Eduardo Roque

Eduardo de Araújo Roque was born on February 20, 1999, in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and spent his formative years on Gigoia Island in Bairro da Tijuca. By his own admission, he was not a naturally gifted athlete — in an interview with BJJ Heroes in December 2021, he recalled being consistently the last picked in neighborhood team games, a detail that makes the arc of his sporting life all the more compelling.

At the age of 10, Roque's trajectory shifted when friends from his neighborhood began training jiu-jitsu under Neovan Oliveira da Costa, a black belt known as "Perninha" who ran a social project on Gigoia Island alongside his partner "Tico." Following his friends to class, Eduardo took his first steps onto the mats through this community-driven initiative — one that would define not only his sport but his sense of identity within it. The project's accessibility, rooted in the fabric of his neighborhood, formed the foundation of his relationship with jiu-jitsu.

Eduardo Roque built his competitive career under the guidance of Neovan Oliveira da Costa (Perninha) while affiliating with Gordo Jiu-Jitsu Academy, where he worked alongside head coaches Roberto Corrêa (Gordo) and Rafael Corrêa (Gordinho). The combination of his foundational instructor and the resources of one of Brazil's most storied academies provided the platform from which his competitive rise was launched.

Blue Belt Breakthrough

In 2018, Roque traveled to the United States as a blue belt to compete at the IBJJF World Championships. The tournament did not go his way, but rather than return home, he committed to building a sustained presence on the IBJJF circuit. That resolve caught the attention of Rafael Lima Corrêa (Gordinho), who offered his Florida academy, Start Jiu-Jitsu, as a training base. The gesture proved pivotal. By the end of 2018, Roque had reversed his fortunes entirely — claiming gold at the IBJJF European Open and the IBJJF American Nationals at blue belt, closing the year ranked first on the IBJJF standings.

Purple and Brown Belt Ascent

His progression through the ranks maintained that same upward momentum. At purple belt in 2019, Roque again captured the European Open and American Nationals titles. The move to brown belt brought continued success, including American Nationals gold in 2020. The defining result of his pre-black belt career arrived in 2021 — the IBJJF World Championship title in the Peso Pena division (70 kg / 154.5 lbs), supplemented by a silver medal at the IBJJF Pan Championships that same year.

On December 21, 2021, Eduardo Roque received his black belt in a ceremony led by Neovan Oliveira da Costa — the same coach who had first introduced him to the sport more than a decade earlier on Gigoia Island.

Throughout his colored belt career, Eduardo Roque established himself as one of the most consistent competitors on the IBJJF's global circuit, representing Gordo JJ / R1ng across events on multiple continents. Splitting his time between Brazil and the United States, he maximized his competitive exposure by targeting the sport's most prestigious tournaments at every belt level.

Juvenile Foundations

His competitive record stretches back to the juvenile ranks, where early results foreshadowed the consistency he would later bring to the senior divisions. Roque finished second at the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals in 2015 before returning to claim the gold medal at that same event in 2016 — an early indicator of the resilience that would define his career.

A Career Built on Consistency

Across blue, purple, and brown belt, Roque accumulated titles at the IBJJF World Championships, the IBJJF European Open, the IBJJF American Nationals, and the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals — spanning the full breadth of the circuit's most coveted events. The trajectory of his career, from a neighborhood social project in Rio de Janeiro where he was routinely overlooked as an athlete to becoming an IBJJF World Champion, stands as a testament to the power of persistence and the environment that shapes it.