santos

Erberth Santos was born in Zé Doca, in Maranhão, and raised in Boa Vista, in Roraima, where he started Jiu-Jitsu at 9, in a social project in the Calungá neighborhood, under coach Pedro Freitas. He spent time in Rio de Janeiro and arrived in São Paulo as a blue belt to train with Luiz “Guigo” Guilherme. In 2014 he was a brown belt world champion in his weight class and in the open class and, in December, received his black belt from Guigo.

His rise at black belt was fast. At the 2016 Worlds he submitted Bernardo Faria in the open class semifinal and lost the final to Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida. In 2017, competing for Atos, he won super-heavyweight with wins over Fernando Reis, Mahamed Aly and, in the final, Bernardo Faria, 9-0, and also took bronze in the open class. “It is a dream coming true, the feeling was one of great joy for having won the most important title of my life,” he told Globo Esporte.

His career was also marked by turmoil. In February 2019, at BJJ Stars in São Paulo, he left the mat during his match against Felipe Pena, moved toward the crowd and was disqualified, in an episode that ended in a brawl. In 2022, in an interview with VF Comunica, he looked back on that period and said he had closed the academy he opened in São Paulo after the world title: “I did not follow the advice André Galvão gave me.”

In August 2023 he was arrested in Boituva, in the interior of São Paulo state, accused of crimes committed in Mato Grosso do Sul. In November 2024, the 2nd Criminal Court of Três Lagoas sentenced him to 14 years, 7 months and 23 days in prison, in a closed regime, for robbery and rape.