Márcio Carvalho Corleta

Márcio Carvalho Corleta was born on September 15, 1975, in Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. His BJJ journey began on April 2nd, 1993, when he stepped onto the mats under Ricardo Murgel — placing him among a formative generation of practitioners building the sport's foothold in southern Brazil, far from its historical epicenter in Rio de Janeiro.

What set Corleta apart from the outset was not just his dedication to training but an entrepreneurial instinct that emerged well before he reached the upper belt ranks. As a blue belt, he founded his own academy — Academia Winner — an audacious move that signaled the ambition and independence defining his career both on and off the mats.

Corleta's ascent through the belt system took its most defining turn when he joined Behring Jiu Jitsu, coming under the mentorship of Mauricio Behring and Sylvio Behring — two of the most respected names in the art's history. Earning his black belt within the Behring lineage connected Corleta to a legacy rooted in the teachings of Hélio Gracie, whose own foundation traces back to Judo and Jiu-Jitsu pioneer Mitsuyo Maeda.

Following his affiliation with the Behring family, Corleta rebranded his school as Winner-Behring, formally aligning his growing institution with one of BJJ's most storied lineages. His competitive record across belt levels tells the story of a methodical rise: a Brazilian National Championship at purple belt in 1997, a World Championship silver medal at brown belt in 1999, and a black belt debut at the elite level that would soon culminate in a world title.

Competing in the Peso Pesadíssimo division — the ultra-heavyweight category for athletes over 100kg/220lbs — Corleta established himself as one of the premier competitors of his generation in BJJ's most physically demanding weight class. His sustained dominance across more than a decade of black belt competition speaks to the consistency that earned him recognition as a peer-acknowledged elite in the division.

World Titles and a Career of Finals Appearances

The pinnacle of Corleta's competitive career arrived in 2001, when he claimed the World Championship title at black belt — the sport's most prestigious individual honor. That gold medal was part of a sustained campaign across major international stages: a World Cup Championship at black belt in 2004, and a Pan American Championship at black belt in 2009, demonstrating that his competitive edge remained razor-sharp well into his late thirties.

Along the way, Corleta accumulated silver medals at the World Championship in 2005 (black belt), at the brown belt level in 1999, and at the purple belt level in 1997 — a remarkable record of finals-level performances across three belt divisions. A Pan American silver medal in 2005 further cemented his standing as one of the ultra-heavyweight division's most consistent presences on the international circuit.

Alongside his Jiu-Jitsu competition schedule, Corleta pursued a career in mixed martial arts, competing both in Brazil and internationally. His crossover into MMA reflected the broader movement of his generation — elite BJJ practitioners who stepped into the rapidly expanding world of professional fighting during the sport's global growth period in the late 1990s and 2000s. As an ultra-heavyweight with a refined grappling foundation, Corleta brought precise submission skills into an environment demanding versatility and adaptation, testing his craft against opponents from multiple combat disciplines across continents.

Corleta's legacy extends well beyond his personal competitive record into the institutional development of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The academy he founded as a blue belt — Academia Winner — grew from a single school in Porto Alegre into an expanding network that he eventually took international. After affiliating with the Behring family and rebranding as Winner-Behring, the school continued to evolve, with Corleta ultimately operating under the Winner Jiu Jitsu identity as his team's primary flag.

The expansion of Winner Jiu-Jitsu beyond Brazil's borders stands as a tangible measure of Corleta's impact on the global spread of the art. By building an academy network that carried BJJ into new regions, he translated his competitive achievements into a lasting institutional contribution — functioning simultaneously as a world-class competitor and an architect of the sport's infrastructure in communities where it had yet to take root.