Ronaldo Junior
Brazilian Atos black belt who won world titles at purple and brown belt, No-Gi Worlds gold in 2023 and the first UFC BJJ middleweight title in 2025.
Biography
Sources for this profile
BJJ Heroes, "Ronaldo Junior" (fighter profile), undated.(opens in a new tab)
BJJ Heroes gives his full name as Ronaldo Pereira de Souza Júnior; he competes as Ronaldo Junior.
Where in the source: Info list under the intro, full-name line
Accessed:
He was born on 28 August 1996 in Teresópolis, in the mountain region of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil.
Where in the source: Biography section, first paragraph — 'born on August 28, 1996'
Accessed:
He played football recreationally as a boy and came to jiu-jitsu when a friend talked him into a trial class at a local gym that rewarded students for bringing a friend.
Where in the source: Biography section, second paragraph — 'free patch'
Accessed:
His first coach, Luiz Felipe 'Profeta', recognised his talent early and advised that he could make a career as a professional grappler.
Where in the source: Biography section, third paragraph — 'Profeta'
Accessed:
After starting with Profeta, he moved to Academia Pitbull, the long-established Teresópolis gym led by Adilson 'Bitta' Lima, where his competitive rise began.
Where in the source: Biography section, fourth paragraph — 'Academia Pitbull'
Accessed:
In 2017 André Galvão offered him a full scholarship to train at the headquarters of Atos Jiu-Jitsu, then the reigning world champion team.
Where in the source: Biography section, fifth paragraph — 'full scholarship'
Accessed:
André Galvão promoted him to black belt in June 2019, after he had won IBJJF world titles in the lower belt divisions.
Where in the source: Biography section, fifth paragraph — 'by June 2019'
Accessed:
BJJ Heroes lists his main coloured-belt titles as IBJJF World Champion at purple belt (2018) and brown belt (2019), IBJJF No-Gi World Champion at brown belt (2018), Abu Dhabi World Pro champion at brown belt (2019) and Brazilian National Champion at brown belt (2019).
Where in the source: Coloured-belt achievements list, below the black-belt list
Accessed:
At black belt, BJJ Heroes lists IBJJF Pan Championship gold in both gi and no-gi (2020) and bronze medals at the IBJJF World Championship in 2022, 2024 and 2025.
Where in the source: Black-belt achievements list, first list on the page
Accessed:
BJJ Heroes names the toreada pass and blitz-style passing as his favourite techniques.
Where in the source: Info list, favourite-technique line
Accessed:
BJJ Heroes' fight history records a 2021 loss to Craig Jones by inside heel hook at Who's Number One (WNO 6), and a 2025 loss to Giancarlo Bodoni by armbar at the second Craig Jones Invitational.
Where in the source: Fight history table — rows 'Craig Jones' (2021) and 'Giancarlo Bodoni' (2025)
Accessed:
BJJ Heroes' fight history shows his later IBJJF World Championship runs ending in the semifinals: against Jansen Gomes in 2024 and against Tainan Dalpra in 2025.
Where in the source: Fight history table — 'World Champ.' rows for 2024 and 2025
Accessed:
FloGrappling, Chase Smith, "Road To Gold: Ronaldo Junior (American Nationals)", 3 July 2018.(opens in a new tab)
In the first half of 2018 he won gold at the IBJJF World and Pan Championships and several IBJJF opens; André Galvão promoted him to brown belt in the days after the 2018 World Championship.
Where in the source: Second paragraph — 'promoted to brown belt'
Accessed:
At the 2018 IBJJF American Nationals in Las Vegas, his first event as a brown belt, he won gold in gi middleweight, gi open class and no-gi middleweight, and silver in the no-gi open class.
Where in the source: Third paragraph and the division list below it
Accessed:
FloGrappling, Corey Stockton, "Success & Showmanship: Ronaldo Wants To Share The Beauty Of His Jiu-Jitsu", 25 October 2022.(opens in a new tab)
In 2019, the year he received his black belt, FloGrappling counts an 11–1 record for him in IBJJF gi matches at black belt, after his promotion; the only loss was to teammate Kaynan Duarte in the open class at the Marianas Open.
Where in the source: Third paragraph (the 2019 record), read with the later paragraph giving his black-belt record total
Accessed:
In 2020 he won the IBJJF Pan Championship and the No-Gi Pan Championship and went 22–1 in IBJJF gi competition, losing only to Tommy Langaker in the European Open semifinal; the 2020 World Championship was not held because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Where in the source: Fourth and fifth paragraphs — 'went 22-1'
Accessed:
From 2021 his main rival in the middleweight division was Tainan Dalpra: Dalpra beat him at the 2021 Pan and World Championships (8–4 at Worlds, the first time Ronaldo had been outscored in a match) and again in the semifinals of the 2022 Pan and World Championships; by October 2022 four of his seven black-belt losses had come against Dalpra.
