Otávio Sousa

In 2016 the middleweight final at Worlds brought together two Gracie Barra athletes, and the gold went to Otávio Sousa, with Gabriel Arges in second. On the way, the Recife native took Santeri Lilius’s back for the submission, beat Jonathan Satava 10-0, Dillon Danis 4-0 in the quarterfinals and Yago de Souza 9-2 in the semifinal. It was his third black belt world title, after 2012 and 2013.

Born in July 1986 in Recife, he started at 13 at Gracie Barra Recife under José Olímpio, known as Zé Radiola, after a friend invited him. A brown belt world champion in 2007, he received his black belt from Carlos Gracie Jr. and was soon on the Worlds podium, with bronze in 2008 and 2009. He won Pans in 2009 and 2010 and took silver at ADCC 2013 at 77 kg, losing the final to Kron Gracie by guillotine.

After his golds in 2012 and 2013, he returned to the Worlds podium with silver in 2014, losing the final to Leandro Lo, and bronze in 2015. In April 2015 he opened Gracie Barra Huntington Beach in California. After the 2016 title he took bronze at the 2017 Worlds and won Pans in 2017 and 2020, his fourth title at the event. Before the BJJ Stars 4 middleweight grand prix in November 2020 he said every match would feel like a world final; he lost the semifinal to Isaque Bahiense.

In 2021 he went out in the Worlds quarterfinals against Leandro Lo. In 2024 he won gold at the IBJJF World Master.