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Ana Maria Gomes Soares

“India”

Source: bjjheroes.com

Bahian black belt who took up jiu-jitsu at 21, trained among men and needed 35 seconds to submit Amanda Nunes in the future UFC champion's first pro fight.

Biography

Ana Maria Gomes Soares, known in the sport as India, is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu from Barreiras, Bahia, who fought professionally in mixed martial arts between 2006 and 2014. She took up jiu-jitsu at 21, won brown-belt titles at the Brazilian national championship in 2008 and 2009, and took a bronze medal at the 2009 IBJJF World Championship. On International Women's Day 2008 she submitted Amanda Nunes in the future UFC champion's first professional fight. Starting at 21 She grew up in Barreiras and lived there until she was 15. In a 2012 profile in the Barreiras newspaper Gazeta do Oeste, she described a free, active childhood and said it had given her the confidence to live anywhere and to travel alone. At 21 she was a biomedicine student in Marília, in the state of São Paulo, who lifted weights and practiced capoeira. What drew her to jiu-jitsu was a class she watched. She told Seymour Yang, who interviewed her for Martial Arts Illustrated in 2010, that she saw an instructor controlling much larger training partners; in the Barreiras profile she described being struck by the way the men moved. She bought a gi and entered her first championship after three months of training. In Marília she found her first teacher, Alexandre Oliveira, who, BJJ Heroes says, encouraged her to believe she could go a long way in the sport. There were no other women at the academy, so she trained with men, four times a day for ten years by her own count. When she started fighting, she said, there was no woman she could take as a model. On prejudice, she answered in 2012 that it belongs to the person who feels it, and that she was comfortable among men. As a purple belt with no women to compete against, she persuaded her coach to let her enter a men's division; by her account she beat three men and lost the final on points. Brazilian Top Team According to BJJ Heroes, she moved from São Paulo to Salvador, where Mestre Shark of Brazilian Top Team gave her the blue and purple belts. She then trained at the team's main academy in Rio de Janeiro, led by Murilo Bustamante, who promoted her to brown belt. Among her training partners there, she told Yang, were Mario Sperry, Ricardo Arona and Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. Watching Bustamante fight, she said, was what made her want to compete in MMA, which she saw as another way of expressing movement. BJJ Heroes notes that she also trained and competed in boxing, Muay Thai and Greco-Roman wrestling, and that in women's MMA she took fights against heavier opponents. She remembered her first MMA fight as one against a woman of about 100 kilograms, when she weighed 60; the prize was a cheap medal, and she was delighted with it. Her professional record on Sherdog begins on April 11, 2006, with a first-round armbar win over Maria Gonzales at Minotauro Fights 3, followed in May by a loss to Vanessa Porto by rear-naked choke at GFC 1. Nunes and the nationals On March 8, 2008, she fought Amanda Nunes at Prime MMA Championship 2 in Salvador, representing Brazilian Top Team on International Women's Day. Sherdog reported that both women had been featured in Bahia's main newspapers and on local television. Nunes caught her early with a right hand; India pulled guard, taking the fight to the mat, and finished it with an armbar 35 seconds in. Afterward she said she had prepared with a great deal of jiu-jitsu, mainly submissions from the guard, which she called her strength. Nunes went on to win UFC titles at bantamweight and featherweight. The same year she won the brown-belt lightweight division at the Brazilian national championship, still for Brazilian Top Team. In MMA the rest of 2008 went against her, with two losses to Carina Damm and one to Ediane Gomes. Checkmat, No Limite and a black belt At the 2009 nationals she competed for Checkmat, the team Ricardo Vieira ran from the Fight Zone gym in Rio de Janeiro. She won the brown-belt middleweight division and took one of the two bronze medals in the open class, where competitors of all weights meet. The same year she entered her first World Championship, where brown- and black-belt women competed together in the middleweight division. Yang writes that because of a passport problem she was only entered at the last minute, and that she lost on points to Hannette Staack, who won the division. She finished third, and told Yang that winning the Worlds was her goal. BJJ Heroes and Yang both also credit her with several titles in Bahia and a silver medal at the world championship of the CBJJE, a separate federation. In 2009 she was also a contestant on the fourth season of No Limite, a reality show produced by TV