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Gabriel Arges

Three-time world champion Gabriel Arges turned a move to Rômulo Barral’s training room into a career spanning elite competition and coaching.

Last updated: 12 September 2026

Biography

Gabriel Arges built his jiu-jitsu career by moving toward larger rooms. He began at sixteen in Belo Horizonte, where Fernando Fialho’s gym offered three classes a week and lacked higher-ranked training partners. With Fialho’s permission, Arges added sessions under Marcelo Uirapuru Azevedo. There he became friends with Felipe Pena, who invited him to train with Rômulo Barral in 2012. Three years after that invitation, Arges received a promotion he did not expect. He has recalled nearly missing the 2015 World No-Gi Championship because of an injury, then winning the brown-belt division and receiving his black belt on the podium. He had anticipated another year at brown belt. Within months, he won the 2016 European Championship and the World Pro. At the 2016 World Championship, Arges submitted Claudio Calasans and Marcos Tinoco by kneebar before reaching the middleweight final with Gracie Barra teammate Otávio Sousa. They closed out the division, sharing the final without contesting it. A year later, Arges defeated Tinoco with a choke from the back to win the 2017 middleweight final. He later recalled that Barral, injured during the tournament, called from the hospital to encourage him before that match. Arges added another World title in 2019, completing a three-year list of championship wins in 2016, 2017, and 2019. He also won the 2018 Pan Championship and beat Isaque Braz 6–2 for the middleweight King of Mats title in Abu Dhabi in January 2019. Arges’s competitive work now has a direct teaching outlet. Gracie Barra Thousand Oaks lists him as its owner and head instructor, responsible for its programs and primarily teaching advanced, black-belt, and competition classes. His public Knee-Barges curriculum shows what some of that technical instruction contains: kneebar entries from knee-shield half guard, transitions from closed guard and omoplata positions, and attacks from reverse half guard. The curriculum connects his teaching directly to the leg attacks visible in his own competitive record.

Sources for this profile

Fanatics Authors, Gabriel Arges, BJJ Fanatics, 23 January 2019.(opens in a new tab)
- Gabriel Arges was born in Belo Horizonte on 29 January 1993.
  Where in the source: Biography — January 29th, 1993
  Accessed: 2026-09-12
- After playing soccer and taking up Thai boxing at fourteen, Arges began jiu-jitsu at sixteen when friends brought him to open training sessions. His first coach was Fernando Fialho at Gracie Barra BH.
  Where in the source: Biography — Fernando Fialho
  Accessed: 2026-09-12
- With Fialho’s permission, Arges added training under Marcelo Uirapuru Azevedo because his original gym offered three weekly classes and lacked higher-ranked training partners. He became friends with Felipe Pena, who invited him to train with Rômulo Barral in 2012.
  Where in the source: Biography — Romulo Barral
  Accessed: 2026-09-12
Gracie Barra Thousand Oaks, Instructors (accessed 12 September 2026).(opens in a new tab)
- Gracie Barra Thousand Oaks identifies Arges as a black belt under Rômulo Barral and Felipe Pena.
  Where in the source: Gabriel Arges — Black Belt under
  Accessed: 2026-09-12
- Arges represents Gracie Barra.
  Where in the source: Gabriel Arges — Gracie Barra Academy
  Accessed: 2026-09-12
- The academy lists Arges’s IBJJF World Championship wins in 2016, 2017 and 2019.
  Where in the source: Main Achievements — World Champion
  Accessed: 2026-09-12
Jiu-Jitsu Style, Man on Fire: Gabriel Arges, War Tribe, 25 May 2016.(opens in a new tab)
- Arges recalled nearly missing the 2015 World No-Gi Championship because of an injury. He won at brown belt and received his black belt on the podium, although he had expected another year at brown belt. He then won the 2016 European Championship in January and the World Pro in April.
  Where in the source: Man on Fire — one more year
  Accessed: 2026-09-12
BJJ Fanatics, The Knee-Barges Leg Attack System by Gabriel Arges (public course description and curriculum; accessed 12 September 2026).(opens in a new tab)
- At the 2016 World Championship, Arges finished Claudio Calasans and Marcos Tinoco by kneebar before sharing the middleweight final with Gracie Barra teammate Otávio Sousa in a closeout.
  Where in the source: The Match That Cemented His Name — closed out
  Accessed: 2026-09-12
- In his Knee-Barges instructional, Arges teaches entries to kneebars from knee-shield half guard, closed-guard and omoplata transitions, and reverse half guard.
  Where in the source: Course Content — Volume 1
  Accessed: 2026-09-12
Redação Graciemag, Gabriel Arges analisa conquista do ouro no Mundial de Jiu-Jitsu, 23 June 2017.(opens in a new tab)
- Arges won the 2017 World Championship middleweight final against Marcos Tinoco with a choke from the back. He later recalled that Barral, injured during the tournament, phoned him from hospital before the final to encourage him.
  Where in the source: Interview — me ligou do hospital
  Accessed: 2026-09-12
Amith Passela, For Gabriel Arges, attitude determines altitude at Abu Dhabi Grand Slam, The National, 13 January 2019.(opens in a new tab)
- The National identified Arges as Brazilian in its report of his January 2019 King of Mats victory in Abu Dhabi.
  Where in the source: King of Mats report — Brazilian
  Accessed: 2026-09-12
- Arges beat Isaque Braz 6–2 to win the January 2019 middleweight King of Mats title in Abu Dhabi. Discussing his progress, he credited his team and training partners with developing his skills.
  Where in the source: King of Mats report — my team and teammates
  Accessed: 2026-09-12
Gracie Barra Thousand Oaks, Black Belt Professors at Gracie Barra Thousand Oaks (accessed 12 September 2026).(opens in a new tab)
- Gracie Barra Thousand Oaks lists Arges as its owner and head instructor, overseeing its programs and primarily teaching advanced, black-belt and competition classes.
  Where in the source: Head Professor — owner and head instructor
  Accessed: 2026-09-12
Fanatics Authors, Become a Leg Lock Ace with BJJ Fanatics, 27 March 2018.(opens in a new tab)
- Arges won the 2018 Pan Championship.
  Where in the source: Gabriel Arges section — 2018 Pan American Champion
  Accessed: 2026-09-12

Lineage

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Trained under

Romulo Barral Source: bjjheroes.com