Renato Canuto

Renato Canuto waited three years to get back to a lightweight world final and, when he did, a teammate was waiting on the other side. In Anaheim in 2021 he beat Fabrício Barbarotti 7-2, Levi Jones-Leary 3-0 with a late guard pass, and Murilo Amaral 2-0. In the final, CheckMat closed out the bracket with him and Matheus Gabriel, and Canuto took the gold.

He was born on June 13, 1996, in São Vicente, on the São Paulo coast, the son of Valdir Canuto, known as Tio Chico. He started in judo as a small child and moved to Jiu-Jitsu around 2004 in his father’s kids’ class. In 2016 he won Worlds in the gi and no-gi at brown belt and moved to Las Vegas, where he trained with Robert Drysdale and began teaching at his academy. That December his father travelled to the United States to give him his black belt. The armbar is his favourite finish.

At black belt he won the 2017 No-Gi Worlds and stacked up gi podiums: bronze at the 2017 Pans, silver at the 2018 Worlds, silver at Pans and bronze at Worlds in 2019, and bronze at the 2020 Pans. In August 2021 he opened Hybrid Jiu-Jitsu in Las Vegas with his wife, Raquel Canuto, months before his world title.

In 2022 he signed with ONE Championship and lost to Tommy Langaker on a decision. At that year’s ADCC he beat Nicky Ryan 5-0 and went out in the quarterfinals, armbarred by Mica Galvão. From 2024 he found a home in UFC events: he beat Aaron Wilson, PJ Barch and Jason Nolf at the Fight Pass Invitational and won AIGA Brasil. In July 2025 he challenged Andrew Tackett for the UFC BJJ welterweight title and was submitted with a darce in the first round. He then beat Alan Sanchez and, in April 2026, Yonathan Cardenas.

He has also taken his career into MMA. He debuted in May 2025 with a 51-second TKO of Corey Stewart at Tuff-N-Uff and won his next fight, against Dylan Aparis, also in the first round. After that bout the Nevada Athletic Commission reported a positive test for modafinil, suspended Canuto for six months and changed the result to a no contest. He denied knowingly taking the substance to improve performance. Back in grappling, on October 8, 2026, at UFC BJJ 12, he fights Canadian Ethan Crelinsten for the vacant lightweight title.