Mauricio Mariano
“Tinguinha”
Source: bjjheroes.comBrazilian black belt Maurício "Tinguinha" Mariano built his Spider Guard as a skinny kid just trying to survive, and still says he did not invent it.
Biography
Sources for this profile
BJJ Heroes, "Maurício 'Tinguinha' Mariano" fighter database profile(opens in a new tab)
Mauricio Mariano's full birth name is Maurício Mariano dos Santos.
Where in the source: Mauricio ‘Tinguinha’ Mariano Jiu Jitsu — "Full Name: Maurício Mariano dos Santos"
Accessed:
The nickname 'Tinguinha' comes from childhood friends who thought he resembled a professional surfer named Tinguinha Lima, since Mariano was himself an avid surfer.
Where in the source: Nickname — "the name ‘Tinguinha’ comes from his childhood... he resembled a famous pro surfer called Tinguinha Lima"
Accessed:
Mariano was born on 13 February 1975 in the Barra da Tijuca neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro, the youngest of three children in a middle-class family.
Where in the source: Biography — "born on the 13th of February, 1975 in Rio de Janeiro... Barra da Tijuca burg of Rio, being the youngest of 3 children"
Accessed:
Encouraged by his father to play sports, Mariano took up surfing early in life and also trained judo as a child, reaching purple belt in judo before starting jiu-jitsu.
Where in the source: Biography — "started training Judo as a child (a martial art in which he achieved the purple belt level)"
Accessed:
Mariano began Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu following his older brother into a local academy under instructor Pitoco Jordan, training there up to orange belt.
Where in the source: Biography — "influenced by his brother who was training at the time under Pitoco Jordan... stayed in that same gym until he received his orange belt"
Accessed:
From orange belt, Mariano moved to the Gracie Barra school led by Jean Jacques Machado and Carlos Gracie Junior.
Where in the source: Biography — "moved to a bigger school led by Jean Jacques Machado and Carlos Gracie Junior, the now famous Gracie Barra"
Accessed:
At Gracie Barra, Mariano trained alongside future well-known coaches including Vinicius 'Draculino' Magalhaes, Roberto 'Gordo' Correa and Alexandre 'Soca'.
Where in the source: Biography — "alongside some of the best fighters of his generation... such as Draculino, Roberto ‘Gordo’, Alexandre ‘Soca’"
Accessed:
As a blue belt Mariano won every junior tournament he entered; his first competitive loss came at his purple-belt debut at age 17.
Where in the source: Biography — "Tiguinha's competition record went unblemished as a blue belt... at purple belt at 17 years of age, at his very first fight, he tasted defeat for the first time"
Accessed:
In 1994, as a purple belt, Mariano was part of the Gracie Barra team that won the CBJJ Brasileiro de Equipes (Brazilian team championship).
Where in the source: Main Achievements (Colored Belts) — "CBJJ Brasileiro de Equipes Champion (1994 purple)"
Accessed:
In 1995, as a brown belt, Mariano won the CBJJ Brazilian National Championship.
Where in the source: Main Achievements (Colored Belts) — "CBJJ Brazilian National Champion (1995 brown)"
Accessed:
Mariano was awarded his black belt by Carlos Gracie Jr. in 1996; the profile lists his full lineage as Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie Sr. > Helio Gracie > Carlos Gracie Junior > Mauricio Mariano.
Where in the source: Lineage — "Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie Sr. > Helio Gracie > Carlos Gracie Junior > Mauricio Mariano"
Accessed:
As a black belt, Mariano placed second at the 2001 IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Where in the source: Main Achievements — "IBJJF Pans Championship 2nd Place (2001)"
Accessed:
In 2000, Mariano moved to the United States, settling in the Los Angeles area after a friend invited him to help open a gym there.
Where in the source: Biography — "In 2000 Mauricio Tinguinha Mariano moved to the United States... a friend invited Mauricio to move to the United States where that same friend was opening a gym (in Los Angeles)"
Accessed:
Mariano became the first Gracie Barra representative to establish the team on Californian soil.
