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Marlon Tajik

Swedish grappler who went from childhood ju-jutsu to Atos, a black belt under André Galvão, and silver at 88 kg at the 2026 ADCC World Championship.

Biography

Marlon Tajik is a Swedish grappler, born in 2003, who started in traditional ju-jutsu as a seven-year-old and in 2026 took silver in the 88 kg division at the ADCC World Championship. He competes for the Atos team and is a black belt under André Galvão. Tajik gives Stockholm as his hometown. His training began at age seven, when he took up traditional ju-jutsu with Johan Sjöholm, and a few years later he was entering sport ju-jitsu competitions. He then joined Nacka Dojo to concentrate on sport ju-jitsu. By his own account, his first Brazilian jiu-jitsu class came in early 2014, after his father had started training, and one session was enough to win him over. According to BJJ Heroes, he added BJJ about a year after arriving at Nacka to strengthen his groundwork, and as the new art took hold he gradually stepped away from ju-jitsu competition. His next move was to Team Prana, a Swedish academy run by coach Kenta Hammarström under the Checkmat affiliation. BJJ Heroes credits his time there with lifting him to the level of Europe's best colored belts and with sending him to the United States for the major tournaments. As a purple belt he was runner-up at the IBJJF European Championship in 2022 and at the World Championship in 2023, according to the same profile. Also during his purple belt years, Tajik began building ties with André Galvão and the Atos academy in San Diego. That relationship led to his promotions to brown and then black belt. BJJ Heroes traces his lineage from Carlos Gracie through Reyson Gracie, Osvaldo Alves and Luis Dagmar to Galvão. As a brown belt in 2024 he won the absolute division at the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals and took bronze at both the IBJJF World and Pan Championships. For 2025, when he was still a brown belt, BJJ Heroes lists him as the winner of both his weight class and the absolute at the IBJJF European Championship and at the IBJJF World No-Gi Championship. At the 2025 IBJJF No-Gi Pan Championship he entered the medium-heavy division as top seed and won four matches in a row with inside heel hooks, the last of them in the final against Luuk Aaron Van Nieuwamerongen. FloGrappling's recap counted him among the leading colored-belt prospects in no-gi that year. He also entered the 2025 ADCC Europe, Middle East and Africa Trials at 88 kg, where he lost his semifinal on a referee decision and then finished third with a kneebar. FloGrappling has called the inside heel hook his best no-gi weapon and described a submission-hunting leg-lock game, with entries built on a grip on the far arm. Tajik himself names a different favorite: the straight ankle lock, which he says he has worked on since his juvenile years because it connects to sweeps and back takes. His IBJJF black belt debut came at the 2026 Absolute No-Gi Grand Prix, where IBJJF presented him as one of three black belts making their debut. He lost his quarterfinal to Victor Hugo, a former Grand Prix champion and multiple-time world champion who outweighed him by about sixty pounds. In 2026 he also returned to the ADCC Europe, Middle East and Africa Trials, held in Belgrade, and won the 88 kg division, submitting Mateusz Mazur with a rear-naked choke in the semifinal and beating Faris Lamkadem on a referee decision in the final. At the ADCC World Championship in Kraków, Tajik reached the 88 kg final by way of a straight ankle lock on Nathan Haddad in the quarterfinal and a 2-0 points win over Jozef Chen in the semifinal. In the final on 13 September 2026 he faced Poland's Pawel Jaworski, and a single penalty separated them; MMA Sucka's report and Wikipedia's ADCC results table give Jaworski the gold and Tajik the silver. In the absolute division he won two matches by leg lock before Roosevelt Sousa beat him in the semifinal, and he then lost the bronze-medal match to Ruslan Abdulaev.

Sources for this profile

  • BJJ Heroes, fighter profile of Marlon Tajik, read 21 Oct 2026.(opens in a new tab)

    • Marlon Tajik was born in 2003 in Sweden.

      Where in the source: Biography, first line: birth year and country

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    • BJJ Heroes describes Tajik as a Swedish grappler.

      Where in the source: Opening paragraph: a Swedish grappler

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    • Tajik began with traditional ju-jutsu at age seven under Johan Sjöholm, and sport ju-jitsu competition followed a few years later.

      Where in the source: Biography, second paragraph: age of 7 under Johan Sjöholm

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    • He moved to Nacka Dojo to focus on sport ju-jitsu and added Brazilian jiu-jitsu a year after joining, to improve his ground game; as BJJ grew on him he drifted away from the ju-jitsu competitions.

      Where in the source: Biography, third and fourth paragraphs: joined Nacka Dojo

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    • Tajik left for Team Prana, a leading Swedish academy led by coach Kenta Hammarström and affiliated with Checkmat, which brought him to the level of the best coloured belts in Europe and sent him travelling to the United States for major tournaments.

      Where in the source: Biography, fifth and sixth paragraphs: Team Prana

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    • As a purple belt Tajik began building a relationship with André Galvão and the Atos academy in San Diego, and that connection led to his brown and black belt promotions; he competes for Atos.

      Where in the source: Biography, final paragraph: as a purple belt; infobox Team/Association: Atos

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    • BJJ Heroes names André Galvão as Tajik's black belt instructor and gives the lineage Carlos Gracie, Reyson Gracie, Osvaldo Alves, Luis Dagmar, André Galvão, Tajik.

