Claudia Fernanda Onofre V. do Val
“Claudinha”
Source: bol.uol.com.brA former judoka who barely competed before brown belt, then won IBJJF world titles at three different weights in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and lived from teaching.
Biography
Sources for this profile
IBJJF, World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2017 — results.(opens in a new tab)
The IBJJF's official results for the 2017 World Championship list Claudia Fernanda Onofre Valim Doval of De La Riva JJ in first place in the female adult black belt heavyweight division (175 lb).
Where in the source: Results list, division heading 'Female / Adult / Black / Heavy (175.00lb)', place 1.
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IBJJF, World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2018 — results.(opens in a new tab)
The IBJJF's official results for the 2018 World Championship list Claudia Fernanda Onofre Valim Doval of De La Riva JJ in first place in the female adult black belt medium-heavyweight division (163.6 lb).
Where in the source: Results list, division heading 'Female / Adult / Black / Medium Heavy (163.60lb)', place 1.
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IBJJF, World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2019 — results.(opens in a new tab)
The IBJJF's official results for the 2019 World Championship list Claudia Fernanda Onofre Valim Doval of De La Riva JJ in first place in the female adult black belt super-heavyweight division.
Where in the source: Results list, division heading 'Female / Adult / Black / Super Heavy', place 1.
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IBJJF, World Master IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2018 — results.(opens in a new tab)
At the 2018 IBJJF World Master Championship she won both the Master 1 female black belt medium-heavyweight division and the Master 1 female black belt open class, competing for De La Riva JJ.
Where in the source: Results list, headings 'Female / Master 1 / Black / Medium Heavy (163.60lb)' and 'Female / Master 1 / Black / Open Class', place 1 in each.
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IBJJF, World Master IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2019 — results.(opens in a new tab)
At the 2019 IBJJF World Master Championship she won the Master 1 female black belt medium-heavyweight division, still listed with De La Riva JJ.
Where in the source: Results list, heading 'Female / Master 1 / Black / Medium Heavy (163.60lb)', place 1.
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IBJJF, European IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2020 — results.(opens in a new tab)
At the 2020 IBJJF European Championship she won the Master 1 female black belt heavyweight division (79.3 kg) and took second place in the Master 1 open class, now listed with Soul Fighters BJJ.
Where in the source: Results list, heading 'Female / Master 1 / Black / Heavy (79.30kg)', place 1; heading 'Female / Master 1 / Black / Open Class', place 2.
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BJJ Heroes, 'Claudia do Val' (fighter profile, undated).(opens in a new tab)
BJJ Heroes gives her full name as Claudia Fernanda Onofre V. do Val and describes her as a black belt and professional grappler.
Where in the source: Profile header, full-name line.
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BJJ Heroes gives her date of birth as 1 June 1988.
Where in the source: Biography section, first paragraph — 'June 1st, 1988'.
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BJJ Heroes says she grew up in Penedo, near Resende in Rio de Janeiro state.
Where in the source: Biography section, first paragraph — 'nearby Penedo'.
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BJJ Heroes says she took up judo at 18 and later added jiu-jitsu to her week to improve her ground game for judo.
Where in the source: Biography section, second paragraph — 'judo lessons'.
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BJJ Heroes says she began jiu-jitsu at 21 under Ricardo De La Riva and that the sport soon took over from her judo ambitions.
Where in the source: Biography section, third paragraph — '21 years old'.
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BJJ Heroes says she competed three times at white belt and once at blue belt, then trained as a hobbyist until she returned to competition as a brown belt in 2015.
Where in the source: Biography section, fourth paragraph — 'tournament scene (2015)'.
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BJJ Heroes states that Ricardo De La Riva promoted her to black belt on 17 December 2016, after a brown belt year that included wins at the World Championship and the European Open.
Where in the source: Biography section, fifth paragraph — 'December 17, 2016'.
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BJJ Heroes lists her team as Soul Fighters, which it says she joined in 2019 after years of representing the DLR team.
