Thalison Soares

Few world champions travelled as far to reach the top of the podium. Thalison Soares left the interior of the Brazilian Amazon, came of age on the mats of São Paulo and was already living in Australia when he arrived in Long Beach for the 2022 Worlds. He beat Frank Cespedes 14-8 in the quarterfinals, Cleber Sousa 6-4 in the semifinal and Bebeto Oliveira 2-0 in the final to win the roosterweight title.

He was born on May 21, 1999, in Manacapuru and raised in Manaus. He tried Jiu-Jitsu at 10, stepped away and came back as a boy through a social project run by Laercio Junior and Robson Correia, who took him from white belt to green. At 15, on Melqui Galvão’s recommendation, he moved to São Paulo to train under Cicero Costha at PSLPB, the academy behind much of Brazil’s generation of lightweights. Costha gave him his black belt in June 2019.

The jump was instant. Still in 2019 he won the No-Gi Worlds and the Pan Pacific at his new rank, and that August he moved to New South Wales, Australia, where he opened The Academy Byron Bay. In 2020 he took silver at the Europeans. In 2022, before the world title, he won the Europeans and took silver at Pans, beaten by Bebeto on advantages, the same opponent he would beat weeks later in Long Beach.

Since then the AOJ roosterweight has almost always been among the last men standing at Worlds. In 2023 he reached the final and lost to Lucas Pinheiro on advantages after a 0-0. That same year he won the Europeans and the Pan Pacific and signed with ONE Championship alongside Pinheiro. In 2024 he won Pans and the Europeans but went out in the round of 16 at Worlds, beaten by Andrew Soares on a referee decision. In 2025 he took bronze after losing the semifinal to Jalen Fonacier on advantages.

In 2026 he was back in the final. He submitted Arjuna Brown with an armbar in his first match, then beat Bruno Sena 2-0, Italo Pereira on advantages and Rodnei Barbosa on advantages as well. In the final he met Fonacier again, and a 2-2 score was settled on advantages in the American’s favour. Thalison left with silver, his fourth world medal at black belt.