Jackson Nagai

Jackson Nagai Hatchwell Junior was born in the Brazilian state of Amazonas on March 25, 1994, and moved to Japan at age 10. As a teenager he tried basketball, karate and kickboxing before finding Jiu-Jitsu in Hamamatsu, at the Evox academy, under coach Nori Toda. He brought his younger brother Samuel to the mats, and Samuel is now a black belt too.

“Jiu-Jitsu saved me, and today it is my life.”

Jackson Nagai, to VF Comunica, June 2024. Translated from Portuguese. Read the story (in Portuguese)

Back in Brazil, he trained in Manaus with Marcio Pontes and Carlos Holanda. He later moved to the United States, joined Checkmat and got his black belt from Lucas Leite in January 2020.

His big year was 2024: he won Pans and the IBJJF Worlds, with seven submissions in nine matches across the two tournaments. The Worlds final, at middleweight, was against Francisco Lo, his Checkmat teammate.

In 2025 he was runner-up at Pans at lightweight, won the Master Worlds in the Master 1 division and reached the Crown final, where Andy Murasaki beat him 4-0. In 2026 he won Pans at lightweight and the Asian Championship at middleweight, and made the Worlds final again, this time at lightweight: he submitted Tarcisio Santos in the semifinal and was submitted by Matheus Gabriel in the final.

He now represents Inevat Jiu-Jitsu, the same team as his brother Sam Nagai, who is in the Crown featherweight bracket. Jackson returns to the middleweight bracket on November 8.