Where in the source: Biography — "making Tinguinha de first representative of the Gracie Barra academy in Californian soil"
Accessed:
Mariano was also the first instructor to establish the Gracie Barra banner in Japan.
Where in the source: Biography — "He was also the first instructor to establish the Gracie Barra banner in Japan"
Accessed:
Mariano left the Gracie Barra team over a disagreement with the direction the academy was taking, at a time when several other longtime members also departed, including Helio 'Soneca', Alexandre 'Soca', Roberto 'Risada' Atalla and, later, Roberto Correa.
Where in the source: Biography — "he would quit the team in a clear disagreement with the direction the academy was taking... such as: Helio ‘Soneca’, Alexandre ‘Soca’, Roberto ‘Risada’ Atalla and later recently Roberto Correa"
Accessed:
Mariano founded his own school, the Tinguinha BJJ Academy, headquartered in Yorba Linda, California, with affiliate academies worldwide.
Where in the source: Biography — "Mauricio would then form his own team, the Tinguinha BJJ Academy... operating from the Head Quarters in Yorba Linda, California, it has affiliate academies throughout the world"
Accessed:
In 2010, Mariano took charge of the submission grappling department for UFC Gym's Southern California franchises and launched an online instructional platform, tbjj.tv.
Where in the source: Biography — "2010 was an incredible year for Tinguinha... to be in charge the submission grappling department of the UFC Gym franchise for the South California branches... released his online training website, the tbjj.tv"
Accessed:
- Conflicting accounts
As a brown belt, Mariano placed third at the 1996 IBJJF Championship.
Where in the source: Main Achievements (Colored Belts) — "IBJJF Championship 3rd Place (1996 brown)"
Accessed:
- Conflicting accounts
As a black belt, Mariano placed second at the 1998 IBJJF World Championship.
Where in the source: Main Achievements — "IBJJF World Championship 2nd Place (1998)"
Accessed:
Tinguinha BJJ Academy, "Tinguinha History" (bjjoc.com)(opens in a new tab)
Mariano began Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu following his brother's example, training under instructor Pitoco Jordan up to orange belt.
Where in the source: Tinguinha History — "following in his brother and friend's footsteps, with instructor Pitoco until the orange belt"
Accessed:
Mariano moved to a bigger academy run by Jean Jacques Machado and Carlos Gracie Jr., training full-time under Gracie Jr. once Machado relocated to the US.
Where in the source: Tinguinha History — "the Barra Gracie school... conducted by Jean Jaques Machado and Carlos Gracie Jr... he started training full time under Master Carlos Gracie Jr."
Accessed:
Mariano's early training partners included Renzo, Ralph and Ryan Gracie, Roberto 'Gordo', Helio 'Soneca', Alexandre 'Soca', Nino Schembri and Ricardo 'Cachorrao'.
Where in the source: Tinguinha History — "training with some very skilled BJJ Athletes such as Renzo Gracie, Ralph Gracie, Ryan Gracie, Roberto ‘Gordo’, Helio ‘Soneca’, Alexandre ‘Soca’, Nino Schembri, Ricardo ‘Cachorrao’"
Accessed:
Mariano trained from blue to black belt under Carlos Gracie Jr., receiving his black belt in 1996 at age 21.
Where in the source: Tinguinha History — "culminating with the award of his Black Belt in 1996 at the age of 21"
Accessed:
Mariano placed second at the 2001 Pan-American (Pan) Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Where in the source: Most Important Titles, 2nd Place — "2nd Place in the Pan-American of Jiu-Jitsu Championship (2001)"
Accessed:
Mariano arrived in the United States in 2000 to pursue teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu full-time.
Where in the source: Tinguinha History — "He arrived in the United States in 2000 to continue his lifelong dream of spreading the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu art"
Accessed:
As a slight, skinny student unable to close his guard, Mariano learned to plant his feet on training partners' arms just to survive and manage distance in the adult classes he was forced into as a kid, and that adaptation became his signature game.
