Home Categories Miscellaneous FLD's Grappling Spotlight #2: Braulio Estima
FLD's Grappling Spotlight #2: Braulio Estima
Written by Jamie Hughes   
Thursday, 11 February 2010 15:43
In the second edition of the FLD Grappling Spotlight, we are going to take a closer look at arguably the best grappler on the planet at the moment, Braulio Estima. Born in Recife, Brazil, Braulio’s first experience with martial arts came as a youth through judo, which he was inspired to study by the gold medal winning Brazilian Olympic team. Eventually his interest extended to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu which became his true passion as an athlete and martial artist.


In 1996, Estima’s journey began when he started his training under Jose ”Ze Radiola” Olimpío at Gracie Barra Academy. At just 16 years of age, Estima won his first tournament with only one month of training, which truly hinted at his enormous talent and potential. This was just the beginning for Braulio, as he went on to win 5 more major tournaments before finally being promoted to blue belt—within a year.

After he burst onto the scene, Estima entered four major competitions over the next three years, but all were met with disappointment as he was eliminated in the first round. Instead of being discouraged, Braulio was only inspired to become a better grappler. With hard work and dedication, Braulio progressed, and it paid dividends when he won his first Pan-American Championship as a blue-belt in 1999. He built upon this great achievement by earning a bronze medal at the 2000 Pan American Championships, this time as a purple-belt. Not to be satisfied with the bronze, however, Braulio went on to win gold in the 2001, 2002, and 2003 games as a brown-belt, and again in 2006 as a black belt.

On January 4th, 2004, Braulio Estima was awarded his black-belt by the founding father of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Carlos Gracie.


Five months after receiving his black-belt came one of Braulio’s career defining moments. During the World Championships in 2004, Estima won the 85kg weight division despite only being a relatively new to black-belt scene. This accolade gained him immense respect in the BJJ world for the manner and circumstances of his victory.

After that amazing accomplishment, Estima started to pick up titles and accolades wherever he competed including the following competitions:

Absolute World Cup Champion [2006]
World BJJ Champion [2006]
European Open Absolute Champion [2007]
European Open Champion [2007]
Abu Dhabi Combat Club Silver Medalist [2007]
Pan-American No Gi Champion [2008]
Absolute Pan-American No Gi Champion [2008]
Grand Slam Capital Challenge Jordan: Heavyweight and Absolute Champion  [2008]

Despite these incredible accomplishments, it’s 2009 that would prove to be the year of Braulio Estima. It would be the year in which he truly made the grappling world take notice of him as the top grappler in the BJJ world.

It started when he claimed his second European double-championship in both his weight-class and the absolute division. Here’s his final match in the Absolute division of the 2009 European Championships, where he faced-off against Alexandre de Souza:


Not one to be easily satisfied, Estima took his momentum from the European Championships and ran with it, claiming the 2009 World Championship in yet another outstanding display of skill.

Yet the crowning glory for any grappler still eluded him — an ADCC title. Braulio had come very close to winning in 2007, but was denied in the finals by Xande Ribeiro. 2009 was different though, as Braulio initiated his bid for the -88kg title by disposing of Yuji Arai in the first round, then James Brasco in the quarter finals. Then came a very tough test in the shape of multiple-time World Champion Rafael Lovato Jr., whom Estima defeated in impressive fashion, setting-up a final meeting against world renowned champion, André Galvão. Estima claimed the ADCC title by defeating Galvão via beautiful inverted-triangle, which sparked great celebrations for Estima and his many fans in the crowd.

Yet, in true Braulio Estima fashion, he saved his best performance for last. In the ADCC Absolute Class, Estima ran through a gauntlet of BJJ greats, racking-up wins over Janne-Pekka Pletilainen, the amazingly talented former champion, Marcelo Garcia, then former world champion, Vinny Magalhaes. Lastly, in what can only be described as a fairy-tale ending, Braulio claimed the Absolute title by defeating, Xande Ribeiro, the man who had beaten him in the 2007 finals (although one can imagine that Braulio did not wish to win via injury to his opponent). This tremendous string of victories easily marks Braulio’s year as one of the greatest for a BJJ player, maybe ever. Check out the videos below, which follow his performance at last year's ADCC competition:




For many, at the moment, Braulio Estima is the best grappler in the world. From his many championship wins, to his outstanding work as a teacher with his academy in Birmingham, United Kingdom, he is the personification of hard work and passion in the gym paying off tremendously.

He stands alone because of his unique talent and his knack for submitting great champions with ease and his all action high percentage style that have claimed him many scalps of the world's greats. What's scarier is that he is still evolving and getting better an intimidating prospect for anyone who will face him on the mat. Scarier yet is that Estima plans on making his MMA debut in April for Shine Fights! Definitely making him an MMA prospect to keep an eye on in 2010!


If this article has inspired you check out more of Braulio Estima, be sure to watch the matches provided below -- matches that illustrate just how incredible his rise as an elite grappler has truly been:


Braulio Estima vs. Rafael Lovato [European Open, 2007]



Braulio Estima vs. Chris Lazzarini [ADCC, 2007]



Braulio Estima vs. Marcelo Garcia [World BJJ Championships, 2009]



Braulio Estima Highlight