Higor Lima

Higor Lima was born on September 18, 1998, in Belém do Pará, a city in the northern Brazilian state of Pará — a region not traditionally associated with elite jiu-jitsu production. As a child, Lima showed no particular athletic inclination, participating in standard recreational activities without a strong pull toward any single sport. His entry into martial arts came at age 9, not from a deliberate search for discipline, but from simple circumstance: jiu-jitsu was the only contact sport available in his area. With no prior knowledge of the art and no specific expectations, Lima stepped onto the mats for the first time, setting in motion a journey that would carry him to national and international competition.

Eduardo Kahwage served as Higor Lima's first and only head coach, guiding his development from the ground up within the Kahwage Fight Team system. Lima progressed through every belt rank under Kahwage's instruction, building a technical foundation shaped entirely by one coaching relationship. During his late teens, Lima began standing out in the local Pará competitive scene, posting results that signaled his potential extended well beyond regional competition. Those early performances prompted Lima to commit fully to the sport, adopting a full-time training regimen with professional competition as his singular focus.

The depth of that development became clear when Lima stepped onto the national stage as a brown belt. Gold medals at the CBJJ Brazilian National Championships and the IBJJF South American Championship confirmed he ranked among the most capable competitors of his generation in Brazil. In August 2020, Eduardo Kahwage awarded Lima his black belt — formalizing a coach-athlete relationship that had transformed a curious nine-year-old into a credentialed black belt competitor ready for the sport's highest levels.

Higor Lima competes in the Peso Leve division (76 kg / 168 lbs) and has built his competitive reputation across both the IBJJF and AJP (Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Pro) circuits. His results across belt levels reflect a consistent pattern of performance at high-stakes events.

Purple and Brown Belt Highlights

At purple belt, Lima captured gold at the IBJJF South American Championship in 2017 — a result he replicated at brown belt in 2019, demonstrating the kind of cross-division consistency that distinguishes serious competitors. His 2019 brown belt campaign proved especially productive: Lima claimed gold at the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals, one of the most prestigious domestic titles in the sport, and swept regional IBJJF opens in Fortaleza and Manaus, adding the absolute division title in Manaus to his collection.

Black Belt Emergence on the International Stage

The transition to black belt competition placed Lima on a broader international platform. In 2021, he earned gold at the 2021 AJP Rio de Janeiro Pro in his weight division, a meaningful result on a circuit that draws competitive fields from across the global jiu-jitsu community. At the same event, Lima placed third in the absolute division, demonstrating his ability to hold his own against opponents from heavier weight classes. Competing under the Kahwage Fight Team banner, Lima represents a generation of talent emerging from Brazil's northern regions, carrying the developmental work of Eduardo Kahwage onto the sport's most competitive platforms.