Carlos Henrique

Carlos Henrique Costa Campos was born on July 6, 1999, in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, and grew up in the city's Bairro Alvorada neighborhood. Long before setting foot on a jiu-jitsu mat, his sporting ambitions pointed toward football — he competed at a local club and harbored genuine aspirations of turning professional, a dream he pursued until the age of 13.

His introduction to martial arts came in 2014 through an invitation to an MMA class, which provided his first exposure to jiu-jitsu. The experience did not immediately resonate, and he moved on without committing to the sport. The real turning point came through a more organic inspiration: watching neighbors carry their kimonos through his neighborhood sparked a curiosity that led him to join the local Nova União academy — and with it, the true beginning of his jiu-jitsu journey. A period of financial hardship forced a brief hiatus, but Carlos Henrique returned with renewed determination, this time through Checkmat, where the gym's competitive atmosphere reignited his drive and laid the foundations for his future career.

Colored Belt Career

The competitive environment at Checkmat in Manaus proved formative, instilling the results-oriented mindset that would define Carlos Henrique's ascent through the belt ranks. In 2019, he made a pivotal move by joining Dream Art, one of Brazil's most competition-focused academies, where his development accelerated sharply.

His colored belt career was defined by consistent performances on the international stage. At blue belt, he claimed gold at the IBJJF European Open in 2020. At purple belt, he captured the AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro title in 2021. His brown belt year in 2022 represented the peak of his pre-black belt journey: he earned gold at the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals in both gi and no-gi formats, won the IBJJF American Nationals in both formats, and crowned the year with victory at the IBJJF World Championship in the gi — one of the sport's most prestigious titles. Isaque Bahiense awarded him his black belt in November 2022.

Black Belt Debut

The transition to black belt brought immediate results. Within his first year at the rank, Carlos Henrique reached international podiums, claiming gold at the IBJJF Pan Championship NOGI in 2023 and finishing as runner-up at both the IBJJF World Championship NOGI in 2022 and the IBJJF American Nationals in gi and no-gi formats in 2023 — a rapid ascent that signaled his readiness to compete among the sport's elite.

Gi Foundation and No-Gi Integration

Carlos Henrique built his reputation as a gi competitor, developing a game centered on aggressive, pressure-based top passing — a relentless style that translates naturally across formats. He began incorporating no-gi training in 2020, but through 2022 maintained a deliberate seasonal approach, pausing no-gi work during the gi competition calendar and resuming it after the IBJJF World Championship each year.

Despite this measured introduction to the format, his no-gi results were immediate. His runner-up finish at the ADCC Trials in 2022 demonstrated that his pressure-oriented game carried significant weight in submission grappling environments.

Tezos WNO Debut Preparation

Ahead of his Tezos WNO debut on August 10, 2023, in Austin, Texas — a match scheduled against Ben Eddy of 10th Planet — Carlos Henrique intensified his no-gi training with specific tactical objectives. He placed concentrated focus on defending leg attacks and avoiding closed guard entanglements, areas identified as critical against a 10th Planet practitioner, while preserving the pressure-passing identity at the core of his game. As of August 3, 2023, competing at black belt for under a year, he was already recognized as a standout rising athlete within Dream Art.

Carlos Henrique describes himself as a complete competitor — equally capable of pulling guard, passing, or wrestling depending on the demands of the match — while acknowledging that tactical timing and experience represent the primary areas he continues to refine as he matures at the black belt level.

Carlos Henrique's runner-up finish at the ADCC Trials in 2022 offered an early signal of his submission grappling ambitions, and he makes no secret of where those ambitions lead: qualifying for and winning an ADCC main event. For a competitor who received his black belt in November 2022, naming the sport's most prestigious submission grappling tournament as the defining goal of his career reflects both the confidence built through early results and the high-performance culture of Dream Art.

Competing in the Peso Leve division at 76 kg (168 lbs) and known by the nickname CH7, Carlos Henrique carries a technical profile — pressure passing, expanding leg lock defense, and growing no-gi fluency — that aligns well with the demands of ADCC-style competition. His trajectory from the neighborhoods of Manaus to international podiums within his first year at black belt positions him as a credible future contender on the sport's biggest stages.