Globo. The season was filmed in Trairi, Ceará, and aired from July 30 to September 27. She lasted until day 52 of 62, the 14th contestant to be voted out, and became the seventh member of the jury. Yang writes that sponsorship offers and more television work followed. She was still a brown belt at the 2009 nationals and a black belt by January 2010. The belt came from Vieira, and without warning: according to Yang, Vieira interrupted a live television interview with her to present it, after roughly ten years of training. Speaking to Yang in 2010, she called Vieira the most outstanding instructor she had known and described Checkmat as a team with a very high standard, full of world champions who remained humble. BJJ Heroes reports that she named him the grappler with the best movement on the ground. Her Instagram profile now describes her as a fourth-degree black belt. Movement first In January 2010 Graciemag announced that she was back in training after No Limite and would teach a seminar in London. On February 6, 2010, on her first visit to the UK, she gave four hours of instruction at Legacy BJJ and MMA, Jude Samuel's gym in Bethnal Green, two hours in the gi and two without, to about 20 people. Yang met her there. The session was built around a high half guard, with her top knee pressed against the opponent's chest, and five situations in which the opponent's reaction opens the way to a sweep or a back take. Yang writes that she wanted each sequence done as one flowing movement that anticipates the reaction rather than step by step, and that she corrected every participant individually, working through a translator because she was not confident in her spoken English. Brazilian funk was the theme of the seminar; in Brazil, she explained, funk is like jiu-jitsu. In Yang's interview she described her jiu-jitsu as movement, technique and intelligence rather than strength, and said she tried to stay two or three positions ahead: attacking a choke from the mount to draw out the defense she actually wants, or setting up a straight armlock so that the defense leads her into an omoplata shoulder lock. She put this down to having always trained with bigger, stronger men. BJJ Heroes singles out the way she moves from half guard to the back. Her nickname comes from her braids. BJJ Heroes says she began wearing her hair in braids for training and competition because she liked to play guard and loose hair got in the way. According to the Barreiras profile, fans named her Índia because she braided her long black hair before fights, and she called the braiding her ritual, the moment she transforms. Before a fight, she said in the same profile, she thought about finishing quickly without getting hurt or hurting her opponent much. She accepted losing as part of fighting ("only those who fight lose"), and what frustrated her most was a fight that never flowed. Team Nogueira and a title In May 2010 she won by armbar over Aline Nery at Haidar Superfight. A knee injury then kept her out of MMA for three years. In 2011 she won the brown and black belt lightweight division at the IBJJF American National No-Gi Championship, competing for BJJ Revolution Team. In 2012 she was living inside the Team Nogueira academy in Rio de Janeiro, training around seven hours a day alongside men and teaching; she had left university to fight. She called one of the academy's owners, an MMA fighter from Bahia like her, a second father and her idol, the man who had welcomed her into fighting. She returned to MMA in May 2013 with a decision win on the Team Nogueira MMA circuit, and on July 7, 2013, she fought Bete Tavares at Web Fight Combat 2 with the promotion's women's bantamweight title at stake. Quoted by Graciemag beforehand, she said strikers expected to knock her out, but as a black belt she had no fear of the ground, and her guard held a large arsenal of armlocks, triangles, sweeps and guillotines. She walked out to a Brazilian funk song, took Tavares down and finished her with an armbar in the first round. The belt was presented by the fighter originally booked to face her, who had signed with the UFC in the meantime. She had wanted to box, she said afterward, but the fight went to the ground, and for a jiu-jitsu specialist nothing beats winning by submission. On International Women's Day 2014, six years after the Nunes fight, she said in remarks published by Graciemag that women's MMA had suffered less from prejudice than from unfamiliarity. The early women's bouts, in her view, had a low technical level and few practitioners, and the sport's growth was the women's own work. On Instagram she describes herself as a pioneer of MMA in Brazil. That March she lost a unanimous decision to Vanessa Porto at Fatality Arena 6; Porto had also inflicted the first defeat of her professional career, in 2006. It is the last of ten professional fights on her Sherdog record, which shows five wins, four of them by submission, and five losses.

