Francisco Cuneo

Francisco "Paco" Cuneo was born on October 21, 1984, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and grew up in the city's Caballito neighborhood. He came to competitive combat sports relatively late, beginning his judo training at 16 — yet what he lacked in early exposure, he compensated for with an exceptional capacity to learn and compete. Cuneo moved through the judo ranks with unusual speed, establishing himself quickly on the Argentine tournament circuit.

The defining moment of his early career arrived in 2004, when he won the Argentinian National Championship as a brown belt, earning his judo black belt in the process. That result signaled far more than technical proficiency — it revealed the competitive temperament that would carry him to the international stage and, ultimately, to the world of professional Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Following his national title in 2004, Cuneo earned selection to Argentina's National Judo Squad, a position he held from 2005 to 2014. That decade of service placed him among the country's most decorated judoka of the era and gave him sustained exposure to the highest levels of international competition.

His results on the world stage were consistent and telling. In 2008, he claimed a bronze medal at the Brazil World Cup — one of his first major international podium finishes. The following year brought his most prominent judo result: a silver medal at the Pan Championship in 2009, a performance that cemented his reputation as a premier Pan American competitor. He continued to perform at the top level into the next decade, earning a bronze at the PJC World Cup in 2012, before concluding his elite judo career with another bronze at the Olympic Festival in 2014. Across that span, Cuneo brought physicality and tactical consistency to every tournament he entered, representing Argentina with distinction at continental and world-class events alike.

Cuneo's relationship with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu began well before he committed to the sport full time. He incorporated BJJ training into his athletic routine early in his career, developing on the mats in parallel with his ongoing judo commitments. That dual investment gave him a grappling foundation that extended well beyond the standing game — and his judo attributes, particularly grip fighting, timing, leverage, and pressure instincts, translated naturally to the ground-based demands of BJJ.

His BJJ black belt came under the guidance of Ricardo De La Riva, the legendary Brazilian master whose guard innovations shaped a generation of grapplers worldwide. Alongside his work with Ricardo De La Riva, Cuneo trained closely with Murilo Santana and Eduardo Santos, two highly respected figures in the international BJJ community whose influence sharpened both his technical game and competitive readiness. Cuneo has competed representing Gentle Art and Unity Jiu-Jitsu, reflecting his connections across top-tier academies. In 2019, following his relocation to the United States, he made the full transition to professional BJJ — committing entirely to the discipline that would define the next chapter of his athletic life.

After establishing the United States as his base in 2019, Cuneo wasted little time making his presence felt on the IBJJF circuit. His judo-forged physicality and grappling intelligence proved well-suited to the demands of high-level no-gi competition, and his results climbed steadily as he accumulated experience at the black belt level.

In 2020, Cuneo reached the podium at the IBJJF Pan Championship No-Gi, earning a bronze medal that confirmed his readiness to compete among the sport's elite. He continued building momentum through 2021, taking home a silver medal at the IBJJF American Nationals in the gi — a result that demonstrated his competency across both rulesets.

The 2022 season marked the high point of his BJJ competition record: Cuneo captured gold at both the 2022 IBJJF American Nationals No-Gi and the IBJJF Pan Championship No-Gi, a back-to-back run of titles that established him as a genuine force in the Peso Leve division (76 kg / 168 lbs). The speed with which he assembled a competitive résumé of this caliber — after committing to BJJ full time in 2019 — stands as a testament to the durability of his athletic foundation and the precision of his transition from one grappling discipline to the other.