Biography
Thiago Borges, better known as "Monstro" is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under the illustrious Carlos "Portugues" Vieira, being one of the first black belts to establish himself in London, England. Always willing to test his skills, Thiago "Monstro" competed in many different systems such as jiu jitsu, luta livre esportiva, judo and mixed martial arts (MMA). Thiago Borges was born on the 29th of April 1982 in Vitória, State of Espirito Santo, though he moved to Rio de Janeiro still young. He decided to start training training Jiu Jitsu after watching the very first UFC's when Royce Gracie was winning against everyone. There was a gym close to his house where some of his friends trained, and as he felt he was no good at football BJJ seemed like the right sport to practice. He joined that same gym which his friends attended, there he met his first instructor and a man who would become a very close friend, Huanderson Pavao from Gama Filho's team (now GTF - Grappling Fight Team). He stayed with Pavao for many years going through the ranks from white to brown belt, competing every chance he could in jiu jitsu, Judo and luta livre, a style of submission wrestling common in Brazil as well as submission wrestling. This partnership with Mr Huanderson would come to an end as Thiago moved to Brazilia in 2002. There he began training with Carlos Eduardo Vieira (also known as "Portugues") an instructor from the Cia Paulista. "Monstro" and "Portugues" already knew each other from before, Thiago often travelled to the Brazilian capital to visit his girlfriend (today his wife) and he would always bring his Gi with him to train at Vieira's gym. After 2 years in Brazilia Monstro received his black belt (December 2004). Shortly after, in 2005, Thiago moved to Europe to seek out different challenges, there he met Rodrigo Cabral and Eduardo Azevedo, two black belts from the Brasa Jiu Jitsu team who were forming their own team in London, England. The two invited him to be part of their team to which Thiago accepted. A few years later the Brasa team would come to a split in it's management, as Eduardo, Rodrigo and Monstro were loyal to Leonardo Vieira who had also split from Brasa to form Checkmat, the trio decided to form alliance with Vieira. In 2011 Thiago decided to split from Checkmat and rejoined Cia Paulista. Thiago Monstro Borges UK Grappling Nationals Highlight He has also won the Winter London International open in 2015 and NAGA in 2014 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() );