Sebastian Rodriguez Williams
Sebastian Rodriguez found a new training community at Unity and built a career through international titles and demanding returns.
Biography
Sources for this profile
Luis Diego Sanchez, Delfino19September2021(opens in a new tab)
Sebastian Rodriguez Williams is the Costa Rican jiu-jitsu black belt who won the2021AJP gi event in the Netherlands.
Where in the source: Opening paragraph naming full surname and nationality
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He received his black belt in May2021.
Where in the source: Paragraph Recordemos que Sebastian recibio la cinta negra
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He took weight-class and open-weight gold at the2021AJP Netherlands gi event soon after becoming a black belt.
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IBJJF Podcast63, Sebastian Rodriguez,28July2023 public transcript(opens in a new tab)
He recalled playing football before jiu-jitsu, leaving his team when his parents changed his school, and trying skateboarding afterward.
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He credited his Costa Rican instructor Andre with teaching him strong fundamentals.
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He said losses at blue-belt Pans and Worlds showed him he needed committed training partners pursuing similar goals.
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He worked and saved for New York, where family lived, and chose Unity after its demanding first session.
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He valued Unity’s collective commitment and the challenge of completing its intense sessions.
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Different partners’ guards and passing styles broadened his technical knowledge; Santana taught how tiny positional adjustments changed reactions.
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In2023 he emphasized X-guard, single-leg X and leg attacks, while developing wrestling rather than fixing one permanent style.
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His2023Worlds bronze mattered because it helped him see himself as a peer of established black-belt competitors.
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He said he tried to share what he learned abroad whenever he returned to Costa Rica.
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He said he aimed to give full effort in both tournaments and single-match events.
Where in the source: 20:24–21:18
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Jiu-Jitsu Times interview,23October2020, syndicated in full by Senso(opens in a new tab)
He earned a karate brown belt as a child and accompanied his amateur-boxer father to training.
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A friend’s invitation brought him to jiu-jitsu; with family support, he initially trained three or four times weekly.
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Competition became a stronger ambition at blue belt, as he sought progressively tougher events.
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He recalled financial difficulties when moving to New York and credited the people around him with helping him continue.
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He explained his commitment to a professional career in terms of having no fallback plan and needing to make the opportunity work.
Where in the source: Costa Rica and no-plan-B answer
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He described Unity as a second family and credited Santana and teammates with helping him mature and work more deliberately toward his goals.
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He credited Santana with shaping both his technique and approach to competing.
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In2020 he described daily jiu-jitsu, lifting and attention to diet as preparation for his ambition to become a black-belt world champion.
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Jiu-Jitsu Times, five purple belts to watch,22April2019, syndicated by Senso(opens in a new tab)
A2019preview identified him as a Unity purple belt who had won middleweight and open-weight gold at the2018No-Gi Pans.
Where in the source: Sebastian Rodriguez77kg section and embedded dated athlete statement
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IBJJF, Sebastian Rodriguez tour of Unity,28June2023, public transcript(opens in a new tab)
Showing Unity in2023, he described a shared lounge where students spent time between sessions and a weights area he used to complement jiu-jitsu.
Where in the source: 0:46–1:22 and1:59–2:24
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IBJJF, Pan2022 official final results(opens in a new tab)
He won the2022IBJJF Pan male adult black-belt medium-heavyweight title.
Where in the source: MALE / ADULT / BLACK / MEDIUM HEAVY195.00LB
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IBJJF, World No-Gi2022 official final results(opens in a new tab)
The final official2022World No-Gi results list him as male adult black-belt medium-heavyweight champion.
Where in the source: MALE / ADULT / BLACK / MEDIUM HEAVY188.60LB; final revision7April2023
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Danny O’Donnell, IBJJF Podcast63 introduction,28July2023(opens in a new tab)
IBJJF’s July2023introduction identifies him as a gi Worlds bronze medalist.
Where in the source: Podcast introduction
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Joe Harrington,FloGrappling8August2023WNO19preview(opens in a new tab)
He was scheduled to make his WNO debut against Oliver Taza in August2023, having beaten Taza at the2022No-Gi Worlds.
Where in the source: WNOdebut/card and IBJJFrematch sections
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Luis Diego Sanchez, Delfino,19December2024(opens in a new tab)
He took medium-heavyweight bronze at the2024World No-Gi Championship after a semifinal loss to Wallisson Oliveira.
Where in the source: Named Rodriguez report within sports roundup
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After the2024event he described competing through a difficult recovery and thanked his team and sponsors for their help.
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IBJJF, World No-Gi2025 official final results(opens in a new tab)
He again won bronze in the2025World No-Gi male adult black-belt medium-heavyweight division.
Where in the source: MALE / ADULT / BLACK / MEDIUM HEAVY188.60LB
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Luis Diego Sanchez, Delfino,23December2025(opens in a new tab)
He said a serious early2025injury led to a year of rehabilitation focused on returning for No-Gi Worlds.
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He credited professionals, family, friends, sponsors and teammates with supporting that return, and said the medal restored competitive confidence.
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Luis Diego Sanchez, Delfino,12February2026(opens in a new tab)
He won the2026Miami Winter No-Gi black-belt medium-heavyweight division, beating Martin Corvetto and then Pedro Leonardo da Silva.
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Contemporary Costa Rican reporting identifies Rodriguez Williams as Costa Rican.
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He represented Unity Jiu-Jitsu International inFebruary2026.
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Unity Jiu Jitsu current homepage(opens in a new tab)
Unity’s current training base is in Manhattan, New York.
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Lineage
No teaching connections are shown on this page.
Open lineage