Sources for this profile

  • BJJ Heroes, "Ana Maria India (Checkmat)", BJJ fighter database profile (undated).(opens in a new tab)

    • BJJ Heroes gives her full name as Ana Maria Gomes Soares and says she is known in fighting as "India".

      Where in the source: Detail section, Full Name line — 'Gomes Soares'

      Accessed:

    • According to BJJ Heroes, the nickname came from the plaits she began wearing for training and competition: she liked to play guard, and loose hair got in the way.

      Where in the source: Detail section, Nickname line — 'plaits'

      Accessed:

    • She was promoted to black belt by her Checkmat coach Ricardo Vieira; BJJ Heroes places the promotion during the making of the TV programme No Limite.

      Where in the source: Biography, paragraph on the No Limite programme — 'awarded her'

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes traces her lineage Mitsuyo Maeda – Carlos Gracie – Helio Gracie – Rolls Gracie – Romero Cavalcanti – Ricardo Vieira – Ana Maria "India".

      Where in the source: Detail section, 'Lineage' line

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes says she was born in Barreiras in the state of Bahia, Brazil.

      Where in the source: Biography, first paragraph — 'Barreiras'

      Accessed:

    • She took up Brazilian jiu-jitsu at the age of 21.

      Where in the source: Biography, second paragraph — '21'

      Accessed:

    • According to BJJ Heroes, her first teacher was Alexandre Oliveira in Marília, São Paulo, who encouraged her to believe she could go far in the sport.

      Where in the source: Biography, second paragraph — 'Alexandre Oliveira'

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes says she moved from São Paulo to Salvador, where she trained under "Mestre Shark" of Brazilian Top Team, who promoted her to blue and purple belt.

      Where in the source: Biography, third paragraph — 'Mestre Shark'

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes says she trained at Brazilian Top Team's main academy in Rio de Janeiro and that Murilo Bustamante promoted her to brown belt.

      Where in the source: Biography, fourth paragraph — 'Brown Belt'

      Accessed:

    • Conflicting accounts

      BJJ Heroes says she joined the Fight Zone gym, Checkmat's headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, in late 2008.

      Where in the source: Biography, fifth paragraph — 'Fight Zone'

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes lists among her main grappling results six Bahia state titles, a Sergipe state title, Brazilian national titles at brown belt in 2008 and 2009, silver at the 2009 CBJJE world championship, bronze at the 2009 CBJJO world championship and an "Internacional de Grappling" title.

      Where in the source: Detail section, list of main achievements — 'Sergipe'

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes lists her jiu-jitsu weight class as lightweight (64 kg) and says she is known for transitions from half guard to taking the back.

      Where in the source: Detail section, Favourite Technique line — 'half Guard'

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes says she also trained and competed in boxing, Muay Thai and Greco-Roman wrestling alongside jiu-jitsu and MMA, and that because good fights were hard to find in women's MMA she would fight anyone, sometimes conceding more than 10 kg to her opponents.

      Where in the source: Biography, seventh paragraph — 'Greco-Roman'

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes reports that she named her coach Ricardinho Vieira as the one with the very best movement on the ground, and lists Ary Farias, André Galvão, Ronaldo Jacaré, Tererê, Roger Gracie, Leo Leite, Roberto Cyborg and Alan "Finfou" among those she draws inspiration from.

      Where in the source: Biography, last paragraph — 'inspiration'

      Accessed:

  • Sherdog, "Ana 'India' Maria" fighter profile.(opens in a new tab)

    • She is from Barreiras in Bahia, Brazil; Sherdog lists it as her locality.

      Where in the source: Profile header, locality field

      Accessed:

    • Sherdog's fighter profile for Ana Maria "India" lists her nationality as Brazil and her locality as Barreiras, Bahia.

      Where in the source: Profile header, country and locality fields — 'BRAZIL'

      Accessed:

    • Sherdog records ten professional MMA fights for her between April 2006 and March 2014, with five wins (four by submission, one by decision) and five losses.

      Where in the source: Summary box and professional fight-history table, ten rows

      Accessed:

    • Sherdog records that she beat Amanda Nunes by armbar in the first round (0:35) at Prime MMA Championship 2 on 8 March 2008.

      Where in the source: Professional fight-history table, row for Amanda Nunes

      Accessed:

    • Her first recorded professional MMA fight was a first-round armbar win over Maria Gonzales Naja, as Sherdog lists the opponent, at Minotauro Fights 3 on 11 April 2006.

      Where in the source: Professional fight-history table, last row — 'Minotauro Fights 3'

      Accessed:

    • Sherdog records her losses to Vanessa Porto (rear-naked choke, GFC 1, May 2006; unanimous decision, Fatality Arena 6, March 2014), Carina Damm (unanimous decision, Prime MMA Championship 3, July 2008; KO by punches, Midway Superfight Vitória, December 2008) and Ediane Gomes (armbar, Jungle Fight 11, Rio de Janeiro, September 2008).

      Where in the source: Professional fight-history table, rows for Porto, Damm and Gomes

      Accessed:

    • Sherdog records three later wins: over Aline Nery by armbar at Haidar Superfight (May 2010), over Alline Serio by unanimous decision at Team Nogueira MMA Circuit 3 (May 2013) and over Maria Elisabete Tavares by first-round armbar at Web Fight Combat 2 (July 2013).

      Where in the source: Professional fight-history table, rows for Nery, Serio and Tavares

      Accessed:

    • Sherdog lists her MMA association as Team Nogueira.

      Where in the source: Profile header, association field

      Accessed:

  • Seymour Yang, "Ana Maria 'India' – The Indian Warrior", Martial Arts Illustrated, April 2010; republished on Meerkatsu's Blog.(opens in a new tab)

    • Seymour Yang gives her full name as Ana Maria Gomes Soares and links the nickname "India" to the double plaits she wore.

      Where in the source: Second paragraph of the article — 'plaits'

      Accessed:

    • She told Yang she began jiu-jitsu at 21: she was studying biomedicine at university and lifting weights at a gym when she saw a class where the instructor handled much bigger people, and decided to try it.

      Where in the source: Section on how she started, after the introduction — 'biomedicine'

      Accessed:

    • She said she trained four times a day for ten years and, because there were no other women at the academy, trained with men.

      Where in the source: Same section, her quote on training volume — 'guys'

      Accessed:

    • She said that as a purple belt, with no women to face, she persuaded her coach to let her enter a men's division, beat three men and lost the final on points.

      Where in the source: Same section, her tournament story — 'three guys'

      Accessed:

    • Yang writes that she trained at Brazilian Top Team, the academy led by Murilo Bustamante, where she said she trained with Mario Sperry, Ricardo Arona and Antônio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira.

      Where in the source: Paragraphs on her Brazilian Top Team years — 'Sperry'

      Accessed:

    • Conflicting accounts

      Yang writes that she left Brazilian Top Team in 2007 to join the Checkmat team run by Ricardo "Ricardinho" Vieira.

      Where in the source: Section on joining Checkmat, first sentence — 'In 2007'

      Accessed:

    • She described Ricardo "Ricardinho" Vieira as the most remarkable instructor she had known and said Checkmat set a very high standard with many world champions who nevertheless stayed humble.

      Where in the source: Same section, her quote on the academy — 'humble'

      Accessed:

    • Yang writes that Ricardo Vieira interrupted a live television interview with her to present her with a black belt, taking her by surprise after about ten years of training.

      Where in the source: Same section, paragraph on the black belt — 'live TV'

      Accessed:

    • She described her jiu-jitsu as movement, technique and intelligence rather than strength: she tries to stay two or three positions ahead, for example attacking a choke from mount to read the defense she really wants, or setting up a straight armlock in order to reach an omoplata when the opponent defends; she explained this by always training with bigger, stronger men.

      Where in the source: Section on her personal approach to jiu-jitsu, her quotes — 'omoplata'

      Accessed:

    • Yang writes that she had eight MMA fights by early 2010; she said seeing her instructor Murilo Bustamante fight made her want to compete in MMA, which she saw as an expression of movement.

