Matheus Felipe Xavier

Matheus Felipe Xavier was born and raised in Natal, the state capital of Rio Grande do Norte in Northeastern Brazil, growing up in the Nova Natal neighborhood. His martial arts journey began with Muay Thai at the age of 15 — a discipline he pursued with enough dedication to step into competitive Thai boxing. While the striking art suited him, it was Brazilian jiu-jitsu that would ultimately claim his focus, and the catalyst came from within his own family.

Xavier's sister was establishing herself as a serious BJJ competitor during that period, and watching her compete drew him into the grappling world. Attending tournaments as a spectator ignited a genuine curiosity in the sport, and at 16 he made the transition, enrolling at the academy of Cristiano Tchê. Under Tchê's guidance, Xavier built the foundational skills that earned him his blue belt — the first milestone in what would become an elite-level competitive career.

After earning his blue belt, Xavier sought a more competition-intensive environment and joined the academy of brothers Bruno Barreto and Thiago Barreto, who ran one of the most competitively driven programs in the region under the Checkmat banner. The move proved formative. Xavier earned every subsequent belt promotion under the Barreto brothers and grew into one of the standout athletes at Checkmat RN.

His development hit a brief interruption when the Barreto brothers began relocating to Abu Dhabi to contribute to the UAE's ambitious BJJ development project — first Thiago, then Bruno. The separation lasted only a few months. Xavier's ability on the mats had not gone unnoticed, and he received an invitation to join them in Abu Dhabi — both to compete and to contribute as a coach within the local circuit. Reunited with the Barretos in the UAE, he entered the most dominant stretch of his colored belt career.

Xavier's brown belt years stand as one of the most decorated runs in the super-heavyweight division across major international competition circuits. In 2017, he claimed gold at the IBJJF World Championship at brown belt — the sport's most prestigious colored belt event — establishing himself immediately as a top-tier competitor on the global stage. That same season, he reached the final of the UAEJJF Abu Dhabi World Pro, earning a silver medal that signaled his rising dominance in the UAE circuit.

Sweeping the Grand Slam Circuit

The 2017–2018 season brought an extraordinary run of results across the UAEJJF and its associated competition series. Xavier swept the Grand Slam circuit, winning gold at events in Tokyo, London, and Abu Dhabi, and added the UAEJJF Abu Dhabi World Pro title and the UAEJJF Asian Continental Pro to his résumé — all at brown belt. His consistency across multiple formats translated directly into the season-end rankings: Xavier claimed the UAEJJF #1 Brown Belt Ranking for 2017–2018, confirming his status as the top competitor in his division across the entire circuit.

Multi-Organization Dominance

Xavier also tested himself across other platforms during the same period, reaching the finals of the ACBJJ World Championship, ACBJJ European Championship, and ACBJJ North American Championship in 2018. A third-place finish at the IBJJF World Championship that same year — against a field that included athletes who would go on to distinguished black belt careers — underscored his ability to perform at the elite level across different rulesets and organizations.

Leonardo Vieira, head coach of Checkmat, together with Alvin Phung and Frank Phung, established the "Rising Stars" program during Xavier's time in the UAE — an initiative designed to identify and support high-potential emerging athletes by providing free training, accommodation, and sponsorship. The program reflected both Checkmat's institutional presence in the UAE and a broader investment in elite BJJ talent development within the local competition ecosystem.

The Barreto brothers played an active role in securing Xavier's inclusion, advocating on his behalf based on the results he had already produced on the mat. The structural support the program provided — eliminating the logistical and financial pressures that constrain many competitive athletes — gave Xavier the platform to sustain the relentless competition schedule that defined his brown belt years. His participation in Rising Stars also deepened his relationship with Vieira, the Checkmat figurehead who would later play a central role in his black belt ceremony.

Xavier's black belt promotion took place on September 18, 2021, in a ceremony led by Leonardo Vieira, with the full backing of Bruno Barreto and Thiago Barreto. The promotion brought together the three coaches who had guided different phases of his development — the Barreto brothers who shaped his competitive identity in Natal and Abu Dhabi, and Vieira whose program supported the final stretch of his colored belt career. The collaborative nature of the ceremony reflected the layered mentorship structure that defined Xavier's path through the sport.

The extended timeline between his peak brown belt results and his black belt promotion speaks to the high standards within Checkmat and the realities of an unconventional, continent-spanning career. Among his notable early black belt results are a gold medal at the 2019 IBJJF Rio Fall Open and a bronze medal at the AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro in 2021 — a result achieved in the same year as his promotion, confirming that his competitive edge remained sharp through the rank transition.

Xavier's journey from a teenager watching his sister compete in Natal to a Checkmat black belt who dominated the UAEJJF circuit at brown belt illustrates the increasingly global nature of elite BJJ development — a career built not in one place, but across academies, continents, and circuits, shaped at every stage by coaches who invested in his potential.