Tarik Hopstock

Tarik Hopstock (b. 10 May 1996, Oslo) is a Norwegian grappler and BJJ black belt under Eduardo "Teta" Rios at Frontline Academy. He started in judo as a child and moved to BJJ in his teens; he was promoted to black belt by Teta Rios on 5 December 2021. Hopstock is the inventor of the Tarikoplata, a kimura-style attack that uses a leg-and-arm frame to isolate the opponent's shoulder and elbow. He developed the technique as a blue belt at Frontline in late 2014, debuted it in competition at the 2015 IBJJF Gothenburg Open, and the variation has since been adopted by elite grapplers worldwide. Hopstock won IBJJF European Championship gold at blue, purple and brown belt before reaching the black-belt podium. His 2024 season included a double-gold at the Dublin International Open (gi and no-gi), the Ocean BJJ Pro Championship title in Cagliari, and a memorable — though painful — Polaris 29 match against Tainan Dalpra, who submitted him with his own Tarikoplata. The 2025 season was career-defining. After four golds at the London International Open and gold at the IBJJF No-Gi European in Rome, Hopstock travelled to Anaheim for the IBJJF No-Gi World Championship. He beat Matheus Luna in the semifinal and Marcelo Fausto 7-4 in the final, becoming only the second Norwegian IBJJF world champion in history. He had prepared with a two-week training block under Lachlan Giles at Absolute MMA in Melbourne. In February 2026 Hopstock stepped up to the UFC BJJ 5 card at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas, challenging Ronaldo Junior for the middleweight title on short notice. He lost a competitive unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) over five rounds, but earned respect for taking the fight. His stated goal is to "put Norway on the map" in jiu-jitsu. Lineage: Maeda → Carlos Gracie → Carlson Gracie → Ricardo Libório → Eduardo "Teta" Rios → Tarik Hopstock. Sources: UFC (UFC BJJ 5 coverage, 2026); Progress JJ interview (2025); BJJ Fanatics; IBJJF athlete page; BJJ Heroes.