Nathiely de Jesus

In 2019 Nathiely de Jesus did what she had done the year before and left Worlds with two gold medals. At heavyweight she submitted Fernanda Mazzelli in the final with a collar choke. In the open class she got past Charlotte von Baumgarten and Nikki Sullivan, beat Izadora Silva on points in the semifinal and closed it out 4-0 over Bia Mesquita. In 2018 her double had ended with Bianca Basílio in the open class final.

She was born on February 10, 1996, in Itapira and grew up in Embu das Artes, in greater São Paulo. She started at 13 on a doctor’s advice, to help with bronchitis and asthma, at Claudio Felix’s academy. In December 2013 she joined Cicero Costha’s social project, the program behind much of Brazil’s new generation. After double gold at the brown belt Worlds in 2016, she received her black belt from Cicero on the podium.

Her start at black belt was instant: at the 2017 Worlds she won medium-heavyweight over Andresa Correa and took silver in the open class. That year she moved to Texas with her husband, fellow black belt Manuel Ribamar, and competed for American teams before settling at Rodrigo Pinheiro BJJ in Boerne, where she teaches. In 2019, besides her second double at Worlds, she won the Europeans in her division and the open class.

In 2020 she reached the Queen of Mats final in Abu Dhabi and lost 2-1 to Gabi Pessanha. She beat Gabi Garcia twice in superfights, at Fight 2 Win in 2019 and at WNO 6 in 2021. In 2023 she won the IBJJF Heavyweight Grand Prix, beating Andressa Cintra and, in the final, Ana Carolina Vieira on advantages. At that year’s Worlds she took heavyweight bronze after losing the semifinal to Melissa Cueto, and at the end of the season she won the WNO heavyweight title over Rafaela Guedes.

In 2024 she took silver at ADCC over 65 kg, beating Elizabeth Mitrovic and Amy Campo before losing the final 2-0 to Rafaela Guedes. Late that year, at The Crown, she submitted Maria Vicentini and lost to Melissa Cueto on advantages.