Where in the source: Sixth to eighth paragraphs, and the paragraph giving his black-belt record — 'his budding rival, Dalpra'
Accessed:
After the 2022 World Championship he won the EUG 4 grand prix without losing a match, had what FloGrappling called a dominant run at the AJP Grand Slam in Miami, and submitted all three of his opponents at Jiu-Jitsu Con while competing at heavyweight.
Where in the source: Ninth and tenth paragraphs — 'EUG 4'
Accessed:
Ronaldo told FloGrappling he had competed since he was 12, and that winning a gold medal was not what made him happy; what mattered was showing everything he had inside.
Where in the source: Quote after the Atos HQ paragraph — 'since I was 12'
Accessed:
Ronaldo described his style as showing many different techniques and styles within a single match, which he called showing 'the technology of jiu-jitsu'.
Where in the source: Quote directly after the subscription video block
Accessed:
FloGrappling, which calls him the 'Human Highlight Reel', described a style mixing judo, wrestling and guard pulls with lapel play, and rated him most dangerous on top, with guard passing that constantly changes direction and speed.
Where in the source: The two style paragraphs directly before the subscription video block
Accessed:
FloGrappling, Corey Stockton, "2023 IBJJF No-Gi Worlds Division Winners & Full Podium Results", 10 December 2023.(opens in a new tab)
He won the black-belt medium-heavyweight division at the 2023 IBJJF No-Gi World Championship.
Where in the source: List '2023 IBJJF No-Gi Worlds Black Belt Champions', Male Divisions — 'Medium Heavyweight'
Accessed:
FloGrappling, "Ronaldo Junior" athlete page, accessed 29 September 2026.(opens in a new tab)
FloGrappling's athlete page describes him as a black belt representing Atos, a gi and no-gi IBJJF Pan champion known for explosive, fan-friendly jiu-jitsu and dynamic guard passing; its results list shows a draw with C. Negromonte and an armbar loss to G. Bodoni at the 2025 Craig Jones Invitational 2.
Where in the source: Athlete bio at the top, and the 2025 results table
Accessed:
IBJJF, Athlete Results, "Ronaldo", accessed 29 September 2026.(opens in a new tab)
The IBJJF athlete results page lists him as a black belt with Atos Jiu Jitsu USA.
Where in the source: Athlete card — 'Atos Jiu Jitsu USA', belt 'Black'
Accessed:
IBJJF News, "2023 Memphis International Open Results: Ronaldo Jr. Wins Gold For 2nd Straight Weekend, This Time With All Submissions", 2023.(opens in a new tab)
In early 2023, competing for Atos Jiu-Jitsu, he won the medium-heavy division at the IBJJF Memphis International Open with two submissions, a week after winning gold at the Atlanta Winter Open, as preparation for a 3 March superfight against Francisco Lo.
Where in the source: Second paragraph — 'Atos Jiu-Jitsu's Ronaldo Junior'
Accessed:
UFC.com, "Three Title Matches Headline UFC BJJ 4", 24 November 2025.(opens in a new tab)
Before UFC BJJ 4, UFC billed him as an IBJJF black-belt no-gi world champion competing out of San Diego, making his official UFC BJJ debut against William Tackett for the inaugural middleweight title after earlier wins over Felipe Costa, Nick Mataya and Kody Steele.
Where in the source: Paragraph on Junior — 'competing out of San Diego'
Accessed:
UFC.com, Simon Head, "UFC BJJ 4: Tackett vs Dorsey Results", 12 December 2025.(opens in a new tab)
On 11 December 2025 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, he beat William Tackett by unanimous decision to become the first UFC BJJ middleweight (185 lb) champion; in the final period he took Tackett down, mounted him and chained arm-triangle, anaconda and D'Arce choke attempts.
Where in the source: Co-main event recap — 'inaugural UFC BJJ middleweight title'
Accessed:
UFC.com's recap refers to him as 'the Brazilian'.
Where in the source: Same recap, first-period paragraph — 'the Brazilian'
Accessed:
UFC.com, Simon Head, "UFC BJJ 5: Musumeci vs Montague Results", 13 February 2026.(opens in a new tab)
On 12 February 2026 at UFC BJJ 5 in Las Vegas, he made the first defence of his middleweight title, beating Tarik Hopstock of Norway, an IBJJF world champion, by unanimous decision (30–27, 29–28, 29–28) after surviving heel-hook threats in the first round.
Where in the source: Middleweight title match recap — 'retain his title on the scorecards'
Accessed:
Atos Jiu-Jitsu HQ, "Congrats Ronaldo Junior on your Promotion to Brown Belt!", 21 June 2018.(opens in a new tab)
Atos Jiu-Jitsu HQ congratulated him on his promotion to brown belt in June 2018, saying he had capped a very successful purple-belt year with a gold medal at the World Championship.
Where in the source: Post body, second sentence — 'gold medal finish at Worlds'
Accessed:
FloGrappling, Reid Connell, "Top BJJ Prospect Ronaldo Junior Makes Major Team Move", 9 November 2017.(opens in a new tab)
In November 2017 André Galvão announced on Instagram that the purple belt would join Atos Jiu-Jitsu. His biggest win to that point had come earlier that year at the invitation-only Royal Invitational in San Diego, where, not among the favourites, he submitted two of his four opponents and won the tournament; he followed it with titles at events including the LA Grand Slam and IBJJF American Nationals.
Where in the source: Article body, paragraphs two to five — 'Royal Invitational'
Accessed:
Graciemag, "From a small team to the top of the Worlds' podium: Ronaldo Junior's lesson", 25 July 2019.(opens in a new tab)
Graciemag, introducing him as from Teresópolis, reported that at the 2019 World Championship he won the brown-belt title by beating seven opponents in his weight division, his third major gold that year after the Pan and the Brazilian Nationals, and that André Galvão, his teacher at Atos in San Diego, then gave him his black belt.
Where in the source: Introduction below the photo caption, first three paragraphs — 'The 22-year-old athlete'
Accessed:
Asked for the biggest lesson jiu-jitsu had taught him, Ronaldo said it was not to doubt his potential: he had started on a small team in Brazil, and reaching California and a world title had once seemed almost impossible.
Where in the source: Answer to the first interview question — 'Not to doubt my potential'
Accessed:
Ronaldo said the 2018 purple-belt World Championship, his first Worlds, was the title that meant most to him: school four times a week kept him out of Atos's competition training, and with no car he cycled to school on a bicycle Angélica Galvão had given him, a round trip of about an hour and fifty minutes. He won the title, and Atos won the team title.
Where in the source: Answers to the second question — 'my first Worlds'
Accessed:
Graciemag, "Ronaldo Jr wants no time off until the 2020 Worlds", 8 August 2019.(opens in a new tab)
In August 2019, after winning his first six matches at black belt, he was helping André Galvão prepare for his return to ADCC and planned to enter as many tournaments as possible, including open-class divisions, to gain experience for the 2020 World Championship, his main goal.
Where in the source: First two paragraphs — 'his ADCC return'
Accessed:
Ronaldo told Graciemag that the biggest mistake a competitor can make is to relax after good results, summing it up as "The biggest threat to our success is our prior success"; he also said he had spent only one year as a brown belt.
Where in the source: Second and third quotes — 'our prior success'
Accessed:
Atos BJJ On Demand, "Interview: Ronaldo Junior Is The New Medium-Heavyweight No-Gi World Champ", video page, undated.(opens in a new tab)
Atos called his 2023 No-Gi World Championship gold in the black-belt medium-heavyweight division his first world title as a black belt.
Where in the source: Video description — 'first WORLD TITLE AS A BLACK BELT'
Accessed:
Atos BJJ On Demand, "Ronaldo Junior" instructor page, accessed 29 September 2026.(opens in a new tab)
Atos BJJ On Demand, the team's online training platform, has an instructor page for him with technique lessons such as figure-four set-ups for foot locks and heel hooks, a knee-cut pass from De La Riva guard, a heel hook from the leg drag, and a triangle-armlock lesson taught in Portuguese.
Where in the source: Instructor page video list — 'Knee Cut Pass From DLR'
Accessed:
Jitsmagazine, "IBJJF No Gi World Championship 2023 Full Results And Review", 10 December 2023.(opens in a new tab)
Jitsmagazine's podium for the 2023 IBJJF No-Gi World Championship black-belt medium-heavyweight division lists Ronaldo Junior first, David Garmo second, and Rafael Paganini and Sebastian Rodriguez third.
Where in the source: Results list, heading 'Medium-Heavyweight'
Accessed: