Gabriel “Todd” Almeida

Gabriel Salles Muniz Almeida, known as Gabriel “Todd” Almeida, is a Checkmat black belt, an IBJJF world champion at blue belt and a two-time ADCC World Championship competitor. On October 8, 2026, in his UFC BJJ debut, he submitted Gilbert “Durinho” Burns with a heel hook at 4:34 of the first round at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.

Born on June 4, 1992, in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, he started training as a teenager at a small local gym under Eduardo Flexa, who gave him his blue belt and opened the door for him to join Checkmat. There he was shaped by Thiago Sá and by brothers Ricardo and Leo Vieira, Checkmat’s founders, who promoted him to black belt on October 13, 2018. The nickname dates back to his early training days: his resemblance to his cousin Raphael led Flexa to compare the two to Rod and Todd, the brothers from The Simpsons.

He was already winning in his division and the absolute as a colored belt. He became world champion at blue belt in 2014 at medium heavyweight, and at purple belt he took silver at the 2016 Pans and gold at the Brazilian No-Gi Nationals that year. At brown belt in 2017 he was world runner-up at heavyweight, took bronze in the absolute and won the European No-Gi title in both his division and the absolute. The next year, still a brown belt, he returned to the Worlds podium with bronze.

As a black belt, by then living in the United States, he took silver at the 2019 Europeans and 2019 No-Gi Worlds at medium heavyweight. That year he also won the ADCC trials in São Paulo at under 88 kg, beating Valdir BB Monstro in the final, and made his ADCC World Championship debut in Anaheim, where he lost in the round of 16 to Josh Hinger. Then came bronze at the 2020 Pans, double gold at the 2020 American No-Gi Nationals, bronze in the absolute at the 2021 No-Gi Worlds and, in 2022, the division and absolute titles at Jiu-Jitsu CON No-Gi and gold at the World Master Championship.

Knee surgery kept him out of competition for a while. He came back in February 2024 by winning the Copa Elite 3 belt in Virginia with two submissions. “Estou voltando de cirurgia, muito tempo parado. Tenho feito um trabalho intenso de recuperação e fortalecimento” (I’m coming back from surgery after a long layoff. I’ve been doing intense rehab and strength work), he told VF Comunica at the time. At that year’s ADCC South American trials he took silver in Belo Horizonte after five submissions on the way to the final, which he lost to Charles Negromonte, and silver in São Paulo, where he lost the final to Pedro Marinho on decision.

Even without a trials spot, he was invited to the 2024 ADCC World Championship in Las Vegas. He beat Santeri Lilius in his opening match and lost in the quarterfinals to Giancarlo Bodoni, who went on to win the under 88 kg division. That same year he won the absolute at the IBJJF European No-Gi Championship and had two matches at the UFC Fight Pass Invitational at the Meta APEX: a win over Johan Oosthuysen and a loss to Ryan Aitken, both on points.

Attacking submissions has become his trademark. “Esse é um lado do meu Jiu-Jitsu que eu prezo muito. O ataque da finalização não só pode acabar com a luta, como também ajuda a abrir espaços no jogo do oponente” (This is a side of my jiu-jitsu I value a lot. Attacking submissions can not only end the match but also helps open up space in the opponent’s game), he told VF Comunica. He also sees growth beyond his guard: “Sempre fui mais guardeiro, mas sinto que evoluí muito nesses outros quesitos” (I was always more of a guard player, but I feel I’ve improved a lot in these other areas).

Today he lives and trains in Long Beach, California, and focuses his career on no-gi without leaving his roots behind. “Treinei minha vida toda de kimono, é de onde eu venho, então a técnica está lá” (I trained in the gi my whole life, that’s where I come from, so the technique is there), he said. In 2026 he also won the master 1 absolute at the IBJJF Master International North America.