Rodrigo Lopes Martins
“Tatu”
Source: bjjheroes.comRodrigo “Tatu” Lopes moved from teaching in Tijuca to Texas, competing at adult black belt before winning Pan titles in Master 1.
Biography
Sources for this profile
North South Jiu Jitsu, the Texas academy where he teaches: its own instructor page about him. Undated, no byline; read 20 September 2026.(opens in a new tab)
His academy places his birth and upbringing in Rio de Janeiro, and says he took up the sport at eight.
Where in the source: Opening instructor biography: birthplace and starting age.
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The same page names an older brother, a black belt, as the man who has guided him since his first session.
Where in the source: Opening biography: older brother as guide.
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It dates his promotion to black belt to 2019, and says the move to Texas followed.
Where in the source: Paragraph on black-belt promotion and Texas move.
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The page credits him with a third place in 2021 at the IBJJF no-gi worlds, among adult black belts.
Where in the source: Competition paragraph: adult no-gi Worlds bronze.
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It also credits him with a 2024 no-gi Pan title in the Master 1 bracket at black belt.
Where in the source: Competition paragraph: Master 1 no-gi Pan title.
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And with a 2025 win at black belt Master 1 in an IBJJF gi championship the page does not name.
Where in the source: Competition paragraph: unspecified 2025 gi title.
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IBJJF, the sport governing body: editorial news item announcing an addition to the FloGrappling Grand Prix card. No byline; read 20 September 2026.(opens in a new tab)
The IBJJF billed him, for Double Five, against Tainan Dalpra at medium-heavyweight on its FloGrappling Grand Prix card.
Where in the source: Opening announcement: named athletes and affiliations.
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The federation described him as a silver medallist at the American Nationals and at Jiu-Jitsu CON.
Where in the source: Second athlete paragraph: national and CON medals.
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The federation put the super fight on the Friday, 28 October, as part of that Grand Prix.
Where in the source: Closing announcement: Friday event date.
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FloGrappling: catalogue entry for the broadcast of the bout, dated 29 October 2022, with the event tags the broadcaster assigned it.(opens in a new tab)
The broadcaster catalogued the bout as gi, black belt, adult, armbar, and filed him under Double Five.
Where in the source: Video catalogue metadata: gi, rank, age, affiliation and submission tags.
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BJJ Heroes, a grappling reference site: its athlete profile on him, with a career record table. No byline, undated; read 20 September 2026.(opens in a new tab)
A grappling reference site gives his full name as Rodrigo Lopes Martins, nicknamed Tatu, a black belt under Leandro Escobar and a Double Five representative.
Where in the source: Opening identification and full-name field.
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Rodrigo Lopes Martins was born on 19 December 1994 and grew up in Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro.
Where in the source: Biography opening.
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He is known in jiu-jitsu as Tatu.
Where in the source: Profile title and opening identification.
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He took judo at primary school, then added jiu-jitsu around eight or nine; Augusto Tanquinho Mendes first taught him at Tijuca Tênis Clube, while Leandro Escobar handled his promotions.
Where in the source: First two biography paragraphs.
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Leandro Escobar promoted his younger brother Rodrigo to black belt on 23 June 2019.
Where in the source: Biography final paragraph.
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After that promotion, Rafael Formiga invited Rodrigo to teach at Double Five in Texas, and he accepted.
Where in the source: Biography final paragraph after promotion.
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Gameness, a grappling apparel brand: the athlete biography on its sponsored-team page for Rafael “Formiga” Barbosa. No byline, undated; read 20 September 2026.(opens in a new tab)
A sponsor profile says Double Five was founded alongside Leandro “Tatu” Escobar, and names Rodrigo Lopes among the team’s high-level athletes.
Where in the source: Final biography paragraph: Double Five founders and athletes.
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North South Jiu Jitsu, the Texas academy where he teaches: its instructor page about a colleague. Undated, no byline; read 20 September 2026.(opens in a new tab)
A second instructor page at the same Texas academy names Leandro “Tatu” Escobar and Professor Rodrigo Lopes together as the teachers a colleague started under in 2015.
Where in the source: Instructor biography: teachers at her 2015 start.
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Renata Domingues, GE, Além do tatame, 9 November 2017.(opens in a new tab)
In2017, Tatu Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Tijuca was a family school created by Leandro Escobar with his mother Vera Amorim and brother Rodrigo Lopes; demand from families had required larger premises.
