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Laerte Barcelos

Laerte Barcelos is a seventh-degree coral belt who teaches in Rio de Janeiro's northern suburbs and brought freestyle wrestling into Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Biography

Laerte Barcelos is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu coral belt of the seventh degree who teaches in the northern suburbs of Rio de Janeiro, and who is known in the sport for two things: putting freestyle wrestling into the training of jiu-jitsu fighters, and coaching his son Raoni Barcelos through a career that reached the UFC. He has no entry of his own in any of the works that describe him. Everything below comes from pages about his son and about three of his students, most of them on the fighter database BJJ Heroes, and not one of them gives his year of birth. The line printed for the students who came through him runs from Carlos Gracie to Reyson Gracie to Osvaldo Alves, and from Alves to Barcelos. One account adds that he trained for years with Oswaldo Fadda and his team as well as with Alves. The two Osvaldos are different men, and only Alves stands in the printed line. Who promoted Barcelos, and in what year, is not recorded anywhere: the page devoted to Alves does not mention him at all. His wrestling is the part of him that other people write about. He competed in the 1980s and went for a place at the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas without getting one, and in 1999 he took the Brazilian team to the Pan American Games in Winnipeg as its coach, where it won no medals. He also had his students train and compete in wrestling alongside jiu-jitsu, and Sherdog credits him as a pioneer of that cross-training in Brazil. The academy carries his name. The sources place his teaching in Marechal Hermes, in the North Zone of the city, where Maurício "Russo" Pereira found it after moving to the neighborhood as a boy. Barcelos was Pereira's first and only instructor, gave him every belt including the black one on December 21, 1997, and had him teaching as an assistant from blue belt to brown before backing him to run classes of his own. Others passed through earlier in their careers: Gabriel Rainho took his blue belt from Barcelos before moving to the Universidade Gama Filho academy, and Vinícius Marinho enrolled at ten and stayed a short while before going the same way. His son is the student the record follows. Raoni Barcelos is a black belt under his father, won his first Brazilian jiu-jitsu title at eight years old in 1994, and has had his preparation run by him for his whole career. The accounts do not agree on when he started: one gives two years old, another three, a third five. They do agree that it was his father who pushed him to compete, first on the mat and then in Olympic wrestling, which the profile written for the 2007 Pan American Games says he had taken up only the year before. That same profile describes the son's qualifying for those Games in Rio de Janeiro as going one better than his father, who had tried for Caracas and missed.

Sources for this profile

  • BJJ Heroes, “Raoni Barcelos”, undated(opens in a new tab)

    • Laerte Barcelos is a seventh-degree coral belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu who trained for many years both with Oswaldo Fadda and his team and with Osvaldo Alves.

      Where in the source: Raoni Barcelos Biography, first paragraph: “He is the son of Laerte Barcelos, a 7th degree BJJ Coral Belt who trained for many years with Osvaldo Fadda and his team, as well as with Osvaldo Alves.”

      Accessed:

    • The lineage printed for his son runs Carlos Gracie to Reyson Gracie to Osvaldo Alves to Laerte Barcelos to Raoni Barcelos, and the team is named Equipe Laerte Barcelos.

      Where in the source: Infobox “Raoni Barcelos Jiu-Jitsu”: “Lineage: Carlos Gracie > Reyson Gracie >Osvaldo Alves > Laerte Barcelos > Raoni Barcelos” and “Team/Association: Equipe Laerte Barcelos”.

      Accessed:

    • His son is described as a jiu-jitsu black belt under him, and freestyle wrestling is described as a sport his father championed in the early 1980s.

      Where in the source: Opening paragraph: “Raoni Barcelos is a Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Laerte Barcelos (his father)”. Biography: “Raoni also learned Freestyle Wrestling, a sport championed by his father in the early 1980s.”

      Accessed:

  • BJJ Heroes, “Mauricio ‘Russo’ Pereira”, undated(opens in a new tab)

    • Mauricio “Russo” Pereira is described as a black belt whose first and only instructor was Laerte Barcelos, who led every one of his promotions; the black belt is dated December 21, 1997.

      Where in the source: Mauricio Russo Biography: “The well respected Laerte Barcelos was Mauricio’s first and only instructor, leading all of Russo’s promotions, including black belt – a promotion that took place on the December 21st, 1997.”

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    • The same page says Barcelos had been a proficient wrestler during the 1980s and pushed all of his students to train and compete in that style as well.

      Where in the source: Mauricio Russo Biography: “Barcelos was not only versed in jiu jitsu, but had also been a proficient wrestler during the 1980’s, instilling all his students to compete and train in this grappling style also.”

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    • Pereira's team is listed as Laerte Barcelos JJ; he came to the academy after moving to Marechal Hermes, in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, and he assisted Barcelos as an instructor from blue belt to brown belt before teaching in a separate gym with his support.

