Amanda Magda

Born on January 17, 1978, in São Paulo, Brazil, Amanda Magda grew up in an environment that nurtured athletic ambition from an early age. As a student, she competed across multiple disciplines — volleyball, handball, and swimming — building the competitive instincts and physical discipline that would later define her approach to martial arts. The blend of team dynamics and individual accountability she absorbed through those sports proved to be an enduring foundation.

After her scholastic athletic career concluded, Magda gravitated toward combat sports, joining a Muay Thai club to develop her striking. In 2014, she took her first steps onto the jiu-jitsu mats, briefly exploring grappling before the birth of her second child interrupted her training. That pause, as it turned out, was the calm before a transformative storm.

Following the birth of her second child, Amanda Magda began experiencing severe anxiety that disrupted her daily life. A consulting psychiatrist prescribed medication to manage her condition, and while it offered some relief, the side effects were significant — a pervasive apathy and considerable weight gain that left her feeling disconnected from herself.

Determined to reclaim her well-being, Magda enrolled at MAVORS, a combat sports club in the Perdizes neighborhood of São Paulo, and resumed kickboxing and Muay Thai training. The impact was immediate: regular physical activity dramatically improved her mental health, and over time, her dependence on psychiatric medication diminished as sport restored her quality of life.

The defining moment came in 2016, when her kickboxing coach handed her a jiu-jitsu kimono and encouraged her to attend a grappling class. Magda accepted — and was immediately captivated. What began as a single session rapidly evolved into an all-consuming passion. She began training twice daily, supplementing group classes with private lessons to accelerate her development. The intensity of her commitment from the outset made one thing clear: for Amanda Magda, jiu-jitsu was far more than a hobby. It had become a cornerstone of both her identity and her recovery.

Amanda Magda's rise through the belt ranks was guided by a succession of coaches who recognized her exceptional potential and met it with equally exceptional instruction.

Blue Belt Foundations

Her first jiu-jitsu instructor was Rodrigo Pacheco, known as Tartaruga, a coach affiliated with Demian Maia's team. Under Pacheco's guidance, Magda built the technical foundation that earned her the blue belt and established her early competitive identity.

Purple Belt and a World Title

In August 2018, Talita Nogueira and Robson Rezende promoted Magda to purple belt — a recognition that followed directly from her gold medal performance at the IBJJF World Masters tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada. The promotion reflected not just her competitive results but the rapid technical maturity she had demonstrated in a remarkably short time.

Brown and Black Belt: Luis Marques

In February 2019, Magda began training under Luis Marques, one of the most respected black belts in the São Paulo region. Marques assumed primary responsibility for her continued development and guided her through the final stages of her belt journey, awarding her both the brown and black belts. On December 11, 2021, Amanda Magda received her black belt in a formal ceremony — a milestone achieved in just over five years since she first stepped onto the mats in 2016. Competing in the Peso Pesado division (79.3 kg / 174.8 lb), she represents Fratres JJ on the international stage.

Amanda Magda's competitive record is one of sustained excellence across multiple belt levels, with the IBJJF World Masters circuit serving as the backdrop for some of her most defining performances.

Masters World Championship Dominance

Her breakout moment arrived at the 2018 IBJJF Masters World Championship, where she captured gold as a blue belt — a result compelling enough to prompt her purple belt promotion from Talita Nogueira and Robson Rezende that same month. She returned to the Masters World Championship podium's top step as a purple belt in 2019, as a brown belt in 2021, and again at the black belt level in 2022, completing a remarkable run of Masters World titles across four consecutive belt divisions.

Brazilian Nationals and Open Black Belt Competition

Her CBJJ Brazilian Nationals record tells a parallel story of consistency, with titles spanning the blue, purple, brown, and black belt divisions across several years of competition. As a black belt, Magda extended her reach into open international competition with equally impressive results. In 2022, she claimed gold at the IBJJF South American Championship, and in 2023, she captured the top podium at the 2023 IBJJF European Open Championship, demonstrating her ability to compete and win against the world's elite.

Her performances at the IBJJF World Championship further confirmed her standing among the sport's top competitors: a bronze medal in 2023 was followed by a silver medal in 2024, reflecting a competitor whose trajectory continues to point upward. Across colored belt, Masters, and open black belt competition, Amanda Magda's career stands as a compelling testament to what dedication, exceptional coaching, and personal resilience can produce on the world's biggest stages.