Where in the source: Opening paragraph — 'joined in 2019'; team line in the profile header.
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BJJ Heroes names the triangle choke as her favourite technique and lists her weight division as heavyweight (79.3 kg).
Where in the source: Profile header, favourite-technique line — 'Triangle Choke'.
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BJJ Heroes traces her jiu-jitsu lineage from Carlos Gracie through Helio Gracie, Carlson Gracie and Ricardo De La Riva.
Where in the source: Profile header, lineage line.
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Mayara Munhos, 'Timeline, The Development Of The Female Division In The IBJJF World Championships', BJJ Heroes (undated, written before the 2021 Worlds).(opens in a new tab)
A BJJ Heroes history of the women's divisions at the IBJJF World Championship lists Claudia do Val (DLR) as female black belt champion at heavyweight in 2017, medium-heavyweight in 2018 and super-heavyweight in 2019.
Where in the source: Section '2017 to 2019', year lists 2017, 2018 and 2019 — 'Claudia do Val (DLR)'.
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Hywel Teague, 'The Brown Belt Class of 2016: 9 Athletes Poised To Disrupt Black Belt Ranks', FloGrappling, 20 December 2016.(opens in a new tab)
In December 2016 FloGrappling named her among nine brown belts expected to make an impact at black belt, noting that she only began competing in earnest at the end of 2015 and then won gold at the Europeans and the Worlds.
Where in the source: Entry 'Claudia do Val' — 'competing in earnest'.
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Hywel Teague, 'When Winning Worlds Feels Weird: Claudia Do Val Reflects', FloGrappling, 30 June 2017.(opens in a new tab)
FloGrappling reported that she won the heavyweight title (175 lb / 79.3 kg) at the 2017 World Championship in Long Beach, one of five female black belt champions that year who were at their first Worlds as black belts.
Where in the source: Opening paragraphs — 'first time at that rank'.
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In the 2017 final she beat the veteran Talita Nogueira: she attacked first with the omoplata, which FloGrappling calls her signature move, then trapped Nogueira in a triangle and attacked the arm, but Nogueira did not tap.
Where in the source: Paragraphs on the final — 'signature omoplata'.
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FloGrappling described her in 2017 as a De La Riva Jiu-Jitsu black belt who trained under Ricardo De La Riva in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro.
Where in the source: Paragraph after the photo of the final — 'in Copacabana'.
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FloGrappling called her, at 29, a latecomer to competition, with a judo background and hardly any jiu-jitsu competition until the end of 2015, when she was a brown belt.
Where in the source: Paragraph on her record — 'latecomer to the competition scene'.
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Before her 2017 world title she had won the 2016 brown belt world title, taken bronze in the open class at the 2017 Europeans, silver at middleweight at the 2017 Pans and gold at the 2017 Brazilian Nationals.
Where in the source: Paragraph listing her 2016-2017 results.
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A few weeks after the 2017 Worlds she said the title had not yet sunk in: she knew what she had done but had not worked out what it meant.
Where in the source: Paragraph about the medal on her wall — 'it's weird'.
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After the 2017 title she aimed to establish herself as an instructor as well as a competitor; she had given seminars in the United States, Brazil and Europe and said she hoped to make a name that would let her open her own gym one day.
Where in the source: Closing paragraph — 'open my own gym'.
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FloGrappling, 'All of the Grand Slam Winners of 2018', 7 June 2018.(opens in a new tab)
FloGrappling listed her among the 2018 IBJJF Grand Slam winners: she won black belt gold at the 2018 European Championship (medium-heavy), Pan Championship (super-heavy), Brazilian Nationals (heavy) and World Championship (medium-heavy), across three different weight classes.
Where in the source: Entry 'Claudia do Val', results table EUROS / PANS / BRAZ NATS / WORLDS — 'three different weight classes'.
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FloGrappling noted that at the 2018 Europeans and Pans her division had only two entrants, so each of those golds took a single win.