      Where in the source: Infobox: “Team/Association: Laerte Barcelos JJ”. Biography: “Mauricio relocated to his grandparent’s house in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro (Marechal Hermes) at the age of 10” · “As a blue belt Mauricio started helping his coach as Laerte’s assistant instructor, a job he carried out up until his brown belt.”

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  • BJJ Heroes, “Gabriel Rainho”, undated(opens in a new tab)

    • Gabriel Rainho's first coach is named as Master Laerte Barcelos, who awarded him his blue belt before Rainho moved to the Universidade Gama Filho academy and took the rest of his belts from Julio Cesar.

      Where in the source: Gabriel Rainho Biography: “Rainho’s first coach was Master Laerte Barcelos, it was Barcelos who awarded Gabriel his blue belt, he would change to the Universidade Gama Filho academy (which later changed name and became GFT) and got all his belts from their on from Master Julio Cesar”.

      Accessed:

  • BJJ Heroes, “Vinicius Marinho”, undated(opens in a new tab)

    • Vinicius Marinho is described as having enrolled in Laerte Barcelos' classes at the age of ten, staying a short while before moving to the Universidade Gama Filho academy.

      Where in the source: Vinicius Marinho Biography: “Marinho enrolled in the Jiu-Jitsu classes of Master Laerte Barçelos when he was 10 years old … He stayed for a short while under Mr Barçelos tutelage and moved to Universidade Gama Filho’s academy”.

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  • Equipe UFC, UFC Brasil, “Você precisa conhecer: Raoni Barcelos”, November 4, 2020(opens in a new tab)

    • UFC Brasil identifies him as a coral belt of the seventh degree in jiu-jitsu, and a photograph caption on the same page shows him with his son at the son's first Brazilian jiu-jitsu title, won at the age of eight in 1994.

      Where in the source: Second paragraph: “Filho do faixa-coral 7º Dan de jiu-jítsu Laerte Barcelos”. Photograph caption: “Raoni Barcelos comemorando, com o pai e mestre Laerte, seu primeiro título brasileiro no jiu-jítsu aos oito anos de idade (1994)”. Same paragraph, on when the son started: “Raoni deu seus primeiros passos no esporte já aos três anos de idade, treinando judô e jiu-jítsu”.

      Accessed:

  • UFC Brasil, “Seis nomes para ficar de olho em 2020”, undated(opens in a new tab)

    • A later UFC Brasil piece describes his son as used to competing from his earliest years, pushed on by his father, whom it again calls a jiu-jitsu coral belt.

      Where in the source: Section on Raoni Barcelos: “Acostumado a competir desde os primeiros anos de vida, empurrado pelo pai e faixa-coral de jiu-jítsu Laerte Barcelos”.

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  • UOL Esporte, “Raoni Barcelos”, athlete profile for the 2007 Pan American Games(opens in a new tab)

    • A UOL profile written for the 2007 Pan American Games says that Laerte Barcelos tried for a place at the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas and did not get one, and that as a coach he led the Brazilian team at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, where it won no medals.

      Where in the source: Paragraph beginning “Em 2007”: “Em 2007, Raoni conseguiu superar o feito de seu pai, que tentou a vaga para o Pan de Caracas-1983, mas não conseguiu. Como treinador, Laerte também comandou a seleção brasileira no Pan de Winnipeg-99, que não conquistou medalhas.”

      Accessed:

    • The same profile calls him a former competitor and says it was his influence that moved his son from jiu-jitsu to Olympic wrestling.

      Where in the source: Paragraph beginning “Aos 5 anos”: “Por influência do pai, Laerte Barcelos, ex-lutador, trocou a modalidade pela luta olímpica somente no ano passado.”

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  • Christian Stein, Sherdog, “Raoni Barcelos, Upsetting Father Time”, June 13, 2025(opens in a new tab)

    • Sherdog describes him as a coral belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a pioneer in bringing freestyle wrestling cross-training into the sport, and says his son's preparation has been conducted by him throughout his career.

      Where in the source: Paragraph before the quoted training account: “under the watchful eye of his father Laerte Barcelos, a coral belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a pioneer in bringing freestyle wrestling cross-training to his native sport.”

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  • Sherdog, “Preview: UFC Vegas 116 ‘Sterling vs. Zalal’”, undated(opens in a new tab)

    • A later Sherdog preview refers to his son as the son of seventh-degree coral belt Laerte Barcelos.

      Where in the source: Section on Raoni Barcelos: “While he came to MMA through Brazilian jiu-jitsu, as the son of 7th degree coral belt Laerte Barcelos”.

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  • RFA press release, “RFA 29: USA vs Brazil”, carried by Sherdog(opens in a new tab)

    • An RFA press release carried by Sherdog says his son began training jiu-jitsu with him at the age of two and calls him a black-and-red belt.

      Where in the source: Paragraph on Raoni Barcelos: “began training ‘the gentle art’ with his father, black-and-red belt Laerte Barcelos, when he was just two-years old.”

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Lineage

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Students2