Rafaela Guedes
Manaus-raised Rafaela Guedes turned down jiu-jitsu for about a year as a teen, lost her first ADCC final in 2022 and won an ADCC title two years later.
Biography
Sources for this profile
FloGrappling, athlete page for Rafaela Guedes (undated profile).(opens in a new tab)
FloGrappling's athlete page gives Guedes's birth year as 1992 and describes her as a black belt from Manaus, Brazil, who trains under André Galvão and represents Atos.
Where in the source: Athlete page, short biography under her name, the sentence beginning 'Born on'
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Wikipedia, 'Rafaela Guedes' (last edited January 6, 2026).(opens in a new tab)
Wikipedia describes Guedes as a Brazilian submission grappler and BJJ black belt, born in Manaus, Brazil, in 1992.
Where in the source: Lead sentence and Biography section — 'is a Brazilian submission grappler'
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Evelyn Sutton, Jiujiteira Magazine, 'The Amazing Rafaela Guedes', May 1, 2021.(opens in a new tab)
Guedes was born and raised in Manaus, the capital of Brazil's Amazonas state, and has described growing up in a family that had barely enough for its basic needs.
Where in the source: Opening of the feature and its first section on her early years; her answer on the greatest obstacle in her journey
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She played on her school's handball team from about age ten until a knee injury at around sixteen ended it.
Where in the source: First section on her early years, her quoted account of school sport as a child
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Jiu-jitsu was part of her surroundings from childhood: a relative trained, and she went to local tournaments as a spectator, yet after the injury she turned down repeated invitations to train for about a year.
Where in the source: First section on her early years, her quote on the local BJJ community and the two paragraphs after the injury
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She took up jiu-jitsu at seventeen, at first mainly to lose weight and get fit; she has said she did not imagine it would become her career.
Where in the source: First section on her early years, paragraph on her decision at seventeen and her quote about her teenage years
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She began training at a neighbourhood social project near her grandmother's house and, after her family moved, joined coach Dailson Pinheiro's gym in Manaus.
Where in the source: First section on her early years, paragraph naming the social project and coach Pinheiro
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Jiujiteira Magazine writes that she did not take training seriously as a young adult, even after she began competing, and that she committed fully only after finishing school and starting work, adopting a healthier lifestyle and splitting her time between work and training.
Where in the source: End of the first section and start of the second section, on her move towards competing abroad
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As a blue belt she was entered by her professor in an open-weight absolute division she was afraid of; she won it, and with it a trip to compete at the 2014 World Championship in Long Beach, California.
Where in the source: Second section, her quote about the absolute division as a blue belt
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In California she lost her matches and realised, in her words, that she would have to train even harder; back in Brazil she stopped training for six months, then returned to her Manaus gym, where Pinheiro promoted her to purple belt.
Where in the source: Second section, her quote on training in California and the paragraph after it
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The year after that trip she moved to São Paulo, where she found a wider competitive circuit and trained at New School Brotherhood, reconnecting there with her close friend Luiza Monteiro.
Where in the source: Second section, paragraph on the move to São Paulo
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Guedes has called Luiza Monteiro her role model: Monteiro was the first woman she saw compete when she first travelled out of Manaus for a tournament, around 2011, and the two later became friends.
Where in the source: Q&A, her answer about women who inspire her in the sport
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After Monteiro moved to San Diego to train under André Galvão, Guedes visited in 2018 to train at the Atos headquarters, went back to Brazil, and returned in 2019 to stay with the Atos team.
Where in the source: Second section, paragraphs on Monteiro's move and Guedes's 2018 visit
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Guedes has said she disliked no-gi and started it at Atos in 2018 only because Angelica Galvão pushed her; as an experienced brown belt she was at first beaten by blue and purple belts, and Galvão kept insisting she continue until it grew on her.
Where in the source: Q&A, her answer on moving from the gi to no-gi
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She described training under André and Angelica Galvão as a privilege, calling André the academy's 'Jiu-Jitsu dad' who pushes students past their limits and Angelica a true inspiration.
