Mark Ramos

Mark Ramos was born and raised in New Jersey, USA, of Portuguese descent. His earliest connection with combat sports came through wrestling, which he pursued throughout his high school years. Though persistent disagreements with the head coach limited his development on the scholastic circuit, the experience forged the athletic foundation and grappling instincts that would define his later career.

Ramos discovered Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu through the early UFC events, which ignited a deep and lasting interest in the sport. In May 2006, he converted that passion into action, signing up at Edson Carvalho's academy and formally beginning his BJJ journey. His competitive drive surfaced almost immediately. Just months after stepping on the mats, in October 2006, Ramos entered his first tournament — the Grapplers Quest — and walked away with three medals: gold in the Gi weight class, the Gi absolute division, and the No-Gi division. It was a remarkable debut that signaled a competitor with rare natural talent and an innate hunger to test himself.

One of the defining characteristics of Edson Carvalho's program is its strong emphasis on the stand-up dimensions of grappling, integrating Judo and wrestling into the foundational curriculum in a way that sets it apart from many BJJ academies. Ramos embraced this philosophy fully, training Judo not only under Carvalho but also under coaches Al Pinto and Robson Chagas — building a well-rounded stand-up game to complement his ground-based skills.

Ramos competed regularly on the Judo circuit throughout his BJJ career, accumulating an impressive record that ran parallel to his submission grappling results. His dedication to this dual-discipline approach peaked in 2010, when he won the New Jersey State Judo Championships — a title that earned him a place at the US Nationals. Only two brown belts in the country reached that stage that year, underscoring just how far his Judo development had advanced relative to his peers.

Mark Ramos's upward trajectory was interrupted in 2009 by a serious setback. While preparing for the European Jiu-Jitsu Open, he tore his ACL — one of the most debilitating injuries a grappler can face. Surgery followed, and a nine-month recovery process forced him off the competition circuit during a period of considerable momentum.

Ramos returned to competition in September 2009, and the comeback was immediate and authoritative. He entered the No-Gi Pan Americans and fought his way to the final, demonstrating that nine months on the sidelines had done nothing to blunt his competitive edge. In the months that followed, he strung together multiple tournament victories, channeling the adversity of his injury and recovery as fuel. The resilience he showed during this period proved to be a turning point — laying the psychological and physical groundwork for the breakthrough seasons that followed in 2010 and 2011.

The stretch from 2009 to 2011 represented the most decorated phase of Ramos's career in the lower belt ranks. In 2009, riding the momentum of his post-surgery return, he captured the No-Gi World Championship at purple belt — a title earned in the same year he had rebuilt himself from a torn ACL. He followed that performance with an even more commanding showing in 2010, winning the No-Gi World Championship again at brown belt, establishing himself as one of the most consistent no-gi competitors in the country across consecutive belt levels.

The 2011 season was arguably his most complete as a brown belt. Ramos claimed the Pan American Championship, the American National Championship, the ADCC American Trials, and the New York Open — a haul that reflected both the breadth and depth of his competitive dominance. The ADCC American Trials title carried particular weight given the caliber of grapplers who compete at trials events, where seasoned veterans converge in pursuit of their own qualification ambitions.

On October 8, 2011, Mark Ramos received his black belt from Edson Carvalho, closing a brown belt career defined by two No-Gi World titles, multiple continental and national championships, and one of the most resilient comebacks of his competitive era.

With his black belt secured and a clear vision for his future in the sport, Mark Ramos moved swiftly to establish his own academy. On January 3, 2012, the Mark Ramos Academy opened its doors at 175 State Rt 17 South, Rochelle Park, NJ 07662, before later relocating to Lodi, NJ — a move that reflects the school's growth and its sustained presence in the New Jersey BJJ community.

The academy embodies the same well-rounded, stand-up-integrated approach to grappling that shaped Ramos's development under Edson Carvalho, with Judo and wrestling woven into the curriculum as natural complements to ground-based BJJ technique. Ramos continued competing after his black belt promotion, adding Pan American Championship titles at the black belt level to a résumé that already ranks among the most accomplished in his region. Through both his competition record and his work as an instructor, Mark Ramos has established himself as a meaningful and influential figure in the development of BJJ in New Jersey.