      Where in the source: Infobox Lineage line and opening paragraph

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    • In 2025 as a brown belt Tajik won both weight and absolute at the IBJJF European Championship and at the IBJJF World No-Gi Championship, according to BJJ Heroes' achievement list.

      Where in the source: Infobox Main Achievements (Colored Belts): lines marked 2025 brown

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    • Earlier colour-belt results listed by BJJ Heroes: 2nd at the IBJJF European Championship 2022 and 2nd at the Worlds 2023 as a purple belt; as a brown belt in 2024, absolute winner at the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals and 3rd at the IBJJF Worlds and Pan.

      Where in the source: Infobox Main Achievements (Colored Belts)

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    • At the 2025 ADCC Europe, Middle East and Africa Trials in the 88 kg class Tajik reached the semifinal, lost it on a referee decision, and then took third place by kneebar.

      Where in the source: Fight History table, rows ADCC EU Trials 88KG 2025 (4F to 3RD)

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    • In the 2026 Trials 88 kg bracket Tajik beat Mateusz Mazur by rear-naked choke in the semifinal and Faris Lamkadem on a referee decision in the final.

      Where in the source: Fight History table, rows ADCC EU 88KG 2026 SF and F

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    • In the 2026 ADCC 88 kg bracket Tajik beat Faris Lemkadem by rear-naked choke, Nathan Haddad by straight ankle lock in the quarterfinal and Jozef Chen 2-0 on points in the semifinal before the final.

      Where in the source: Fight History table, rows ADCC 88KG 2026 R1, 4F, SF

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    • In the 2026 ADCC absolute division Tajik won his first two matches by heel hook and ankle lock, lost the semifinal to Roosevelt Sousa by smother tap and lost the third-place match to Ruslan Abdulaev 6-0.

      Where in the source: Fight History table, rows ADCC ABS 2026 R1, 4F, SF, 3RD

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  • Kingz, athlete profile page for Marlon Tajik, read 21 Oct 2026 (sponsor page with athlete-supplied answers).(opens in a new tab)

    • Tajik gives Stockholm as his hometown, and the sponsor page names André Galvão as his person of inspiration.

      Where in the source: Did You Know list: Hometown

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    • Tajik says he found BJJ in early 2014 through his father, who had just begun training, and that one class was enough to make him fall for it.

      Where in the source: Biography, first paragraph: early 2014

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    • Tajik names the straight ankle lock as his signature technique, one he has refined since his juvenile years because it links into sweeps and back takes.

      Where in the source: Biography, fourth paragraph: signature technique

      Accessed:

  • IBJJF, news recap of the Absolute No-Gi Grand Prix bracket, dated 03/02/26.(opens in a new tab)

    • IBJJF's recap of its 2026 Absolute No-Gi Grand Prix presents Tajik as one of three debut black belts; he lost his quarterfinal to Victor Hugo, a former Grand Prix and multiple-time world champion who held a sixty-pound weight advantage.

      Where in the source: Section Victor Hugo vs Marlon Tajik: IBJJF black belt debut

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  • FloGrappling, recap by Joe Gilpin of the 2025 IBJJF No-Gi Pan Championship, 4 Oct 2025.(opens in a new tab)

    • At the 2025 IBJJF No-Gi Pan Championship Tajik won brown belt medium-heavy as top seed, taking four straight matches by inside heel hook, including the final against Luuk Aaron Van Nieuwamerongen; FloGrappling called him one of the biggest coloured-belt prospects in no-gi that year.

      Where in the source: Article Road to Gold, Finals section and closing paragraph

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    • FloGrappling named the inside heel hook his best move in no-gi and described a leg-lock based, submission-oriented game built on entering with a far-arm grip.

      Where in the source: Round One and Quarterfinal sections

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  • Wikipedia, ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship article, read 21 Oct 2026.(opens in a new tab)

    • Wikipedia's table of ADCC European Championship winners lists Tajik as the 2026 winner at 88 kg, held in Belgrade; BJJ Heroes lists the same win as ADCC Europe, Middle East & Africa Trials 2026.

      Where in the source: Table of ADCC European Championship winners by year: row 2026 Belgrade, 88 kg column

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    • Tajik won the silver medal at 88 kg at the 2026 ADCC World Championship, behind Poland's Pawel Jaworski and ahead of bronze medallist Jozef Chen.

      Where in the source: ADCC 2026 medal table, row -88 kg

      Accessed:

  • MMA Sucka, report on ONE Championship athletes winning gold at ADCC 2026, undated page read 21 Oct 2026.(opens in a new tab)

    • Jaworski beat Tajik in the 88 kg gold medal match at the 2026 ADCC World Championship, with a single penalty deciding the final.

      Where in the source: Paragraph on the bracket: against Marlon Tajik in the gold medal match

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  • Wikipedia, Pawel Jaworski article, read 21 Oct 2026.(opens in a new tab)

    • Wikipedia dates the ADCC 2026 88 kg final to 13 September 2026 in Kraków, Poland, and says Jaworski beat Tajik by a penalty.

      Where in the source: Section on 2026 ADCC: On 13 September 2026

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Lineage

No teaching connections are shown on this page.

Open lineage