Biography
Sergio Rios, also known as "Pichilinga", is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Marcos Matos of the Academia Dojô Jiu-Jitsu, having also worked extensively with Helder Menezes and Eduardo Telles at team 99 Jiu-Jitsu (Ninety-Nine BJJ) headquarters gym in California. Well known for his aggressive and crowd-pleasing jiu-jitsu style, Rios made his career in BJJ by conquering important titles of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) tournament circuit while also maintaining a winning streak in mixed martial arts (MMA). Sergio Rios was born on July 31, 1988, in Campo Formoso, a municipality in the state of Bahia in the North-East region of Brazil where Sergio spent his formative years. Growing up, like the majority of Brazilian children, Rios was into football (soccer), a sport he practiced recreationally. At the age of 15, Sergio initiated jiu-jitsu, an action taken by the influence of his brother - Junior Rios, then a purple belt who would later also become a black belt. Rios' first training experience (2003) was with coach Marcos Matos, at a local gym named Academia Dojô Jiu-Jitsu, located in Sergio's hometown. Pichilinga remained under Matos' tuition throughout all belts, including his black belt - which he achieved on November 20, 2009. The Academia Dojô team had been founded by the late Helder Menezes (RIP), who had moved to the United States and left the academy on the hands of his trusted pupil, Marcos Matos. Helder still kept in touch with the team and seeing the talent in young Sergio Rios, in 2013, Menezes challenged Pichilinga to move to the US to earn a living there as a professional fighter and grappler. Rios accepted the offer and moved to San Diego, California. Once there he began training also under one of Helder's best friends, Eduardo Telles at the Ninety-Nine (99) team headquarters. Menezes passed away in 2014 and Sergio Rios started training almost exclusively with Telles from then on, although still representing and keeping close contact with the Dojô academy in Brazil. While in the United States Rios kickstarted a successful mixed martial arts career, though remaining active in the BJJ circuit with and without the gi. In preparation for the cage, Rios became well-versed in Muai Thay, earning a red kruang (rank) from coach Alex Palm at Blue Ocean Muay Thai. In 2022, Rios opened his own academy in San Diego, California, and started his own team, Rasai Jiu Jitsu. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );