Mauricio Gomez

Maurício Gomes — widely known by his nickname Maurição — began his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu journey at the exceptionally young age of four, setting the foundation for a lifelong bond with the sport. His introduction to the mat came through his father, a brown belt under João Alberto Barreto, who trained at Barreto's academy and instilled in his son both a deep passion for the art and a fierce competitive drive from childhood.

Training under João Alberto Barreto provided Gomes with his earliest and most formative BJJ education. As Barreto shifted his professional focus toward a career in psychology, however, the team's competitive intensity gradually faded. With the academy losing its guiding force, a teenage Maurição began searching for a higher level of training — one that matched the ambition he had carried since those first years on the mat.

In 1975, Maurício Gomes made a pivotal decision that would define the rest of his BJJ career. On the recommendation of his close friend Marcio Stambowsky — who had been training with Rolls Gracie and spoke highly of the quality and camaraderie at his academy — Gomes joined the Rolls Gracie camp, forging what would become one of the most important training relationships of his life.

Gomes trained under Rolls Gracie continuously from 1975 until Rolls' passing in 1982, receiving his black belt directly from the legendary master during that period. This placed Maurição within an exceptionally rare and elite group: the black belts personally promoted by Rolls Gracie, one of the most revered figures in the history of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. His development during these years translated directly to the competitive stage, where he established himself as a formidable presence throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In 1981, he claimed the Rio de Janeiro State Championship in the absolute division — one of the defining results of his competitive career.

Beyond the mats, Gomes' close proximity to the Gracie Barra family brought significant personal developments as well. It was through this connection that he met Reila Gracie, sister of Rolls Gracie and daughter of Carlos Gracie Sr. Though their relationship did not last, the two became the parents of Roger Gracie, who would later rise to become one of the most accomplished competitors in the history of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

The death of Rolls Gracie in 1982 sent a profound shock through the Brazilian BJJ community. Maurício Gomes was among the many of Rolls' students who stepped back from competitive Jiu-Jitsu in the wake of that loss — a pattern common among the tight-knit group of athletes Rolls had cultivated. The passing of his master represented not only a personal grief but the dissolution of a team whose identity had been inseparable from Rolls himself.

Despite distancing himself from competition, Gomes never fully abandoned the sport. He maintained his connection to Jiu-Jitsu by training with Carlinhos Gracie, Rolls' brother and a former assistant coach at the academy, using the practice primarily as a means of keeping physically active. This quieter chapter would eventually give way to a new and ambitious undertaking — one that would take him far beyond Brazil and place him at the center of the sport's expansion into Europe.

Just before the turn of the 21st century, Maurício Gomes relocated to Birmingham, England, and established one of the first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academies on British soil. In doing so, he founded the first Gracie Barra franchise in the United Kingdom — a landmark moment not only for the Gracie Barra organization but for the broader development of BJJ across Europe.

As the academy gained momentum, Gomes shifted his base of operations south to London, where throughout the 2000s he opened a network of gyms that brought structured, high-level BJJ instruction to the British capital. Among these was a location at the Seymour Leisure Centre in the Marylebone district, later handed over to Roger Brooking as Gomes continued to expand his reach. To support the growing demands of this network, he brought his son Roger Gracie from Brazil to assist — a decision that proved consequential both for the academies and for Roger's own trajectory as a world-class competitor.

Maurício Gomes played a direct and instrumental role in shaping the careers of two athletes who would come to define BJJ competition in the early 21st century. As the driving force behind the Gracie Barra UK academy network, he created an environment in which elite talent could develop and thrive.

His son Roger Gracie, brought to London to assist with the growing academies, developed within that system into what many regard as the most accomplished BJJ competitor of his generation — a legacy that Maurição's early guidance and family influence helped make possible. In 2003, Gomes further demonstrated his eye for talent when he learned that Braulio Estima, a Pan American champion, was seeking opportunities in London. Recognizing the potential of pairing Estima with Roger, Gomes brought him into the camp and facilitated a training partnership between the two rising stars. As part of that arrangement, he entrusted Braulio Estima with stewardship of the Birmingham Gracie Barra franchise — a decision that reflected both his confidence in Estima and his broader commitment to investing in the sport's future. The foundations Gomes laid through his academy network and his nurturing of elite talent helped establish Gracie Barra UK as one of the strongest BJJ organizations in Europe.