Max Gimenis

Max Santos Gimenis was born on April 14, 1993, in Rio de Janeiro and grew up in Cascadura, on the city’s north side. With GF Team he put together one of the strongest colored-belt runs of his generation: he was world runner-up at brown belt in 2015, Brazilian National champion in his division and the absolute that same year, and world champion in 2016. Right after that title, on June 2, 2016, he received his black belt on the Worlds podium from master Júlio César Pereira.

At black belt he won the Brazilian No-Gi Nationals in 2016 and, after moving to the United States, became a regular on IBJJF ultra heavyweight podiums. He won the No-Gi Pans in 2019 and 2020, the gi Pans in 2020 and was world runner-up in 2021, the same year he took bronze in the absolute. In 2022 he competed at the ADCC World Championship as the replacement for an injured Gutemberg Pereira. In the master divisions he won the World Master absolute and both his division and the absolute at the No-Gi Worlds in 2023.

His career also moved into MMA, with a pro debut in 2022. His UFC signing was reported in September 2025, and his first fight in the promotion, at heavyweight, came in November, a first-round knockout loss to Josh Hokit. Even so, he does not recommend that path to people who make a living from jiu-jitsu. “My advice is: ‘Don’t go’ to MMA. There are so many opportunities in jiu-jitsu today… Unless it is something in your heart,” he said in a video posted on Instagram.

Off the mat, Max is a co-founder of the PBJJF, a federation based in Maryland, and runs Culture of Jiu-Jitsu in Gaithersburg, where he organizes Brave Challenge, an event where a roulette wheel decides whether each match is gi or no-gi. “It is an innovative event. There is nothing like it on the market, mixing gi and no-gi. I am a UFC athlete and still active today, so I know the athlete’s pain,” he told VF Comunica.

For Brave Challenge II, in October 2026, he decided to pay the same prize to the men’s and women’s Grand Prix champions. “If they deliver the same thing, why would I pay differently? That is my idea,” he explained.