Mauro Ayres

Mauro Ayres was born on November 9, 1976, in the Lagos region of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. As a child, his boundless energy prompted his mother to channel that restlessness into martial arts — first karate, then judo. On the judo mat, a clear preference emerged: Ayres gravitated naturally toward newaza, the ground-work component of the art, finding far more satisfaction in controlling and submitting opponents from the floor than in standing exchanges.

That affinity proved to be a defining signal. In 1994, Ayres took his first Brazilian jiu-jitsu class under Roberto Atalla, and the experience immediately resonated. BJJ's technical depth, its emphasis on positional control, and its submission-based framework aligned perfectly with what he had already discovered he loved about judo. That first class set in motion a lifelong commitment to the art, and his early exposure to multiple striking and grappling disciplines gave Ayres a broad martial foundation that would serve him throughout his career.

Following his introduction to jiu-jitsu, Ayres built his foundational years at AMAN under coach Alexandre Andrade, progressing from white belt through brown belt under Andrade's guidance. Simultaneously, he deepened his grappling base by training judo under Sensei Leopoldo De Lucca, whose influence sharpened his understanding of throws, transitions, and ground control.

The path to black belt, however, was neither linear nor without hardship. The death of Sensei De Lucca weighed heavily on Ayres, and a knee injury compounded the disruption, pulling him away from consistent training during a critical stretch of his development. It was during this period that Alexandre Andrade moved to award Ayres his black belt — a gesture Ayres declined, feeling he had not earned the rank through the sustained dedication it required. The refusal spoke directly to his personal standards and his conviction about what the black belt must represent.

Ayres eventually found his way to Nova Geração, coming under the mentorship of Francisco Albuquerque, widely known as "Toco." Albuquerque officially promoted Ayres to black belt in 2004 — the formal recognition Ayres had earlier turned away. The achievement was subsequently registered by the IBJJF and CBJJ in 2006, completing a black belt journey shaped as much by personal integrity as by technical progression.

Mauro Ayres built one of the most consistent and geographically diverse competitive records in the Masters divisions, accumulating titles across South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East over more than a decade of elite-level competition.

Early Titles and Domestic Dominance

His early competitive highlights came in the adult division. In 2006, Ayres captured gold at the Pan-American Championship, announcing himself as a legitimate force in the Peso Pluma (64kg/141lbs) division. Two years later, in 2008, he added the CBJJ Brazilian National Championship title in Master 1, establishing himself among the top grapplers in his weight class on the domestic circuit.

Expanding the International Footprint

As Ayres moved deeper into the Masters divisions, his competitive reach expanded well beyond Brazil. In 2012, he traveled to Asia and earned silver at the 2012 IBJJF Asian Open in Master 2, demonstrating a willingness to test himself far from home. The following year brought gold at the 2013 IBJJF Lisbon Open in Master 2, adding a European title to a résumé that was rapidly taking on international scope.

The mid-2010s represented a particularly productive stretch. Ayres claimed UAEJJF Grand Slam RJ gold in 2015 in Master 2, followed by the FJJ-R Rio de Janeiro State championship in Master 2 in 2016. Bronze medals at the Pan-American Championships in 2014 and across multiple years in the Master 3 era further underlined his reliability at the highest levels of Masters competition.

The Peak Years: 2017–2019

The peak of his competitive career arrived in 2018 when Ayres won gold at the 2018 IBJJF European Open in the Master 3 division — the most prestigious title of his career. That same year, he collected bronze medals at both the IBJJF World Masters and the IBJJF South America Masters, capping a remarkable twelve-month run. In 2017, he had already claimed the Rio BJJ Pro title in Master 3 and earned silver at the European Open in the same division. A final bronze at the 2019 IBJJF European Open in Master 3 closed out his most decorated competitive era and confirmed a longevity that few athletes sustain at the elite level.

After competing under the Nova Geração banner, Ayres established his own affiliation, founding Mauro Ayres BJJ as both a competitive team and a teaching platform rooted in his personal philosophy of the art. The project took physical form in two locations: a grappling academy in Ipanema, in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro — the city where Ayres grew up and developed as an athlete — and a second academy in Davis, California, extending his reach into the North American market.

The dual-location structure reflects a bridge between the culture of Brazilian jiu-jitsu as it developed in Rio de Janeiro and the growing demand for high-level instruction in the United States. For Ayres, whose competitive career had already taken him across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, the transatlantic model was a natural extension of the international outlook he had cultivated on the competition circuit.

Known to training partners and students as "Maurinho" — a Portuguese diminutive meaning "little Mauro," a nod to his slight frame and Peso Pluma competition weight — Ayres carries into his coaching identity the same qualities that defined his competitive career: technical precision, consistency, and a standard of personal integrity that once led him to refuse a black belt he did not feel he had fully earned.