Where in the source: Opening school identification and paragraph after first group photograph.
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The2017 report counted55 children in age groups spanning three to15. Rodrigo,22, taught them with Domenico Novello and Windson Monteiro.
Where in the source: Opening enrolment paragraph and introduction to Rodrigo interview.
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Rodrigo recalled playing on the mat from five without initially planning to follow his brother; helping him developed into shared teaching, and he and Domenico took responsibility for children’s classes as the school grew.
Where in the source: First Rodrigo quotation, opening through children’s classes.
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He said watching his young students compete made him more nervous than competing himself, and that their victories moved him to tears.
Where in the source: End of first Rodrigo quotation, before private family detail.
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Rodrigo described demanding serious attention from children while using coordination activities for the youngest and allowing play after well-behaved sessions.
Where in the source: Second Rodrigo quotation, following named teaching photograph.
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North South Jiu Jitsu instructor biography.(opens in a new tab)
His academy biography says that at purple belt he discovered a passion for teaching and became Leandro’s assistant.
Where in the source: Purple-belt paragraph.
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IBJJF official event results: full event heading and complete relevant division.(opens in a new tab)
Rodrigo Lopes Martins of Double Five Highland Village placed second in the2020 American National gi championship, male adult black-belt heavyweight.
Where in the source: Male / Adult / Black / Heavy (208lb), complete four-medallist division.
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IBJJF official event results: full event heading and complete relevant division.(opens in a new tab)
He also took2020 American National no-gi silver in male adult black-belt heavyweight for Double Five Highland Village.
Where in the source: Male / Adult / Black / Heavy (202lb), complete four-medallist division.
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IBJJF official event results: full event heading and complete relevant division.(opens in a new tab)
He won bronze at the2021 No-Gi Worlds in male adult black-belt medium-heavyweight, representing Double Five Highland Village.
Where in the source: Male / Adult / Black / Medium Heavy (188.60lb), complete division.
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Chase Smith, FloGrappling, 21 October 2022.(opens in a new tab)
Dalpra and Lopes were scheduled for the IBJJF FloGrappling Grand Prix in Austin on28 October2022, after Dalpra had beaten him by submission at the2021 Dallas Open.
Where in the source: Dated introduction and matchup paragraphs.
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IBJJF, FloGrappling Grand Prix recap.(opens in a new tab)
Dalpra defeated Lopes by armbar just over four minutes into their2022 Grand Prix superfight. The recap describes Lopes escaping an early triangle before Dalpra swept and passed him.
Where in the source: Tainan Dalpra–Rodrigo Lopes bout section and results list.
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Smoothcomp, North South Jiu Jitsu Richardson club registration.(opens in a new tab)
North South Jiu Jitsu’s Richardson club listing names Rodrigo Lopes as the person in charge and lists Inicio Jiu Jitsu Association as its affiliation.
Where in the source: Club title, website link, person-in-charge field and affiliations section.
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IBJJF official event results: full event heading and complete relevant division.(opens in a new tab)
Rodrigo Lopes Martins won the2024 Pan No-Gi male Master1 black-belt middleweight division for Inicio Jiu-Jitsu.
Where in the source: Male / Master1 / Black / Middle (175.60lb), complete division.
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IBJJF official event results: full event heading and complete relevant division.(opens in a new tab)
He won the2025 Pan gi male Master1 black-belt lightweight title for Inicio Jiu-Jitsu.
Where in the source: Male / Master1 / Black / Light (168lb), complete division.
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North South Jiu Jitsu adult programme.(opens in a new tab)
North South Jiu Jitsu identifies Rodrigo Lopes as its head professor, with gi and no-gi classes divided into fundamental and advanced levels.
Where in the source: Adult programme introduction.
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The school’s fundamentals cover posture, movement and positional drilling; advanced classes combine technique with live rolling and situation-specific work.
Where in the source: Fundamentals and advanced curriculum lists.
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JitsMagazine, Fight 2 Win300 Dallas full results, 23 November 2025.(opens in a new tab)
North South head coach Rodrigo Lopes defeated Dylan Martinez by decision in the main event of Fight2Win300 in Dallas on22 November2025.
Where in the source: Opening event account and first results row.
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Lineage
No teaching connections are shown on this page.
Open lineage