Maria Pinto

Maria Luiza Nunes Pinto was born on October 31, 2002, in Tiradentes, a city within the state of São Paulo, Brazil. At age 9, she relocated with her family to Rio de Janeiro — a move that would set the stage for her introduction to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Her first contact with the sport came through her father-in-law, a brown belt who recognized the value the martial art could bring to the young athlete's life.

Maria Luiza's earliest training took place at a social project in the Beira do Rio community, where she trained under a coach named Kimo. The community-based environment proved to be a meaningful entry point into the sport, instilling in her a foundational love for jiu-jitsu. When the social project was forced to shut down, she faced her first real obstacle in the sport — but her passion for jiu-jitsu was already too deeply rooted to be derailed by circumstance.

Following the closure of the Beira do Rio social project, Maria Luiza found her next training home at Nova União in the Recreio area of Rio de Janeiro. Under the guidance of coaches Jobel Teixeira and Leandro Thule, she advanced through the early colored belt ranks, earning her orange belt. The technical foundation and competitive mindset cultivated during this period proved instrumental in shaping the athlete she would become.

At age 14, Maria Luiza returned to São Paulo and made a pivotal move by joining Caio Almeida's academy, Almeida Jiu-Jitsu. The transition marked a clear shift in her relationship with the sport — from casual participation to full-time competitive dedication. That transformation deepened at age 15, when her first trip to the United States broadened her perspective on what was achievable in jiu-jitsu and sharpened her ambitions as a high-level competitor.

Maria Luiza demonstrated early promise at the juvenile level, earning podium finishes at the IBJJF World Championship in 2018 and 2019, along with a runner-up finish at the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals in 2019. It was at the brown belt level, however, that she emerged as one of the most dominant competitors of her generation. In 2023, competing across the Peso Pena (58.50 kg) and Peso Leve (64 kg) divisions, she delivered a landmark season that announced her arrival at the elite tier of the sport.

The centerpiece of that brown belt campaign was a gold medal at the 2023 IBJJF World Championship, paired with a title at the 2023 CBJJ Brazilian Nationals — establishing her as a dual-crown champion at one of the sport's most competitive belt levels. She also reached the podium at the 2023 IBJJF Pan Championship as runner-up and claimed a third-place finish at the 2023 IBJJF European Open, demonstrating exceptional consistency across the full international circuit. Her affiliation with Almeida Jiu-Jitsu, which holds a formal partnership with Atos, has allowed her to represent the Atos banner in international competition — granting her access to one of the sport's most decorated competitive programs.

On June 3, 2023, Caio Almeida promoted Maria Luiza Nunes Pinto to the rank of black belt. The recognition followed directly from her standout brown belt season and reflected years of consistent development across every level of competition. The promotion marked the culmination of a journey that began in a community social project in Rio de Janeiro and evolved, through dedication and competitive excellence, into one of the sport's most impressive ascents.

Shortly after receiving her black belt, Maria Luiza added a gold medal at the CBJJE Campeonato Brasileiro in 2023 to her growing résumé — a strong early statement at the sport's highest belt rank. Known within the BJJ community by the nickname "Maria Chiquinha," she carries forward the mentorship of Caio Almeida as she advances the next chapter of her career under the Almeida Jiu-Jitsu banner.