Where in the source: Mauricio ‘Tinguinha’ & the Spider Guard — "led him to have to adapt, and to develop skills and techniques from the Spider Guard in order to ‘survive’ in training"
Accessed:
In 2006, Mariano released an instructional Spider Guard DVD that sold widely and helped popularise the position within BJJ.
Where in the source: Mauricio ‘Tinguinha’ & the Spider Guard — "In 2006 Tinguinha put all of those years spent developing and applying Spider Guard techniques into an instructional Spider Guard DVD"
Accessed:
Mariano served roughly a decade as UFC Gym's Global BJJ Director, building the company's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu program from scratch across more than 300 instructors teaching over 10,000 students, and was inducted into the UFC Gym Hall of Fame in 2018 alongside co-founder Jim Rowley.
Where in the source: UFC Gym BJJ Program — "worked at the UFC Gym for 10 years, where he built the entire UFC Gym BJJ program from the ground up... over 300 BJJ instructors... over 10,000 BJJ students. In 2018 Tinguinha was inducted in the UFC Gym hall of the fame together with... Jim Rowley"
Accessed:
Mariano is a founding member and director of the R1ng BJJ Team, formed in 2019 together with Roberto 'Gordo' Correia, Alexandre 'Soca' and Marcio 'Pe de Pano', now an international network of BJJ schools.
Where in the source: R1NG BJJ Team — "The Team is led by Roberto ‘Gordo’ Correia, Alexandre ‘Soca’, Mauricio ‘Tinguinha’ and Marcio ‘Pé de Pano’"
Accessed:
Mariano currently holds the rank of 6th-degree black belt.
Where in the source: Career Information — "Black Belt 6th degree"
Accessed:
- Conflicting accounts
Mariano placed second at the 1996 World Championship of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Where in the source: Most Important Titles, 2nd Place — "2nd Place in the World Championship (1996)"
Accessed:
- Conflicting accounts
Mariano placed third at the 1998 World Championship of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Where in the source: Most Important Titles, 3rd Place — "3rd Place in the World Championship of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (1998)"
Accessed:
Jim Lawson, "Mastering Spider Guard: With Mauricio 'Tinguinha' Mariano", JiuJitsu Magazine, 26 Nov 2024(opens in a new tab)
Mariano trained as a young student directly alongside Carlos Gracie Jr. and Jean Jacques Machado, among the senior figures at that Gracie Barra-linked school.
Where in the source: Article body — "Among some of those adults were names like Carlos Gracie Jr., Jean Jacque Machado, Roberto ‘Gordo’ Correa..."
Accessed:
Mariano's training partners as a young student also included Roberto 'Gordo' Correa, Vinicius 'Draculino' Magalhaes and Ralph and Renzo Gracie.
Where in the source: Article body — "...Roberto ‘Gordo’ Correa, Vinicius ‘Draculino’ Magalhaes, and Ralph and Renzo Gracie"
Accessed:
In his own words, Mariano did not create the Spider Guard; being very skinny and unable to close his guard as a young student training with adults, he began placing his feet on opponents' arms simply to survive and manage distance, and that habit grew into his famous game.
Where in the source: Article body — "Contrary to popular belief, Tinguinha states that he did not create the Spider Guard... he would often end up on his back. He made the adjustment to place his feet onto his opponent's arms just to survive"
Accessed:
Tinguinha BJJ Academy website (bjjoc.com)(opens in a new tab)
The Tinguinha Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school was founded in April 2002 in Orange County, California, and is headquartered in Yorba Linda.
Where in the source: Footer/about copy — "Founded in April of 2002 in Orange County, California, the Tinguinha Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school..."
Accessed:
Digitsu, "Maurício Mariano BJJ Stats & Bio", matchup history table(opens in a new tab)
In an IBJJF World Championship match on 29 May 2007, Mariano lost to Andre Galvao by submission (a gi choke from the back) in the middleweight division.
Where in the source: Maurício's Matchup History — "André Galvão | L | Gi Choke From Back | 2007 IBJJF World Championship | Middleweight | 2007 May 29"
Accessed: