Sebastian Ernesto Serpa
Sebastian Serpa’s path runs from Miami garage training to black-belt titles and his own guard-focused teaching programme.
Biography
Sources for this profile
IBJJF, Sebastian Serpa athlete profile(opens in a new tab)
His current federation affiliation is Outer Heaven.
Where in the source: Athlete heading
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IBJJF currently lists him as a black belt.
Where in the source: Athlete heading, Outer Heaven, black
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IBJJF lists a bronze medal at the 2026 European Championship under his adult black-belt featherweight results.
Where in the source: Adult / Feather and Adult Grand Slam / Feather / European2026
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Outer Heaven Jiu Jitsu Club, current homepage(opens in a new tab)
Outer Heaven is based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Where in the source: Current school location
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BJJ Heroes, Sebastian Serpa(opens in a new tab)
Sebastian Ernesto Serpa is the Miami-born jiu-jitsu competitor trained by Michel Pereira and the Mahecha brothers.
Where in the source: Full name and biography
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He was born on 3 February 2001 and grew up in Miami, Florida.
Where in the source: Biography opening
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After trying boxing, he joined Carlson Gracie Miami at eight after seeing a leaflet for the school.
Where in the source: Biography paragraphs2–4
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Michel “Buiú” Pereira guided him from white belt through brown belt.
Where in the source: Biography first instructor paragraph
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As a purple belt in early 2019, he began attending Brian and Kevin Mahecha’s Sunday garage open mats, which welcomed different teams and levels.
Where in the source: Biography Mahecha paragraphs
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Impressed by the brothers’ technical knowledge, he gradually placed more of his training under their guidance.
Where in the source: Biography final two paragraphs
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Brian and Kevin Mahecha awarded his black belt in mid-December 2021, shortly after his first world title.
Where in the source: Biography final paragraph
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IBJJF, World2021 official results(opens in a new tab)
He won the 2021 IBJJF World Championship male adult brown-belt light-featherweight division.
Where in the source: MALE / ADULT / BROWN / LIGHT-FEATHER141.60LB
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IBJJF, Pan2021 official results(opens in a new tab)
He also won the 2021 IBJJF Pan male adult brown-belt light-featherweight title.
Where in the source: MALE / ADULT / BROWN / LIGHT-FEATHER141.60LB
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AJP, ADXC7 official report, 18 November 2024(opens in a new tab)
At ADXC7 in Rio de Janeiro on 17 November 2024, he lost the gi co-main event to Meyram Maquiné by armbar at1:20 of the first round.
Where in the source: Jiu-Jitsu Co-Main Event narrative and final results table
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AJP, Abu Dhabi Grand Slam London report, 13 April 2025(opens in a new tab)
He won the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam London professional black-belt69kg final, beating Thiago Macedo7–5.
Where in the source: Professional black belt /69kg section
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The London final featured repeated sweep exchanges; his last sweep gave him the lead, and he survived a late triangle attempt.
Where in the source: Same69kg final narrative
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AJP identifies Serpa as American.
Where in the source: 69kg championship report
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IBJJF, Jiu-Jitsu CON2025 official results(opens in a new tab)
He won the 2025 Jiu-Jitsu CON male adult black-belt open division for Outer Heaven.
Where in the source: MALE / ADULT / BLACK / OPEN CLASS
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He was runner-up in the same event’s adult black-belt featherweight division.
Where in the source: MALE / ADULT / BLACK / FEATHER154.60LB
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Amith Passela, The National, World Pro finals report, 23 November 2025(opens in a new tab)
He won an adult black-belt title at the 2025 Abu Dhabi World Professional championship, defeating Nurzhan Batyrbekov4–3 in the final.
Where in the source: Finals results / Men’s black belt, Sebastian Serpa(USA) def Nurzhan Batyrbekov(KAZ)
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Sebastian Serpa, Aranea Artes public programme description(opens in a new tab)
Through Aranea Artes he offers a connected guard curriculum with weekly technique releases, a shared drilling programme and a sparring-clip discussion thread.
Where in the source: Inside Aranea Artes public description
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He says he answers members’ comments and messages himself and holds monthly live question-and-answer sessions.
Where in the source: Personal replies and monthly Q&A paragraphs
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His Competition Lab adds footage review and game-planning calls, and he also advertises individual coaching.
Where in the source: Competition Lab and1on1 coaching paragraphs
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Sebastian Serpa, Make Spider Great Again public course outline, Patreon(opens in a new tab)
His public spider-guard course outline organizes the material around kneeling opponents, combat base, standing opponents and reverse De La Riva or low-squat positions.
Where in the source: Public course timestamps, parts1–4
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The outline connects lasso-spider entries with triangles, omoplatas, single-leg X transitions, grip breaks and retention sequences.
Where in the source: Public course timestamps2:18–47:22
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Roll Science #28, interview with Martin Corvetto and Sebastian Serpa, 11 November 2024(opens in a new tab)
In the 2024 interview, Serpa said shorter AJP matches were appealing to spectators, while he preferred longer IBJJF matches as a competitor because he could wear opponents down.
Where in the source: 30:00–31:10, Serpa discusses World Pro and Samuel Nagai after Crown discussion
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He used his match with Samuel Nagai as an example, explaining that he waited beyond five minutes for a successful attack as he felt his opponent tiring.
Where in the source: 30:49–31:10
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