Fabio Leopoldo
A Ryan Gracie black belt who won the 2002 heavyweight world title, opened a school when medals didn't pay, fought in the IFL and now teaches in California.
Biography
Sources for this profile
BJJ Heroes, Fabio Leopoldo (athlete profile, undated).(opens in a new tab)
BJJ Heroes gives Fabio Leopoldo's full name as Fabio Leopoldo e Silva Neto and places him in the lineage Mitsuyo Maeda, Carlos Gracie Sr., Carlos Gracie Jr., Ryan Gracie.
Where in the source: Fact list below the intro, the Full Name and Lineage fields.
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Fabio Leopoldo was born on 17 April 1977 in São Paulo, Brazil.
Where in the source: Biography, first paragraph — "17th of April 1977"
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He tried judo at about six at his private school without staying long, took up Kyokushin full-contact karate at ten, and found jiu-jitsu at fifteen.
Where in the source: Biography, first paragraph, on his early martial arts — "Kyokushin"
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He came to jiu-jitsu through an older cousin nicknamed Fuscão, a judoka who had represented Brazil at the Olympic Games; Leopoldo looked up to him and followed him to jiu-jitsu classes.
Where in the source: Biography, second paragraph, the passage about his cousin.
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His first jiu-jitsu coach was Roberto Lage, with whom he trained until receiving his blue belt.
Where in the source: Biography, second paragraph, closing sentence on his first coach.
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- Conflicting accounts
BJJ Heroes says Leopoldo moved in 1996 to Ryan Gracie's gym, described as the first Gracie gym in São Paulo.
Where in the source: Biography, third paragraph, opening sentence — "very first Gracie gym"
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At Ryan Gracie's gym he set himself a routine of at least ten jiu-jitsu sessions and three weight-training sessions a week.
Where in the source: Biography, third paragraph, second sentence on his weekly training goal.
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Ryan Gracie promoted him to purple belt; while Ryan was away from São Paulo, Daniel Gracie, 'Russo' and 'Nino' Schembri awarded his brown belt; after Ryan returned he gave Leopoldo his black belt, about five years and three months after Leopoldo began training.
Where in the source: Biography, third paragraph, the passage on his belt promotions — "5 years and 3 months"
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Leopoldo was one of Ryan Gracie's main sparring partners when Ryan prepared for his MMA fights in Japan.
Where in the source: Biography, fifth paragraph, on his MMA start — "main sparring partner"
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Despite his competition wins he was still looking for financial stability when he was called up for the MMA Eruption card in 2004, which he won by TKO in 43 seconds.
Where in the source: Biography, fifth paragraph, on his MMA debut — "(43 seconds)"
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In 2006 Leopoldo moved to New York at Renzo Gracie's invitation to join his IFL team, the Pitbulls; fighting in the IFL gave him a steady income plus bonuses.
Where in the source: Biography, sixth paragraph, opening sentences — "“The Pitbulls”"
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When the IFL folded, Leopoldo did not receive lucrative offers from the remaining promotions and turned to teaching; he chose California partly for the weather and surfing, one of his great passions, and friends from Gracie Barra there eased the move.
Where in the source: Biography, sixth paragraph, closing sentences on his move to California.
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Sherdog, Fabio Leopoldo MMA fighter profile.(opens in a new tab)
Sherdog lists Fabio Leopoldo's date of birth as 17 April 1977.
Where in the source: Fighter profile, bio table, AGE row.
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Sherdog lists a professional MMA record of five wins and three losses between April 2004 and September 2007: wins over Brendan Seguin (MMA Eruption, 2004, TKO at 0:43 of round one), Yuki Sasaki (Pancrase Neo-Blood Tournament semifinal, 2004, majority decision), Ryan McGivern (IFL, 2006, kneebar), Chris Albandia (IFL, 2007, guillotine choke) and Gerald Harris (IFL, 2007, split decision); losses to Matt Lindland (GFC, 2006, rear-naked choke), Brent Beauparlant (IFL, 2007, TKO arm injury) and Ryan McGivern (IFL 2007 Team Championship Final, KO).
Where in the source: Fight history table (columns Result, Fighter, Event, Method, R, Time), eight rows from Apr / 30 / 2004 to Sep / 20 / 2007.
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Jeff Cain, MMAWeekly.com via Yahoo Sports, "New York claims IFL team title", 21 September 2007.(opens in a new tab)
On 20 September 2007 in Hollywood, Florida, Renzo Gracie's New York Pitbulls beat the Quad City Silverbacks 3-2 to win the IFL World Team Championship; in the middleweight bout Ryan McGivern avenged his 2006 loss to Leopoldo by knocking him out in the second round, and the Pitbulls went undefeated in 2007.
Where in the source: MMAWeekly report, paragraphs on the middleweight bout and the Pitbulls' season — "avenge a loss from last year"; "undefeated in 2007"
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MMAWeekly describes Fabio Leopoldo as Brazilian.
Where in the source: Paragraph on the McGivern bout — "the Brazilian"
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Gracie Morumbi, "The Complete History of Gracie Morumbi" (academy website, archived 6 April 2015 by the Wayback Machine).(opens in a new tab)
According to his academy's own history, Leopoldo began teaching jiu-jitsu in São Paulo in 1996 as a part-time job to support his training and competing.
Where in the source: Archived page 'The Complete History of Gracie Morumbi', first paragraph — "part time job"
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In 1999, in his last university year, competing was not earning him money and part-time teaching was not a living, so he and his best friend Marcelo Marques, a Ryan Gracie team member, decided to open an academy.
Where in the source: Same archived page, first paragraph, on the idea behind the academy.
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They chose Morumbi, a growing São Paulo neighbourhood with many schools and families but no jiu-jitsu academy, and took over a local gym on the main street that had closed, which already had mat space and weights; they named the academy Gracie Morumbi.
Where in the source: Same archived page, second paragraph — "gone out of business"
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Both founders were brown belts under Ryan Gracie when Gracie Morumbi opened; two years later Marques returned to his career as a marketing director and left the academy to Leopoldo, who built it while dividing his time between teaching and competing and developing top students to help run it.
Where in the source: Same archived page, second paragraph, closing sentences — "Marketing Director"
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By 2006 Leopoldo had graduated four black belts who helped with teaching at Gracie Morumbi; that year Ryan and Renzo Gracie encouraged him to try MMA, and he moved to New York to train at the Renzo Gracie Academy in Manhattan alongside Matt Serra, Ricardo Almeida and Martin Rooney, among others.
Where in the source: Same archived page, third paragraph — "4 black belts"
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After fighting professionally in Pancrase in Japan and in the IFL, he returned to jiu-jitsu and headed west to Southern California, wanting to live near the water and good waves for surfing.
Where in the source: Same archived page, third and fourth paragraphs — "close to good waves"
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On a Gracie Barra friend's advice he opened a Gracie Barra affiliate school; both his masters, Ryan and Renzo Gracie, came from Gracie Barra in Rio and he had trained and competed with the Gracie Barra team all his life. He was introduced by phone to Raul Montolfo, who became important in his decision to settle in Ventura County.
Where in the source: Same archived page, fifth paragraph — "Gracie Barra affiliate school"
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He called his student Erik Klinger, known as 'gringo' at Gracie Morumbi in São Paulo, to help build the new school; Gracie Barra Ventura succeeded and a year later he opened a third academy, Gracie Barra Thousand Oaks.
Where in the source: Same archived page, sixth paragraph — "“gringo”"
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In 2010, for professional reasons, Leopoldo renamed the Ventura and Thousand Oaks academies Gracie Morumbi, after his original school in Brazil.
Where in the source: Same archived page, seventh paragraph — "original name"
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Gracie Morumbi, "Instructors" (academy website, archived 22 March 2015 by the Wayback Machine).(opens in a new tab)
His academy's archived instructor page says he practised judo and karate before jiu-jitsu, earned his black belt in about five years, later studied under Renzo Gracie and Carlos Gracie Jr., and was born in São Paulo in 1977.
Where in the source: Archived 'Instructors - Gracie Morumbi' page, Fabio Leopoldo section.
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- Conflicting accounts
The academy's archived bio says he began training with Ryan Gracie in São Paulo in 1995.
Where in the source: Fabio Leopoldo section, opening sentences — "since 1995"
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Alongside jiu-jitsu he trained MMA with the Gracie team and travelled to Japan several times with Ryan and Renzo Gracie during their fights in the Pride Fighting Championships.
Where in the source: Fabio Leopoldo section, sentence on his MMA background — "Pride Fighting Championships"
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In 2007 Leopoldo fought for Renzo Gracie's New York Pitbulls, the team that won the IFL World Team Championship that year.
Where in the source: Fabio Leopoldo section, sentence on 2007 — "New York Pitbulls team"
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By the mid-2010s he had promoted 15 black belts at Gracie Morumbi, and his students continued to run the São Paulo academy after he moved to the United States.
Where in the source: Fabio Leopoldo section, sentence on the São Paulo academy — "15 black belts"
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In 1999 he graduated from Paulista University in business administration with an emphasis on international commerce.
Where in the source: Fabio Leopoldo section, closing sentence — "Paulista University"
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Erik Klinger moved to São Paulo to study jiu-jitsu under Leopoldo, became an instructor at his academy after two years and received his brown belt from him after three; in 2008 Leopoldo invited him to teach in Ventura, and Klinger became the first non-Brazilian Leopoldo promoted to black belt.
Where in the source: Erik Klinger section, second paragraph — "first non-Brazilian"
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Morumbi Jiu Jitsu & Fitness Academy, About (academy website, undated).(opens in a new tab)
Leopoldo is the founder and head instructor of Morumbi Jiu Jitsu & Fitness Academy, which lists schools in Thousand Oaks, Ventura and Simi Valley, California; the academy states its motto as 'With good intentions and hard work you can achieve anything'.
Where in the source: About page, 'The Morumbi Team' and 'Our Philosophy' sections, and the footer address list — "Founder and Head Instructor"
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The academy says it has been voted best martial arts school in Ventura County in the Reader's Choice awards every year since 2009, and that its head instructor has won the best instructor award 11 times.
Where in the source: About page, opening section on the county readers’ awards.
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Graciemag, "GMA Gracie Morumbi voted best martial arts studio in Ventura County for fifth time", 23 September 2013.(opens in a new tab)
Graciemag reported in September 2013 that Leopoldo had been voted Ventura County's best martial arts instructor and Gracie Morumbi its best martial arts school for 2013, the fifth year in a row, and that he then ran three locations in Camarillo, Thousand Oaks and Ventura.
Where in the source: Article body, first and second paragraphs — "fifth year in a row"
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Graciemag, "Rickson seminar at Gracie Morumbi", March 2012.(opens in a new tab)
In March 2012 Graciemag announced that Rickson Gracie would teach a jiu-jitsu and MMA seminar at Leopoldo's Gracie Morumbi academy on 25 March.
Where in the source: Article body, announcement of the seminar — "Rickson Gracie himself"
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FloGrappling, "2025 IBJJF World Masters Championship Results: Here's Who Won In Vegas".(opens in a new tab)
At the 2025 IBJJF World Masters in Las Vegas, Fabio Leopoldo e Silva Neto of Morumbi Jiu-Jitsu Academy won the male Master 4 black belt medium-heavy division.
Where in the source: Winners list, heading Male / Master 4 / Black Belt, Medium-Heavy line.
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IBJJF, "2022 World Master Results: Alliance and Gracie Barra Win Male and Female Titles".(opens in a new tab)
At the 2022 IBJJF World Master Championship, Leopoldo reached the Master 3 medium-heavy final and lost a very close match to Jorge Santiago on a referee's decision.
Where in the source: Report, 'Master 3' section, sentence on the medium-heavy final — "referee’s decision"
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IBJJF, World Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship 1998, official results.(opens in a new tab)
At the 1998 IBJJF World Championship he took silver in the adult male purple belt heavy division, behind Erick Wanderley; Cristiano Resende and Daniel Cardoso took bronze.
Where in the source: Results page, division ADULT / PURPLE / MALE / HEAVY: place 2, FABIO LEOPOLDO, GRACIE SP.
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IBJJF, World Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship 1999, official results.(opens in a new tab)
At the 1999 IBJJF World Championship he took silver in the adult male brown belt heavy division, which was won by Ricardo Arona.
Where in the source: Results page, division ADULT / BROWN / MALE / HEAVY: place 2, Fabio Leopoldo, Gracie Barra.
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IBJJF, World Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship 2000, official results.(opens in a new tab)
He won the adult male brown belt heavy division at the 2000 IBJJF World Championship.
Where in the source: Results page, division ADULT / BROWN / MALE / HEAVY: place 1, Fabio Leopoldo, Gracie Barra.
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IBJJF, World Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship 2001, official results.(opens in a new tab)
At the 2001 IBJJF World Championship he took bronze in the adult male black belt heavy division, won by Fábio Gurgel ahead of Rodrigo Medeiros.
Where in the source: Results page, division ADULT / BLACK / MALE / HEAVY: place 3, Fábio Leopoldo, Gracie Barra.
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IBJJF, Campeonato Brasileiro de Jiu-Jitsu 2001, official results.(opens in a new tab)
He won the adult male black belt heavy division at the 2001 Brazilian National Championship (Campeonato Brasileiro), with Roger Coelho second.
Where in the source: Results page, division ADULT / BLACK / MALE / HEAVY: place 1, Fabio Leopoldo, Gracie Barra.
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IBJJF, Pan Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship 2002, official results.(opens in a new tab)
At the 2002 Pan American Championship he won both the adult male black belt heavy division and the black belt open class.
Where in the source: Results page, divisions ADULT / BLACK / MALE / HEAVY and ADULT / BLACK / MALE / OPEN CLASS: place 1 in both, Fabio Leopoldo, Gracie Barra.
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IBJJF, World Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship 2002, official results.(opens in a new tab)
He won the adult male black belt heavy division at the 2002 IBJJF World Championship, ahead of Jeferson Moura, with Roberto Godoi and Gustavo Muggiati third.
Where in the source: Results page, division ADULT / BLACK / MALE / HEAVY: place 1, Fabio Leopoldo, Gracie Barra.
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Competition results
| Year | Event | Result | Division |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | IBJJF World ChampionshipSource: en.wikipedia.org-94 kgGiVerified | 1st place | -94 kgGiVerified |