      Where in the source: Section on MMA, her quote — 'movement'

      Accessed:

    • In 2009 she was a contestant on the Brazilian reality show No Limite and was voted out on day 52 of 62.

      Where in the source: Section on the television show — '52nd day'

      Accessed:

    • Yang writes that after she left the show she received sponsorship offers and further television work.

      Where in the source: Section on the television show, paragraph after her quote on leaving it

      Accessed:

    • Yang writes that she competed at her first Mundials (World Championship) in 2009, entering at the last minute because of a passport problem, and lost on points to multiple world champion Hannette Staack; she said winning the Mundials was her goal.

      Where in the source: Section on the television show, final paragraphs — 'Hannette Staack'

      Accessed:

    • Yang met her at her first seminar in the United Kingdom, in London, in early 2010.

      Where in the source: Standfirst under the headline — 'UK'

      Accessed:

    • Yang's list of her tournament highlights: two CBJJ Brazilian national titles, gold at the CBJJO World Cup, gold at the CBJJE Pan Americans, silver at the CBJJE world championship, gold at an international grappling competition, bronze at the 2009 CBJJ world championship, eight Bahia titles in division and open weight, and gold in division and open weight at a North–Northeast championship.

      Where in the source: List of tournament highlights at the end of the article

      Accessed:

    • Yang describes her explaining that Brazilian funk music was the theme of her London seminar, telling him that in Brazil funk is like jiu-jitsu.

      Where in the source: Opening paragraph of the article — 'funky music'

      Accessed:

  • Seymour Yang (Meerkatsu), "Indian Tonic – seminar with Ana Maria 'India'", Meerkatsu's Blog, 7 February 2010.(opens in a new tab)

    • On 6 February 2010 she taught a seminar at Jude Samuel's Legacy BJJ and MMA gym in Bethnal Green, London — her first visit to the UK and first seminar there — attended by about 20 people.

      Where in the source: Header lines under the post title and section 'Amazonian Ana!' — 'Bethnal Green'

      Accessed:

    • At the London seminar she taught a high half guard, with the top knee on the opponent's chest, through five situations in which the opponent's reaction was used to sweep or take the back; the two-hour gi session was followed by two hours of no-gi.

      Where in the source: Section 'The Seminar' — 'five scenarios'

      Accessed:

    • Yang reports that she insisted the sequences be done as one flowing movement that anticipates the opponent's reaction rather than step by step, corrected each participant individually, and taught with a translator's help because she was not confident in spoken English.

      Where in the source: Fourth-scenario passage and section 'Amazonian Ana!' — 'never stop'

      Accessed:

  • Gleidson Venga, "Ana Maria Shines at Prime MMA 2", Sherdog, 10 March 2008.(opens in a new tab)

    • At Prime MMA 2 in Salvador on 8 March 2008, International Women's Day, she fought for Brazilian Top Team against Amanda Nunes; Nunes caught her early with a right hand, she tried to pull guard and, once on the ground, finished with an armbar 35 seconds into the fight.

      Where in the source: First three paragraphs — 'Representing Brazilian Top Team'

      Accessed:

    • Sherdog reported that the fight had drawn attention from local media, with both fighters featured in Bahia's main newspapers and on local television.

      Where in the source: Second paragraph — 'local media'

      Accessed:

    • After the fight she said she had prepared with a lot of jiu-jitsu, mainly submissions from the guard, which she called her strength.

      Where in the source: Her quote after the fight description — 'strong point'

      Accessed:

  • Wikipedia, "Amanda Nunes" (English), accessed 29 September 2026.(opens in a new tab)

    • Amanda Nunes, later UFC women's featherweight champion and two-time UFC women's bantamweight champion, made her professional debut on 8 March 2008 at Prime MMA Championship 2 and lost to Ana Maria by first-round armbar.