Where in the source: Q&A, her answer on training under the Galvãos
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André Galvão promoted her to black belt in September 2020; she has said the promotion surprised her on the podium of a UAEJJF event, at a time when she was already registered for the upcoming Pan Championship as a brown belt.
Where in the source: Second section (black belt date) and Q&A answer on receiving her black belt
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In January 2021 she won her match at Fight2Win 162, an all-women's card in Miami, defeating world champion Ana Carolina Vieira.
Where in the source: Second section, paragraph on her early-2021 results
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In March 2021, on FloGrappling's Who's Number One card headlined by Gordon Ryan and Vagner Rocha, she submitted Maggie Grindatti with a rear-naked choke; Guedes said Grindatti had beaten her twice on the same day in 2018.
Where in the source: Second section (result) and Q&A answer about the WNO win
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She said she goes through recordings of her matches with her coaches, builds a training plan around the mistakes, and that three months of focused work changed her no-gi game markedly between her first no-gi match and her latest.
Where in the source: Q&A, her answer on whether she reviews videos of her matches
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In 2021 she said she had started teaching and was taking on more of the women's classes at Atos, which helped her with shyness and English, and that she sends gis to students in Brazil who cannot afford one.
Where in the source: Q&A, her answers on whether she teaches and on how many gis she owns
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She has said her main aim is to inspire others rather than to collect titles, and that she wants to see more women-only classes, more women reaching black belt and opening gyms, and women competing professionally for the same pay as men.
Where in the source: Q&A, her answers on her dreams and on the future of women's jiu-jitsu
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Erica Zendell, FloGrappling, interview ahead of Tezos WNO 20, September 30, 2023.(opens in a new tab)
Guedes told FloGrappling that after moving to São Paulo she spent a few months at Cicero Costha's academy, where she trained with Nathiely de Jesus, and that as a purple belt she turned down de Jesus's invitation to join Unity because she had already decided on Atos.
Where in the source: Interview, her answer to whether she and de Jesus had trained or competed together
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In September 2023 she told FloGrappling that after ADCC 2022 she took a few months off to make a new plan, had boxed every day since the start of 2023 with a view to fighting in the ring, but still wanted to compete at ADCC again.
Where in the source: Interview, her answer to the first question about what she had done since ADCC
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She has called WNO's no-points, submission-only format the best ruleset there is for her game.
Where in the source: Interview, her answer on returning to the WNO stage and defending the heavyweight title
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IBJJF, World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2019, official results.(opens in a new tab)
IBJJF's official results for the 2019 World Championship list Rafaela Ribeiro Guedes of Atos Jiu-Jitsu first in the female adult brown belt heavy division and third in the brown belt open class.
Where in the source: Results page, categories 'Female / Adult / Brown / Heavy (175.00lb)' (place 1) and 'Female / Adult / Brown / Open Class' (place 3)
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IBJJF, World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship 2019, official results.(opens in a new tab)
At the 2019 IBJJF No-Gi World Championship she placed second in the female adult brown belt medium-heavy division behind Elisabeth Clay, and third in the brown belt open class.
Where in the source: Results page, categories 'Female / Adult / Brown / Medium Heavy (158.00lb)' (place 2) and 'Female / Adult / Brown / Open Class' (place 3)
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IBJJF, Pan IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2020, official results.(opens in a new tab)
IBJJF's results for the 2020 Pan Championship list Guedes (Atos Jiu-Jitsu) first in the female adult black belt middle division and first in the black belt open class, where Luiza Monteiro Moura da Costa, also of Atos, placed second.
Where in the source: Results page, categories 'Female / Adult / Black / Middle (152.60lb)' and 'Female / Adult / Black / Open Class', place 1 and 2 rows
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IBJJF, Pan IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship 2020, official results.(opens in a new tab)
IBJJF's results for the 2020 Pan No-Gi Championship list Guedes (Atos Jiu-Jitsu) first in the female adult black belt heavy division and first in the black belt open class.
Where in the source: Results page, categories 'Female / Adult / Black / Heavy (169.00lb)' and 'Female / Adult / Black / Open Class', place 1
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Jits Magazine, 'The JitsMagazine 2020 BJJ Awards', January 2, 2021.(opens in a new tab)
Jits Magazine named Guedes its Female Breakout Grappler of the Year in its 2020 BJJ Awards.
Where in the source: Awards list, category heading for the female breakout award followed by her name
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Jits Magazine, 'WNO Championships Full Results And Review', September 27, 2021.(opens in a new tab)
At the WNO Championships in September 2021, Guedes won the women's heavyweight bracket: she beat Elisabeth Clay and Amanda Leve by unanimous decision and submitted Kendall Reusing with a guillotine choke in the final.
Where in the source: Results list, women's heavyweight bracket: opening round, semi-finals and final rows
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Kian Rogers, Jits Magazine, 'Rafaela Guedes Promoted To First Degree BJJ Black Belt', December 19, 2023.(opens in a new tab)
Jits Magazine describes her as the inaugural WNO women's heavyweight champion, a title she won after three victories.
Where in the source: Second paragraph, on her 2021 titles — 'inaugural champion'
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In December 2023 André Galvão, her coach and the founder of the Atos affiliation, promoted her to first-degree black belt at an Atos grading ceremony.
Where in the source: Opening paragraph, on the promotion — 'ATOS grading ceremony'
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IBJJF, World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship 2021, official results.(opens in a new tab)
IBJJF's results for the 2021 No-Gi World Championship list Guedes (Atos Jiu-Jitsu) first in the female adult black belt heavy division and first in the black belt open class, with Elisabeth Clay second in the open class.
Where in the source: Results page, categories 'Female / Adult / Black / Heavy (169.00lb)' and 'Female / Adult / Black / Open Class', place 1 and 2 rows
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IBJJF, World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2022, official results.(opens in a new tab)
At the 2022 IBJJF World Championship she placed second in the female adult black belt heavy division behind Larissa Dias de Almeida, and third in the black belt open class.
Where in the source: Results page, categories 'Female / Adult / Black / Heavy (175.00lb)' (place 2) and 'Female / Adult / Black / Open Class' (place 3)
Accessed:
Liam Stein, FloGrappling, 'Live Updates & Results | 2022 ADCC World Championships', September 17, 2022.(opens in a new tab)
On her ADCC debut in Las Vegas in September 2022, in the women's over-60 kg division, she won her opening match 2–0 against Eleftheria Christodoulou, reached her first ADCC final when Kendall Reusing defaulted injured in the semi-final, and lost the final 3–2 to Amy Campo.
Where in the source: Live updates: women's +60kg final write-up, semi-final note, and first-round entry against Christodoulou
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Carlos Arthur Jr., FloGrappling (Portuguese), interview ahead of ADCC 2026, July 24, 2026.(opens in a new tab)
Guedes told FloGrappling that 2022 was a very hard year: the final loss hurt badly, she waited almost six months before watching it, and she asked several times for a rematch with Campo without getting one.
Where in the source: Interview (Portuguese), her answer to the question about ADCC 2022
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She told FloGrappling that the 2022 loss made her want to do things differently and better, that she began working towards ADCC 2024 in the first days of that year, and that she aimed to arrive at the event in her best form.
Where in the source: Interview (Portuguese), her answers on the lessons of the 2022 silver
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Looking back on the 2024 run, she said she only took up wrestling after receiving her black belt and never beat Reusing as a brown belt, and that beating de Jesus in the final, after losing to her at WNO, was the best feeling of her life.
Where in the source: Interview (Portuguese), her answers about the semi-final against Kendall and the final against Nathiely
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She described her aggressive style as something she has always had and linked it to being from Manaus, said ADCC's rules suit her because play continues off the mat, and said she had worked on her standing game, passing, top pressure and especially her no-gi guard.
Where in the source: Interview (Portuguese), her answers on whether her style suits ADCC and on changes for the 2026 camp
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Jits Magazine, 'Who's Number One 20: Night Of Champions Full Results And Review', October 2, 2023.(opens in a new tab)
At WNO 20 on October 1, 2023, Nathiely de Jesus beat Guedes by unanimous decision over 15 minutes and took the WNO women's heavyweight title.
