Leandro Lima

Born on November 21, 1995, in Manaus, Brazil, Leandro Lima de Souza grew up in a household where Brazilian jiu-jitsu was already woven into daily life. His father's active involvement in the sport drew the young Leandro to the mats at age seven, establishing an early immersion that would shape his entire athletic identity.

His first instructor was Guilherme Neto, who taught at the Orley Lobato academy in Manaus and began building the technical foundations that would later fuel Leandro's aggressive competitive style. Instruction at the gym eventually passed to Orley Lobato himself, who guided Leandro through his formative years and carried him all the way through his green belt — providing the stable, experienced environment a developing competitor requires during that critical phase.

With growing ambitions and an appetite for higher-level competition, Leandro made a deliberate choice as a green belt to seek a more demanding training environment. He joined the academy of Faustino Neto — widely known as Master Pina — a historically significant gym in Manaus that has produced numerous internationally recognized competitors. The move proved transformative. Leandro remained under Master Pina's guidance through every subsequent belt stage, earning his black belt on September 1, 2017.

A second pivotal coaching relationship took shape during this period. Through Manuel Ribamar, a fellow Manaus competitor with connections to both Master Pina and the renowned São Paulo-based coach Cicero Costha, Leandro gained access to Costha's training methodology. The partnership deepened steadily, ultimately leading Lima to relocate permanently to São Paulo in pursuit of elite-level preparation. The combined influence of Faustino Neto and Cicero Costha is widely regarded as central to his evolution as a black belt competitor.

Leandro Lima built his reputation on the Brazilian competitive circuit through a distinctly pressure-oriented game — relentless, forward-moving, and designed to impose his will from the opening exchange. His ability to dictate pace and position from the first moments of a match became a defining characteristic that consistently unsettled opponents across the national scene.

IBJJF Circuit Titles

His results on the IBJJF circuit reflect that consistency. Lima claimed gold at the IBJJF São Paulo Open in 2019, then returned to the top of the podium at the IBJJF Floripa Fall Open in 2022, the 2023 IBJJF Betim Open, and the 2023 IBJJF Rio Open — a run of Open-level titles that underlined his reliability as a competitor at that tier.

National and International Pedigree

His competitive record stretches back to his earlier belt stages. As a purple belt in 2014, he claimed first place at the IBJJF South American Championship and reached the final of the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals that same year — results that signaled his trajectory well before he reached black belt. A runner-up finish at the AJP Grand Slam in Rio de Janeiro in 2023 further demonstrated his capacity to perform against high-caliber opposition at the international professional level. Leandro competes in the Peso Leve division, with a weight limit of 76 kg (168 lbs).

In 2023, a new professional team took shape in São Paulo, assembled by uniting elite athletes from several prominent academies across the city and region — among them Dream Art, New School Brotherhood, Barbosa, and Cicero Costha. Named Fratres, the collective was built to create a high-performance environment that combined the competitive strengths of multiple programs under a single, unified banner.

Leandro Lima received a personal invitation to join Fratres as part of the founding roster — a direct reflection of the standing he had earned within the São Paulo BJJ community through years of consistent results. His acceptance marked the opening of a new professional chapter and reinforced his commitment to competing at the highest levels the sport has to offer.