Francisco Papasidero

Francisco Papasidero was born in May 1999 in Mar del Plata, Argentina. He swam as a kid, joined an MMA gym at 14 and switched to Jiu-Jitsu in March 2014. He trained with Juan Manuel Gutiérrez, with Max Nelbone, who promoted him up to purple belt, and with Gabriel Brizuela.

In the late 2010s he was accepted into Project Ágora, a scholarship program run by Pat Cooligan at Renzo Gracie Orlando, in the United States. At purple belt he won his weight class and the open class at the 2021 Pans and took silver at Worlds the same year. His brown belt came from Pablo Lavaselli, an Argentine who later moved to Art of Jiu-Jitsu (AOJ) in Costa Mesa, California, and helped bring him to the team.

At brown belt, now with AOJ, he won the 2024 Pans at heavyweight and took bronze at Worlds. He got his black belt from Guilherme Mendes on November 22, 2024.

His first black belt season was a busy one: he entered more than ten IBJJF Opens, in three weight classes and the open class, and closed 2025 at The Crown. Invited to the ultra-heavyweight bracket, he submitted Pedro Lucas with an arm triangle, lost the semifinal to Gustavo Batista 6-4 and beat Marcos Carrozzino 9-0 in the bronze-medal match.

In 2026 he competed at Worlds at heavyweight and lost in the quarterfinals to Rider Zuchi. In September the IBJJF disqualified Zuchi for an anti-doping rule violation, and Papasidero inherited the bronze medal. In the federation’s 2025/26 season ranking awards, he finished second among black belts.

He returns to The Crown on November 8, again at ultra-heavyweight. The bracket includes two athletes who have beaten him: Helder Rodrigues, in the open class of an Open in 2025, and Pedro Machado, at Worlds the same year.