Livia Gluchowska

Livia Gluchowska was born on September 14, 1984, in Opole, Poland, and grew up in Wrocław before her family relocated to Australia when she was 12. Her relationship with elite sport began at age 7, when she took up gymnastics and quickly distinguished herself as a competitor across Europe. Rather than stepping back from the sport after the move, she stepped up — earning a place on the Australian national gymnastics team and committing to a training schedule of approximately 32 hours per week for nearly seven years.

That level of dedication forged qualities that would carry directly into her grappling career: a rigorous work ethic, exceptional body awareness, and a high pain threshold. After leaving gymnastics, she channelled her competitive drive into cycling, competing on the national circuit before turning toward her academic ambitions. She graduated with a Bachelor of Physiotherapy with Honours from the University of Melbourne — adding a deep scientific understanding of the human body to an already formidable athletic foundation.

First Contact and Early Development

Gluchowska's introduction to Brazilian jiu-jitsu came in 2010 during a holiday in Rio de Janeiro, where she trained at Fightzone in the Copacabana neighbourhood. That initial exposure was enough to set her course. Back in Australia, she began training formally under Daniel Shaw, who awarded her the blue belt and laid the technical groundwork for her development.

Defining Partnership and International Breakthrough

Her training later came under the direction of Lachlan Giles and Thiago Stefanutti at Academia Maromba — a partnership that would define the trajectory of her career. During her purple belt years, Gluchowska announced herself as a serious international competitor, capturing titles at the Mundial, No-Gi Worlds, and the Asian Open. That run of results demonstrated both her technical growth and her capacity to perform under pressure on the global stage.

Giles and Stefanutti promoted Gluchowska through brown and black belt, with her black belt formally presented on May 3, 2017. A biographical note worth mentioning: although her passport records her first name as Liwia — reflecting its Polish spelling — she has long been known in the BJJ community as Livia, the version used in international competition records.

Blue and Purple Belt Titles

Few grapplers build as complete a colored belt résumé as Gluchowska assembled across blue, purple, and brown. Her credentials were established in 2013, when she claimed gold at the IBJJF World Championship at blue belt and followed it with the IBJJF No-Gi World Championship title at purple belt in the same year — a strong early signal that her game translated equally well across gi and no-gi formats.

The purple belt years proved her most prolific competitive stretch. In 2014, she won the IBJJF Asian International Open and reached the podium at the CBJJ Brazilian National Championship, placing second against a field of emerging talent. The 2015 season brought further success, with victories at the IBJJF Melbourne International Open and the IBJJF Melbourne International No-Gi Open, plus a silver medal at the IBJJF World Championship — confirmation of how close she had come to the very top of her division.

Brown Belt Dominance

Her brown belt campaign was equally impressive. In 2016, she claimed the IBJJF World Championship title and added another IBJJF Asian International Open gold, capping a colored belt career defined by consistent excellence across disciplines, weight classes, and continents.

Transition and Early Black Belt Results

Gluchowska's move into black belt competition was less a clean break than a continuation of momentum already built. In 2016, still competing as a brown belt, she entered the Abu Dhabi World Pro and defeated a black belt opponent before falling to Michelle Nicolini in the next round — a result that underlined both her readiness for the highest level and her willingness to test herself against the best. That same year, she claimed victory in a Copa Podio Superfight, a prestigious result in an invite-only format that brought together elite competitors and added a distinct dimension to her record.

Black Belt Progression

Following her black belt promotion on May 3, 2017, Gluchowska returned to the Abu Dhabi World Pro and secured a third-place finish, demonstrating that she belonged among the sport's elite at the new belt level. Later that year, she earned a silver medal at the IBJJF No-Gi World Championship — a landmark result confirming her continued effectiveness in no-gi competition at the highest level. By 2018, she had improved her Abu Dhabi World Pro standing to a second-place finish, reflecting the steady upward trajectory that has characterised her career.

Gluchowska competes primarily in the Peso Galo (48.5 kg) and Peso Pluma (53.5 kg) divisions. Her record across those weight classes — built through ADCC Asian Trials, UAEJJF events, Copa Podio, and IBJJF world-level competition — reflects a career shaped by range, consistency, and the discipline of an athlete who has competed at elite levels since childhood.