Where in the source: Entry 'Claudia do Val' — 'only two entrants'.
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FloGrappling says she trained from white belt to black belt under Ricardo de la Riva in Rio de Janeiro.
Where in the source: Entry 'Claudia do Val', first sentence (the page misprints 'white' as 'wide').
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BJJEE, '3x World Champ Claudia Doval On Going From Judo to BJJ & Becoming a Professional Competitor', 10 October 2019.(opens in a new tab)
In an October 2019 interview she said her 2019 began with second places at the European Championship and the Brazilian Nationals and no Pan Ams, but that she was proud of the year because she had started jiu-jitsu late and had a severe shoulder injury, and she won the Worlds again.
Where in the source: First answer — 'severe shoulder injury'.
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She told BJJEE that judo improved her self-esteem and fitness and gave her friends, and that jiu-jitsu gave her the same on a bigger scale, with more friends and a gym where she felt at home.
Where in the source: Answer on judo and the switch — 'at home in the gym'.
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She told BJJEE that she had competed a few times in judo and was always very nervous, which is why it took her so long to return to competition after three white belt and one blue belt tournaments; encouragement from friends made her try again at brown belt, and doing well showed her she could do it.
Where in the source: Answer on competing — 'always very nervous'.
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She said that being first in the ranking did not make her better than anyone; it only meant she had more points because she went to every tournament she could.
Where in the source: End of the answer on competing — 'every single tournament'.
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BJJEE introduced her in October 2019 as a Soul Fighters black belt whom the IBJJF had named its top female athlete of the 2018/2019 season.
Where in the source: Introduction — 'Soul Fighters team'.
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Her advice to beginners was patience: start small, learn the basics, do not hurry to be promoted, value knowledge more than belts, and have fun.
Where in the source: Answer on advice — 'value knowledge more than belts'.
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Redação Graciemag, 'Interview with Cláudia do Val, the world's No. 1 female BJJ fighter', Graciemag, 25 September 2018.(opens in a new tab)
Graciemag reported in September 2018 that after the 2018 Worlds she kept travelling to every open and national tournament she could, collecting 27 gold and two silver medals, which put her first in the IBJJF gi and no-gi rankings.
Where in the source: Introduction — '27 gold medals'.
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She told Graciemag she did three years of judo before taking up jiu-jitsu to improve her judo groundwork, and later gave up judo.
Where in the source: First answer — 'three years of judo'.
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She said that until brown belt she barely knew how to play guard, and that after hurting her shoulder about two and a half years before the interview she began fighting only from the bottom.
Where in the source: First answer — 'only from the bottom'.
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On reaching first place in the ranking she said nothing had changed: she was still 'the same old Claudinha' and still got beaten in training.
Where in the source: Second answer — 'same old Claudinha'.
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She said that having started competing late she had become addicted to it, was making up for lost time by entering everything she had missed, and saw competing as a way to see a world she would otherwise never have seen.
Where in the source: Third answer — 'chasing lost time'.
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Asked about Tayane, whom Graciemag called her friend and the world No. 2, she said the two had not fought in years and that she had lost when they met.
Where in the source: Last answer — 'haven't fought in years'.
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Redação Graciemag, 'Claudia do Val's choke at the Spanish National', Graciemag, 21 June 2018.(opens in a new tab)
Soon after winning the 2018 Worlds she entered the IBJJF Spanish National in Guadalajara, Mexico, to earn ranking points; unopposed at super-heavyweight, she won the open class final by passing Charlotte von Baumgarten's guard, taking the back and finishing with a bow-and-arrow choke.
Where in the source: Article body — 'bow-and-arrow choke'.
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Graciemag described her in 2018 as known for a dangerous game from the bottom.
Where in the source: Article body, sentence before the choke — 'dangerous game from the bottom'.
