Cicero Costha

Cícero Costha, nicknamed "Cição," was born and raised in the Ipiranga district of São Paulo, Brazil. Before jiu-jitsu became the defining force of his life, he worked as a street hawker from a young age, selling goods to support himself — an experience that forged his understanding of financial hardship and shaped his lifelong commitment to helping young athletes overcome the same obstacles.

His introduction to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu came through Rocian Gracie, who guided Cícero from white belt through brown belt, laying the technical and competitive groundwork for his development. During his brown belt years, Cícero established himself as a genuine competitive force within São Paulo's jiu-jitsu community, earning recognition through consistent performances on the mat. Seeking continued growth, he transitioned to Marco Barbosa's academy, where he completed his journey through the ranks and earned his black belt promotion.

Cícero also tested himself in mixed martial arts, stepping into competition against notable opponents including Gabriel Gonzaga and demonstrating a willingness to challenge himself across combat sports formats. His personal competitive record includes podium finishes at major IBJJF and CBJJ events spanning the mid-2000s through 2010 — a trajectory that reflected the same grit and resourcefulness that would later define his identity as a coach.

Approximately fourteen to fifteen years ago, Cícero Costha began assembling what would become one of the most productive jiu-jitsu programs in Brazil — doing so with almost none of the conventional resources typically associated with elite athletic development. The early nucleus of Cicero Costha consisted of a small group of teenagers from low-income backgrounds: athletes with raw ability and drive but without the financial means to pursue the sport through traditional channels.

Open Doors and Bare Mats

Rather than turn them away, Cícero opened the gym doors entirely. He allowed students to sleep on the mats, covered their food costs out of pocket, and personally funded their tournament entry fees. The training environment that took shape was stripped to its essentials — no luxury equipment, no elaborate facilities, just relentless drilling, hard sparring, and the cultivation of a competition-forged mindset. That bare-bones philosophy became a signature of the team's identity, and the results it produced on the competitive stage spoke louder than any training amenity ever could.

Scaling the Program

As the program's reputation grew and its roster expanded, the team scaled to approximately sixty athletes living and training together. That growth necessitated the creation of dedicated communal fighter-houses — TUF Leste and TUF Ipiranga — which functioned as extensions of the mat, reinforcing the collective culture Cícero had built from the beginning. The team operates under the lineage of Cicero Costha > Projeto Social Lutando Pelo Bem (PSLPB), a structure that reflects both the coaching hierarchy and the social mission embedded in the program's foundation.

The formal expression of Cícero Costha's community mission came through the founding of Projeto Social Lutando Pelo Bem — translated roughly as the Social Project Fighting for Good, and widely known as PSLPB. The project codified what had already been the team's operating philosophy: that jiu-jitsu could serve as a vehicle for social mobility, and that talented young athletes from impoverished backgrounds deserved access to world-class training and competitive opportunity regardless of their economic circumstances.

PSLPB gave institutional form to the personal investments Cícero had been making for years — the covered meals, the paid competition fees, the open-door housing policy. By organizing these efforts under a social project framework, the program became both a competitive organization and a legitimate instrument of community development in São Paulo. The results demonstrated that those two goals were not in tension: athletes who came up through PSLPB went on to become among the most decorated competitors in IBJJF history, while the project continued to open pathways out of poverty for new generations of young practitioners.

PSLPB stands as one of the most prominent examples in Brazilian jiu-jitsu of the sport being used deliberately and systematically as a tool for social change — with Cícero absorbing significant personal costs to make that mission operational rather than merely aspirational.

The true measure of Cícero Costha's impact as a coach is most clearly visible in the competitive careers of the athletes he developed. The concentration of elite talent produced through Cicero Costha and the PSLPB program is matched by few academies anywhere in the world.

Flagship Champions

Leandro Lo stands as perhaps the most decorated product of the program. Over the course of his IBJJF career, Lo accumulated eight black belt World Championship gold medals — a haul that places him among the most accomplished competitors in the history of the sport. His ability to dominate across multiple weight divisions at the highest level of gi competition cemented his status as a generational talent, with his foundational development unfolding under Cícero's guidance.

The Paulo Miyao and João Miyao brothers brought a different dimension to the team's legacy. Paulo earned two black belt World Championship titles and four Pan Championship golds, building a reputation as one of the most creative and technically refined guard players of his era. João matched that standard across formats, capturing one Gi World Championship title alongside four No-Gi World Championship gold medals — a combination that established him as a dominant force in both disciplines.

Depth Across Divisions

Nathiely de Jesus added five black belt World Championship titles to the program's collective record, placing her among the most accomplished female competitors in IBJJF history and underscoring the program's commitment to developing athletes across all divisions. Gustavo Batista reinforced the team's depth with a black belt World Championship title and two Pan Championship golds. Hiago George captured the black belt No-Gi World Championship alongside two Pan titles, while Manuel Ribamar added a black belt No-Gi World Championship to the roster of honors.

A Culture of Development

Beyond these headline names, the broader roster of PSLPB-developed competitors — including Thalison Soares, Jonas Andrade, Jeferson Guaresi, Tiago Barros, Richar Nogueira, Diego Oliveira, and Thamara Ferreira — reflects the program's ability to produce high-level competitors consistently, not sporadically. Cícero has spoken openly about his satisfaction in watching former students go on to thrive at other teams, framing athlete development — rather than athlete retention — as the true measure of his coaching work.

Beyond individual titles, Cicero Costha has distinguished itself in team competition, earning collective recognition at some of the sport's most prestigious events. In 2017, the team claimed the CBJJ Brazilian National team title, affirming its standing among Brazil's elite jiu-jitsu organizations and demonstrating that its collective depth was as formidable as its roster of individual champions.

On the international stage, the team won the IBJJF European Open team trophy in both 2018 and 2020 — back-to-back demonstrations of sustained excellence across multiple weight divisions and belt levels. Those victories carried particular significance as proof that the program's strength was not concentrated in a single star athlete but distributed across a roster capable of competing and winning throughout a full team competition bracket.

Taken together, the European Open victories and the 2017 Brazilian Nationals team title trace a period of collective achievement that reflects the full maturation of the PSLPB program — from a grassroots housing arrangement for teenagers without resources to one of the most competitive team programs in international jiu-jitsu.