      Where in the source: Lead sentence and first paragraph of 'Mixed martial arts career' — 'professional debut'

      Accessed:

  • Wikipedia, "No Limite 4" (English), accessed 29 September 2026.(opens in a new tab)

    • No Limite 4 was filmed in Trairi, Ceará, and aired from 30 July to 27 September 2009 over 62 days; contestant Ana Maria "Índia" Soares, 30, from Barreiras, Bahia, was the 14th contestant voted out, on day 52, and became the seventh jury member.

      Where in the source: Infobox and contestants table, row for Ana Maria 'Índia' Soares — 'Day 52'

      Accessed:

  • Wikipedia, "No Limite" (Portuguese), accessed 29 September 2026.(opens in a new tab)

    • No Limite is a Brazilian reality show produced by TV Globo; its fourth season premiered on 30 July 2009, presented by Zeca Camargo.

      Where in the source: Lead and history section — 'TV Globo'

      Accessed:

  • Ana Maria India (@anamaria_india), Instagram profile bio, read 29 September 2026.(opens in a new tab)

    • Her verified Instagram profile describes her as a fourth-degree black belt in jiu-jitsu.

      Where in the source: Profile bio (logged-out view, expanded with 'more') — 'Faixa preta de jiu-jitsu 4 graus'

      Accessed:

    • Her Instagram bio describes her as a pioneer of MMA in Brazil and lists boxing, wrestling and MMA alongside jiu-jitsu.

      Where in the source: Same bio as i2 — 'Pioneira no MMA nacional'

      Accessed:

  • IBJJF, "Campeonato Brasileiro de Jiu-Jitsu 2008" results page.(opens in a new tab)

    • IBJJF's results for the 2008 Campeonato Brasileiro (Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championship) list Ana Maria of Brazilian Top Team as winner of the adult female brown-belt lightweight division.

      Where in the source: Category 'Adult / Brown / Female / Light', place 1

      Accessed:

  • IBJJF, "Campeonato Brasileiro de Jiu-Jitsu 2009" results page.(opens in a new tab)

    • IBJJF's results for the 2009 Campeonato Brasileiro list Ana Maria of Check Mat BJJ as winner of the adult female brown-belt middleweight division and as one of the two third places in the adult female brown-belt open-weight (absoluto) division.

      Where in the source: Categories 'Adulto / Marrom / Feminino / Medio' (place 1) and 'Adulto / Marrom / Feminino / Absoluto' (place 3)

      Accessed:

  • IBJJF, "World Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship 2009" results page.(opens in a new tab)

    • IBJJF's results for the 2009 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship list Ana Maria Soares of Check Mat BJJ in third place in the adult female brown/black-belt middleweight division, which Hannette Staack won.

      Where in the source: Category 'Adult / Brown Black / Female / Middle', place 3

      Accessed:

  • IBJJF, "American National IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship 2011" results page.(opens in a new tab)

    • IBJJF's results for the 2011 American National IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship list Ana Maria Gomes Soares of BJJ Revolution Team as winner of the adult female brown/black-belt lightweight division, ahead of Fabiana Borges.

      Where in the source: Category 'Adult / Brown Black / Female / Light', place 1

      Accessed:

  • Cathy Rodrigues and Osmar Ribeiro, "Ana Maria Índia, a 'menina de ouro' de Barreiras", Jornal Gazeta do Oeste (Barreiras), 22 November 2012; article credited to Falabarreiras ("Fonte: Falabarreiras").(opens in a new tab)

    • She grew up in Barreiras, Bahia, and lived there until she was 15; she described that childhood as free and active and said it gave her the confidence to live anywhere and travel alone.

      Where in the source: Paragraph with her quote on her childhood — '15 anos'

      Accessed:

    • At 21, while studying biomedicine in Marília, São Paulo, and practicing capoeira, she was drawn to jiu-jitsu by the men's movements in a class, bought a gi, and entered her first championship after three months of training.

      Where in the source: Paragraph after the introduction — 'Marília'

      Accessed:

    • Conflicting accounts

      The newspaper lists her titles as two Brazilian national championships (2008 and 2009), the 2011 US National No-Gi, the 2008 CBJJO Pan American, the 2007 World Cup, North–Northeast weight and open titles, runner-up at the CBJJ and CBJJE world championships and runner-up at an Abu Dhabi trial.

