Leticia Teixeira

Letícia Teixeira dos Santos was born in April 2000 in Vila São Pedro, Bonsucesso, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her path to the mats was built on an athletic foundation that predates her first grip on a gi by more than a decade. From age three, she trained in swimming as a therapeutic measure to address a childhood leg growth issue — a discipline she maintained for years and that forged both the physical conditioning and mental resilience that would define her as a competitor.

At eighteen, Letícia transitioned to Brazilian jiu-jitsu, drawn initially by a practical goal: weight loss. That straightforward motivation quickly gave way to a competitive calling. She found her first training home at a GF Team–affiliated gym in Rio de Janeiro, where coaches Bruno Guedes and Marcio Ribeiro introduced her to the foundational principles of the sport. The shift from competitive swimmer to dedicated BJJ athlete reflects a pattern that runs throughout her development — an ability to adapt to new environments and extract maximum growth from each one.

Letícia's belt journey traces a deliberate path through some of Brazil's most respected training structures. Her colored-belt years began within the GF Team system under Bruno Guedes and Marcio Ribeiro, where she built the technical foundation that would carry her to the top of the IBJJF colored-belt circuit. As she advanced to purple belt, GF Team instructor Thiago Cidro took over her development — a mentorship that proved pivotal. Cidro ultimately promoted her to brown belt, marking the start of her most decorated competitive chapter.

In 2024, Letícia relocated to São Paulo and began training with Fratres, broadening her competitive exposure and refining her game during her brown belt years. Then, in 2025, she made the most consequential move of her career, traveling to the United States to join Atos Jiu-Jitsu at their San Diego headquarters under André Galvão and Angélica Galvão. In June 2025, the Galvãos promoted her to black belt at Atos HQ — completing a journey that had taken her from the gyms of Rio de Janeiro to one of the sport's premier academies.

Her lineage traces directly through the Gracie tradition: Carlos Gracie > Reyson Gracie > Osvaldo Alves > Luis Dagmar > André Galvão > Letícia Teixeira dos Santos.

Letícia Teixeira dos Santos competes as a guard passer — an identity built on top pressure, positional control, and the systematic dismantling of an opponent's defensive structure. Rather than hunting submissions from the bottom, she dictates the terms of each match from above, grinding opponents out of their guards through technical precision and physical commitment. This approach aligns naturally with the structured passing systems cultivated within both the GF Team and Atos Jiu-Jitsu environments that shaped her game.

She competes primarily in the Pesado division at 79 kg / 175 lbs under Gi rulesets, and also enters No-Gi competition at 77 kg. Her willingness to enter Absolute divisions further demonstrates confidence in her game across weight classes and formats. The consistent podium finishes she accumulated across the IBJJF World Championship, European Championship, Pan Championship, and CBJJ Brazilian Nationals at the brown belt level confirm that her guard-passing identity holds up against the highest-caliber colored-belt competition in the world.

Purple Belt Breakthrough

Letícia's competitive profile first drew serious attention at purple belt, when she reached the final of the IBJJF World Championship in 2022 and earned a silver medal. That runner-up finish announced her as a future contender and set the tone for the ascent through the brown belt ranks that followed.

Brown Belt Ascent

Her brown belt campaign opened in 2023 with bronze at the 2023 IBJJF World Championship and bronze at the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals, while she also reached the final of the 2023 IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship. By 2024, the results sharpened: gold at the 2024 IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship — her first major IBJJF title — alongside silver at the 2024 IBJJF European Championship, silver at the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals, and bronze at the 2024 IBJJF World Championship.

2025 Brown Belt Season and Black Belt Promotion

The 2025 brown belt season represented the apex of her colored-belt career. Letícia claimed gold at the 2025 IBJJF European Championship, gold at the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals, and — most significantly — gold at the 2025 IBJJF World Championship, the sport's most prestigious colored-belt event. That sweep of the major titles culminated in her black belt promotion from André Galvão and Angélica Galvão in June 2025. Following her promotion, she continued competing at the black belt level in 2025, with appearances at the American Nationals, Pan No-Gi, Atlanta Open, and World No-Gi on the IBJJF circuit.