Emmanuela Oliveira 
The year 2024 was a time of new perspectives for Marcos Cunha, leader of TMC. Expanding the team after moving to the United States, the Jiu-Jitsu black-belt pays equal attention to the high-performance and business niches, expanding professional possibilities and making his presence felt in the sport’s main competitions.
“With my move to the United States, I was able to see the involvement and contribution of more professors on the team to our growth and, in particular, the expansion we had as a team here in the United States. I believe these were high points in our year. I was also able to implement my teaching methodology, standardization in TMC schools around the world with the participation and acceptance of everyone. Because of this, the demand for more people, who are interested in joining us, increased.”.
Promising future for grappling: Marcos Cunha has the sport in his sights
Marcos Cunha is attentive to the trends of the coming months. 2025 will be a year to be eagerly awaited by Jiu-Jitsu athletes and coaches due to the latest news, which revealed the interest of the UFC, the world’s largest fighting platform, in the No Gi. With this in mind, Marcos Cunha plans to improve grappling teaching within the academy.
“I don’t want to be just another coach, but to be part of a relevant team with great results. I don’t want to be a stepping stone for anyone, but rather to have great recognition, both inside and outside the competitive world, which is what I like to do. With the development of Jiu-Jitsu, I work to always be in constant improvement along with it. Something that has been gaining a lot of space is grappling. I’m working with my students to conquer our space just like we did in the Gi.”.
Still on the topic of professionalization and greater value of the sport, Marcos Cunha highlighted the UFC’s initiative, with the remuneration within the project of exclusive contracts with grappling athletes, and also recalled the Jiu-Jitsu competition in team format that gained notoriety in BJJ Clubes, with a robust cash prize, in Brazil.
“I believe that the great appreciation we are having within our sport will be remembered as a milestone in 2024, in addition to the transition from Gi to No Gi. When I talk about appreciation, I am talking about large prizes paid to athletes, the arrival of Jiu Jitsu in the UFC and the first club tournament that took place in Brazil. With this, big-name brands know our sport and are supporting the athletes. It was a huge achievement that we had in Jiu-Jitsu.”.
The Match Champ Academy, despite having names that are present in the elite, such as Bruno Sena and Duda Tozoni, is going through a phase of greater consolidation in the competitive scene. Satisfactory results have come in competitions this season and the plan is to expand the team with more athletes.
“This year we focused more on our development, we were present in all the major championships, we made our transition to No Gi and we achieved some good results, for me this is very good. Unfortunately we had many visas denied and I was not able to bring the team I wanted, but we managed to form new athletes who are helping us all a lot. I am sure that the year 2025 will be of great achievements.”.
TMC leader on career planning; constant attention from stage to stage
If the intention is to train athletes with obvious career ambitions, it is necessary to know how to develop a plan. In the interview with VF Comunica, the black-belt spoke about the step by step process.
“It is necessary to identify individual objectives; current level of performance; personal profile; short, medium and long-term goals; technical and physical development; create a multidisciplinary team and post-sports career planning, in addition to constantly monitoring all of this and making adjustments if necessary.”.
Aligning the headquarters and new academies is a task that Marcos Cunha takes very seriously. He does not intend to sell only a brand license and thus authorize the use of the TMC name. Equalizing values and teaching methods is one of the priorities.
“Today I have a team that works for me in the management of the TMC worldwide. At the same time, we work hard to align the affiliates with our goals, which are the construction of values, character, formation of good citizens and quality in teaching Jiu-Jitsu for everyone, bringing values that go from inside to outside the mat. And, of course, we also prioritize the formation of athletes, a high-performance competition team and the pursuit of great results.”.