      Where in the source: Section listing her victories — 'bi-campeã'

      Accessed:

    • In 2012 she was living inside the Team Nogueira academy in Rio de Janeiro, where she trained and taught, training about seven hours a day alongside men; she had left university to pursue fighting.

      Where in the source: Third paragraph — 'Team Nogueira'

      Accessed:

    • She described one of the owners of the Team Nogueira academy, a fellow Bahian MMA fighter, as a second father and her idol, who had welcomed her into fighting.

      Where in the source: Paragraph on her friends — 'segundo pai'

      Accessed:

    • The newspaper says fans gave her the nickname Índia because she braided her long black hair before fights; she described braiding her hair as her pre-fight ritual, the moment she transforms.

      Where in the source: Paragraph on the nickname and first quote of the final section — 'trançar'

      Accessed:

    • Asked about difficulties and prejudice, she said prejudice belongs to whoever feels it, that she was at ease among men, and that she had no female reference point when she started fighting.

      Where in the source: Paragraph on the nickname, her quote — 'referência feminina'

      Accessed:

    • Before a fight she said she thinks about ending it quickly without getting hurt or hurting the opponent much, accepts losing as part of fighting ('only those who fight lose'), and finds a fight that never flows the most frustrating.

      Where in the source: Final section, second quote — 'só perde quem luta'

      Accessed:

    • She recalled that her MMA debut was against a woman of about 100 kilograms when she herself weighed 60 kilograms, and that the prize was a cheap medal she was nonetheless very happy with.

      Where in the source: Section on MMA, first quote — '100 quilos'

      Accessed:

  • Graciemag (editorial staff, from a press release), "Ana Maria Índia preparada para o Web Fight 2 com um arsenal no Jiu-Jitsu", 5 July 2013.(opens in a new tab)

    • Graciemag reported in July 2013 that she had returned to MMA after three years out with a knee injury, beating Aline Serio in May on the Team Nogueira MMA circuit, and was preparing for a title fight against Bete Tavares at Web Fight Combat 2 on 7 July.

      Where in the source: First paragraph — 'lesão no joelho'

      Accessed:

    • She said she came from jiu-jitsu and, as a black belt, was not afraid of going to the ground: strikers expected to knock her out, but her guard held a large arsenal of armlocks, triangles, sweeps and guillotines, and she was very comfortable on the ground.

      Where in the source: Her first quote — 'metralhadora'

      Accessed:

  • Graciemag (editorial staff, from a press release), "No Dia Internacional da Mulher, Ana Maria Índia exalta evolução feminina no MMA", 8 March 2014.(opens in a new tab)

    • On International Women's Day 2014 she said women's MMA had suffered less from prejudice than from unfamiliarity: early women's fights had a low technical level and few practitioners, and the sport's growth was the women's own achievement through their drive to improve.

      Where in the source: Her second quote — 'falta de conhecimento'

      Accessed:

  • Graciemag, "Ana Maria 'India' seminar in England", 25 January 2010.(opens in a new tab)

    • Graciemag announced in January 2010 that the black belt and MMA fighter, returning to training after No Limite, would teach a four-hour jiu-jitsu and submission grappling seminar in London on 6 February 2010.

      Where in the source: Article body — 'four-hour seminar'

      Accessed:

  • Super Lutas, "Pedro Nobre e Ana Maria Índia conquistam cinturões no Web Fight Combat 2", 8 July 2013.(opens in a new tab)

    • At Web Fight Combat 2 on 7 July 2013 she won the promotion's women's bantamweight title, taking Bete Tavares to the ground and finishing her with a first-round armbar; she received the belt from Jéssica "Bate-Estaca", who had originally been booked against her before signing with the UFC.

      Where in the source: Opening paragraph and the section on her fight — 'peso galo feminino'

      Accessed:

    • She walked out to a Brazilian funk song and after the fight said that, as a jiu-jitsu specialist, nothing could be better than winning by submission; she had wanted to box, but the fight went to the ground.

      Where in the source: Section on her fight, her quote after it — 'especialista em jiu-jitsu'

      Accessed:

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