Amanda Alequin

Amanda Alequin was born on August 19, 1994, in Brooklyn, New York. Raised in a demanding urban environment, she developed an early relationship with combat sports shaped in part by her father, who recognized the value of self-defense training and encouraged her to pursue contact sports from a young age. Boxing became her first discipline — a foundation that would later define the aggressive, forward-pressure grappling style she became known for on the mat.

At 13, Amanda's family relocated to Florida, where she continued boxing and began exploring mixed martial arts. The move opened new doors in her athletic development, and the decisive spark toward Brazilian jiu-jitsu came through her brother, whose demonstrations of BJJ techniques ignited a curiosity that would shape her career. At 15, she began training under Jerre Norton, a black belt under Eduardo 'Veio' de Lima, taking her first formal steps on the mat. The striking instincts she brought into those early sessions — comfort with pressure, control of distance, intensity at close range — translated naturally into grappling and became defining hallmarks of her competitive identity.

Amanda's development accelerated markedly after she transitioned to training under Márcio 'Pé de Pano' Cruz, whose academy became the platform for some of the most important chapters of her career. Under Cruz's guidance, she compiled a decorated record across the colored belt divisions, delivering consistent high-level performances at IBJJF events throughout her progression.

The pinnacle of her pre-black belt career arrived in 2015, when Amanda claimed double gold at the IBJJF World Championship as a brown belt — winning both the weight division and the absolute. It was a landmark performance that announced her as one of the most dangerous grapplers of her generation. Throughout this demanding campaign, she balanced training and competition with employment at a veterinary clinic, a testament to the discipline and commitment that defined her rise.

On June 25, 2016, Márcio Cruz promoted Amanda to black belt — a recognition earned through years of sustained excellence and one of the most productive brown belt records in women's BJJ. She has represented Marcio Cruz BJJ throughout her competitive career, a relationship built on mutual respect and shared competitive ambition.

Amanda Alequin's approach to grappling centers on a relentless commitment to finishing. In a sport where point-based strategies often dominate at the elite level, her submission-first philosophy sets her apart. Her boxing background is clearly embedded in her mat presence — she moves forward with intention, applies sustained pressure, and excels in the close-range exchanges where submission opportunities emerge.

She competes primarily in the lightweight and middleweight divisions, spanning the 64kg to 69kg range, where her physical intensity and technical aggression translate into consistent results. Equally effective in gi and no-gi formats, Amanda demonstrates the kind of versatile technical depth that separates well-rounded competitors from pure specialists. Her guard work is characteristically offensive, treating positional control as a launching point for submission attempts rather than a mechanism for accumulating points.

Amanda's broader competitive environment has been shaped in part by her marriage to Eric Alequin, an MMA and BJJ competitor from Team Nogueira, creating a household deeply immersed in the competitive combat sports world.

Establishing Herself on the No-Gi Circuit

Amanda Alequin's black belt career opens with a result that immediately established her credentials on the submission grappling circuit. At the 2015 ADCC US East Coast Trials, she claimed victory to position herself as one of the top submission grapplers in North America — a significant result given the caliber of athletes ADCC qualifying events consistently attract.

World Title and Pan American Success

The defining title of her black belt career came at the 2016 IBJJF World No-Gi Championship, where Amanda captured gold in her weight division. The world title validated years of investment in her craft and cemented her reputation as a world-class competitor capable of performing on the sport's biggest stages.

In 2019, Amanda added another major title by winning 1st place at the 2019 IBJJF Pan Championship No-Gi in the light division — a result that demonstrated sustained elite-level consistency well into her black belt career. At the same event, she pushed deep into the absolute division, reaching the final and finishing 2nd, underscoring her ability to compete effectively across weight classes. In August 2019, she also appeared on the Fight 2 Win 120 card, facing Catherine Perret in a high-profile submission-only bout.

Continued Elite Consistency

Amanda's performance at the 2020 IBJJF Pan Championship added a silver medal to her collection, reinforcing her standing as a perennial contender at the Pan Americans and a competitor who delivers with durability across multiple competitive cycles. Across IBJJF tournaments, submission-only events, and ADCC trials, her career reflects the profile of an athlete who has tested herself at every level of the sport — and answered each challenge with results that define a generation of women's BJJ competition.