Where in the source: Full results list, row for de Jesus vs Guedes and the title line under it
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IBJJF, World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship 2023, official results.(opens in a new tab)
At the 2023 IBJJF No-Gi World Championship she placed second in the female adult black belt heavy division behind Andressa Cintra.
Where in the source: Results page, category 'Female / Adult / Black / Heavy (169.00lb)', place 2
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IBJJF, athlete results page for Rafaela Guedes, read October 5, 2026.(opens in a new tab)
IBJJF's athlete results page lists Rafaela Guedes with the academy Atos Jiu-Jitsu.
Where in the source: Athlete card under the photo: name, then academy line
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IBJJF's athlete results page shows her belt as black and her latest ranked result as second place in the adult heavy division at the 2023 No-Gi World Championship.
Where in the source: Athlete card belt line ('Black') and the expandable No Gi ranking row
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Jits Magazine, 'ADCC 2024 Live Results, Play-by-play, Analysis, Highlights, More', August 18, 2024.(opens in a new tab)
At ADCC 2024, in the women's over-65 kg division, she beat Nia Blackman 2–0 on points in the quarter-final, submitted Kendall Reusing with an arm-in guillotine in the semi-final, and beat Nathiely de Jesus 2–0 on points in the final.
Where in the source: Section 'Women's Over 65kg': quarter-final, semi-final and final result lines, and the podium placement
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R. R. Ellis, FloGrappling, 'ADCC Winners List. Here's Who Won The 2024 Division Titles', August 19, 2024.(opens in a new tab)
Guedes won the women's over-65 kg division at the 2024 ADCC World Championship, with Nathiely de Jesus second and Kendall Reusing third.
Where in the source: List 'ADCC 2024 Champions', +65kg entry with gold, silver and bronze
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Jits Magazine, 'ADCC 2024 Absolute Divisions Live Results, Play-by-play, Analysis, Highlights, More', August 19, 2024.(opens in a new tab)
In the ADCC 2024 women's absolute she beat Bianca Basílio 6–0 on points, was then submitted by Adele Fornarino with an armlock, and did not compete in the third-place match, which Amy Campo won by default.
Where in the source: Section 'Women's Absolute Division': quarter-final, semi-final and third-place match lines
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Joe Gilpin, FloGrappling, 'Rafaela Guedes Back At WNO 26 Against Legion's Paige Ivette', January 14, 2025.(opens in a new tab)
Previewing WNO 26, FloGrappling billed her match with Paige Ivette as Atos against Legion and described Nathiely de Jesus as a friend and former training partner of Guedes.
Where in the source: Article body, first paragraph ('Atos vs Legion') and paragraph on the 2024 ADCC final
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Jits Magazine, 'Who's Number One 26 Full Results And Highlights', February 8, 2025.(opens in a new tab)
At WNO 26 on February 7, 2025, she beat Paige Ivette by unanimous decision.
Where in the source: Full results list, row for Guedes vs Ivette
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Kian Rogers, Jits Magazine, 'All 8 Reigning Champions Invited To Return For ADCC 2026', February 19, 2026.(opens in a new tab)
In February 2026 she was among the reigning champions invited to defend their titles at ADCC 2026, in her case the women's over-65 kg title.
Where in the source: Paragraph on the women's invites
Accessed:
Joe Gilpin, FloGrappling, 'Grappling Bulletin: Gabi At ADCC, Jiu-Jitsu Con, UFC BJJ, & More', August 24, 2026.(opens in a new tab)
FloGrappling reported in August 2026 that Guedes, the returning over-65 kg champion, had dropped out of ADCC 2026 and that Gabi Pessanha had entered the division instead.
Where in the source: Bulletin item on ADCC Worlds changes, +65kg sentence
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Jits Magazine, 'ADCC 2026 Live Results, Play-by-play, Analysis, Highlights, More', September 11, 2026.(opens in a new tab)
At ADCC 2026, Helena Crevar won the women's over-65 kg division; Guedes was not among the eight competitors in the bracket.
Where in the source: Section 'Women's Over 65kg': opening round, semi-finals, final and podium placement
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