Brenda Larissa

Brenda Larissa was born on February 9, 1999, in Manaus, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas — a city with deep roots in grappling culture. Like many young Brazilians from underserved communities, her introduction to jiu-jitsu came not through a traditional academy, but through a community social project designed to keep children engaged during their time away from school. At 10 years old, Larissa stepped onto the mats for the first time through one of these initiatives, and the sport took hold immediately.

Her early development unfolded under the supervision of Melqui Galvão, one of the most respected talent developers in the Manaus region. Under Galvão's guidance, Larissa moved quickly through the local youth tournament circuit and earned a formal designation as a "competitor" within the team — a status reflecting both her results and her potential. That recognition came with a place in Galvão's athlete sponsorship program, an acknowledgment of the exceptional promise she demonstrated from the outset.

The training environment that shaped Larissa also produced several other high-profile competitors, including Fabricio Andrey, Diogo Reis, and Mica Galvão — a remarkable concentration of talent that underscores the depth of what Melqui Galvão's program cultivated in the Amazon region.

In 2016, Larissa began training full-time with a clear competitive objective: earn a spot at the IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in California. When her US visa application was denied that year, she redirected her energy toward the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals and delivered one of the most impressive performances on the youth circuit — winning both her weight class and the absolute division as a roosterweight. For an athlete of her age and size to claim the open-weight title is a rare achievement, and it announced the arrival of a genuinely exceptional talent.

The following year proved to be a turning point. With her visa application approved in 2017, Larissa gained access to the international stage and wasted no time making her presence felt. Her performances drew the attention of Alliance's senior management, who offered her a full scholarship to train at the most decorated academy in jiu-jitsu. She accepted, relocating to São Paulo to train at the Alliance headquarters — known within the BJJ community as the "Matriz" — under the coaching trio of Michael Langhi, Fábio Gurgel, and Fernando Andrade Reis.

Colored Belt Dominance

The years at Alliance produced a string of defining results. In 2017, Larissa claimed gold at the IBJJF World Championship at blue belt, and in 2018 she repeated the feat at purple belt — back-to-back world titles that cemented her status among the sport's elite colored belt competitors. She also swept the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals across three consecutive belt divisions, winning gold at blue (2017), purple (2018), and brown (2019). Additional titles on the AJP circuit — including the Abu Dhabi Pro at purple belt in 2018 and multiple AJP Grand Slam victories — further demonstrated her versatility across competitive formats.

In December 2019, Fábio Gurgel promoted Larissa to black belt as his 135th promotion — a milestone that marked the culmination of an extraordinary run through the colored belt divisions and the beginning of her career at jiu-jitsu's highest level.

Following her black belt promotion, Brenda Larissa established herself as one of the most consistent performers on the AJP circuit. Her dominance at the AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro was particularly striking — she claimed the title in 2021, again at the 2021+ edition, and once more in 2022, demonstrating a level of sustained excellence rarely seen at the sport's highest-profile AJP event.

Grand Slam and International Titles

Beyond Abu Dhabi, Larissa built an extensive Grand Slam record. She won AJP Grand Slam titles in Rio de Janeiro in both 2020 and 2022, captured the London Grand Slam in 2020, and added the Miami Grand Slam in 2022 to her collection. In 2023, she extended her international reach further by claiming the UAEJJF Grand Slam Los Angeles Championship, reinforcing her standing as one of the world's top roosterweights regardless of ruleset or format.

IBJJF Progress and Domestic Success

On the IBJJF circuit, her trajectory showed steady upward momentum. A bronze medal at the IBJJF World Championship in 2021 was followed by a silver in the open class in 2022, signaling her growing competitiveness against the deepest fields in the sport. She placed 2nd at the IBJJF European Open in 2023 and continued her domestic dominance by winning back-to-back CBJJ Brazilian Nationals titles in 2022 and 2023 at black belt. These results collectively positioned Larissa among the leading figures of her generation in the roosterweight division.

After earning her black belt in December 2019, Larissa returned to Manaus in 2021 to continue her development alongside Melqui Galvão, the coach who had first introduced her to the sport over a decade earlier. The reunion proved productive on the competitive front, but it also brought a change in team affiliation: when Galvão's gym became an affiliate of Fight Sports, the well-known Miami-based organization, Larissa began representing Fight Sports on the international circuit during that period.

In August 2023, however, Larissa severed ties with Melqui Galvão in a notably contentious split. The departure was not hers alone — Fabricio Andrey, her husband and fellow competitor, and teammate Luiz Paulo left the squad simultaneously, marking a significant fracture within one of the region's most prominent training groups.

Following the split, Larissa returned to Alliance and relocated back to São Paulo to train at the Alliance Matriz headquarters. As of September 2023, she was focused entirely on her competitive career under the coaching structure — led by Michael Langhi, Fábio Gurgel, and Fernando Andrade Reis — that had guided her through her most formative years and shaped her into one of the sport's top black belt competitors.