Raquel Canuto celebrates Renato’s UFC BJJ title after the couple lost two title matches: “Third times a charm”
The new lightweight champion’s wife recalled the title matches they both lost in 2025 and said the last month was hard at home: “He was doing it ALL”
The lightweight belt Renato Canuto won at UFC BJJ 12 on Thursday, October 8, in Las Vegas came after two losses for the family in title matches in the organization. His wife, Raquel Canuto, who also competes in UFC BJJ, did the math in a social media post right after the match.
“Third times a charm. July 2025 Renato lost the welterweight title. Dec 2025 I lost the featherweight title. Oct 2026 Renato conquers the lightweight title. We’re so proud of our guy,” Raquel wrote.
“He was doing it ALL”
In the same message, she suggested the preparation for the match was harder than it looked from the outside, without giving details. “I wish you guys knew what the last month truly looked like in our home. He was doing it ALL. But we’ll talk about that all later,” she wrote.
Raquel ended with a message to her husband: “Nobody deserves it more than you. You’ve been here doing the work to help build this promotion from the beginning. We love you, baby!”
After the win, Canuto posed for the official event photos with the belt, next to Raquel and the couple’s baby. UFC BJJ posted a video of the moment and wrote: “It’s been a long road leading to this moment.”
The two losses before the belt
Canuto’s first chance came in July 2025, at UFC BJJ 2. He challenged Andrew Tackett for the welterweight title and was submitted in the first round. After that, he beat Alan Sanchez and Yonathan Cardenas, both by decision, and moved down a weight class.
In December of the same year, it was Raquel’s turn. At UFC BJJ 4, she faced Aurelie Le Vern for the first women’s featherweight title in the organization, and lost.
A belt and a bonus on the same night
On Thursday, Canuto beat Canada’s Ethan Crelinsten by unanimous decision. He came close to a submission more than once, with an anaconda choke in the first round and an attack from the back in the third. Besides the title, he also won one of the performance bonuses of the night.
The Brazilian is the third UFC BJJ lightweight champion in less than a year and a half. Born in Sao Vicente, on the coast of Sao Paulo state, he is 30 years old and lives in Las Vegas, where he opened his own academy.
All the results are in the UFC BJJ 12 play-by-play.