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Redação Graciemag, '91 to 0: Cláudia do Val talks Manila Open score — watch the video', Graciemag, 11 February 2019.(opens in a new tab)
Graciemag describes her as Brazilian in its report on the 2019 Manila Open.
Where in the source: Second paragraph — 'her Brazilian opponent'.
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At the January 2019 Manila Open she twice faced the local fighter Maybelline Masuda, about 20 kg lighter, who had entered the super-heavyweight division so that she would have an opponent: she won 63-0 with a rear-naked choke in the division and, after scoring 91 points, by armbar in the open class.
Where in the source: Paragraphs two and three — '63-0'.
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Some in the jiu-jitsu community called the lopsided score disrespectful; she told Graciemag she had fought carefully because her opponent was much smaller, choosing not to force a finish and looking for a technical submission that would not injure either of them.
Where in the source: Her quoted answer — 'fought very carefully'.
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Redação Graciemag, 'IBJJF lista melhores da temporada 2018/2019, com Lucas Hulk e Cláudia Do Val no topo', Graciemag, 30 May 2019.(opens in a new tab)
Graciemag reported in May 2019 that the IBJJF's 2018/2019 season ranking had Cláudia do Val, of the De La Riva team, at the top of the adult female black belt list, after a season in which she entered most of the federation's events around the world.
Where in the source: Headline and second paragraph — 'Cláudia Do Val no topo'.
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Redação Graciemag, 'Rodrigo Fajardo e Cláudia do Val ensinam raspagem da omoplata', Graciemag, 19 August 2020.(opens in a new tab)
In August 2020 Graciemag published a class in which Rodrigo 'Pimpolho' Fajardo, hosting her at Gracie Barra Curitiba, taught a sweep from the omoplata entry, a position Graciemag says she specialises in.
Where in the source: First paragraph — 'Claudinha é especialista'.
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Rubens Lisboa, 'Campeã mundial de jiu-jitsu largou engenharia e viaja o mundo dando aulas', UOL (BOL), 10 April 2019.(opens in a new tab)
UOL reported that she tried to follow her father into engineering and her brother into judo before jiu-jitsu won her over, and that she started jiu-jitsu late, at 21.
Where in the source: Lead paragraph — 'engenharia'.
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She left an engineering course at CEFET in Rio de Janeiro about halfway through, before choosing a specialisation, saying she no longer enjoyed engineering and was already doing jiu-jitsu.
Where in the source: Paragraph on CEFET — 'parei bem na metade'.
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She said she made her living from jiu-jitsu but not as an athlete: seminars, private lessons and workshops paid her way, because sponsorship was not enough and prize money even less; she also sold T-shirts with her own brand.
Where in the source: Her first quote — 'não como atleta'.
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She pointed to a large gap in pay and recognition between men and women in the sport, while saying it was improving.
Where in the source: Her second quote, on pay for women in the sport.
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By early April 2019 she had already been to 19 countries that year, among them the United States, Panama, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Romania, Germany, Switzerland and Russia, giving seminars and competing.
Where in the source: Paragraph on travel — '19 países'.
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She began jiu-jitsu as a supplement to judo to improve her groundwork; she said she had not felt welcome in judo, where higher-ranked players at her club seemed to look down on a latecomer, while her first jiu-jitsu session felt different, and she moved across gradually.
Where in the source: Paragraphs after the medal photo — 'foi diferente'.
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UOL reported in April 2019 that for the ten years since she chose jiu-jitsu she had trained at Ricardo De La Riva's academy, and that De La Riva also promoted, among others, the Nogueira brothers, Rodrigo 'Minotauro' and Rogério 'Minotouro'.
Where in the source: Paragraph after the medal photo — 'há 10 anos'.
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She is known among jiu-jitsu practitioners as Claudinha.
Where in the source: Paragraph on CEFET, after her quote — 'como é conhecida'.
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In April 2019 UOL described her as leading the IBJJF world rankings in both gi and no-gi.
Where in the source: Second paragraph (ranking sentence).
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