Sergio Moraes is a former BJJ World Champion competing in the welterweight division. He was introduced to BJJ through a social project designed to keep kids out of trouble, growing up in the very poot Favela’s of Sao Paulo, Brazil. There he began training under Everdan Olegario who would eventually award Moraes with his black belt in 2006. In addition to his world class jiu jitsu pedigree, Moraes is a good athlete who has competed for Jungle Fight and Bellator FC early in his fighting career.

Moraes’ crowing achievement came when competing in the 2008 BJJ World Championships (Mundials). A relative unknown entering, Moraes went on to capture a Gold Medal in the very competitive “Medio” division. The match that really opened the eyes of pundit’s was when he took on Kron Gracie. Kron was entering the bout on an unprecedented 51 match submission streak at the Mundials, and the heavy favourite going in. Moraes dominated from beginning to end, building a 12-0 lead on the scorecards before sealing the victory by submitting Kron with a choke. That win thrust Moraes into the limelight and helped propel him to a Gold Medal in the most prestigious BJJ tournament in the world. Overall, Moraes has now captured three gold medals (two as a black belt), three silver medals (one as a black belt) and one bronze medal in the BJJ World Championships.

To get the fight to the mat, Moraes is fitted with a competent wrestling game that includes a quick shot, a good double leg, and a nice single from in close. Once on the ground, Moraes goes to work with his world class jiu jitsu. His ground game consists of smooth, technical guard passing abilities and a fantastic top game. A superbly talented BJJ player, Moraes shows tremendous control form the top, fluidly securing position and looking for opportunities. He possesses incredibly quick hips and demonstrates the ability to pull off beautiful transitions. A complete grappler, Moraes is armed with a high calibre submission game that includes pinpoint technical precision and finishing prowess. He shows clean, slick transitioning between submissions and honestly able to boast about submitting many of the best submission grapplers in the world.

Moraes shows good upside on his feet where his composure and natural speed is evident. He throws a nifty left hook and right cross, as well as quick leg kicks. Moraes is committed to his MMA training and has continued making strides in his striking. He’ll aggressively pursue opponents on his feet, while showing the confidence to set up spinning back fists. Moraes will intelligently set up his takedown attempts by shooting off his striking, without becoming too one dimensional in his approach. Moraes is still developing as a striker, and will need to continue working on his footwork, technical skills, defense and conditioning.