Meyram Maquine

Meyram Maquine Alves was born on October 29, 2000, in Manaus — the capital of Amazonas state and one of Brazil's most geographically remote major cities, nestled deep within the Amazon jungle. Raised in this distinctive environment, Meyram was drawn into martial arts early, guided by a father who was a dedicated practitioner of both capoeira and jiu-jitsu. Following his father's lead, Meyram began training capoeira at age 5, developing a foundational sense of movement, rhythm, and body awareness that would later enhance his grappling instincts.

Shortly after beginning capoeira, Meyram stepped onto the BJJ mats as well, starting his grappling journey at approximately 5 or 6 years old. His first instructor, Alcenor Alves, guided him through the formative stages of his development and graded him through to blue belt. Coach Alves played a pivotal role not only in Meyram's technical foundation but also in recognizing early that the young athlete possessed the competitive drive and raw talent to perform at the sport's highest levels.

It was Alcenor Alves who first pushed Meyram to seek a more demanding competitive environment. Arranging a transfer backed by an athletic scholarship, Alves set Meyram on a path that would reshape his career entirely. Relocating from Manaus to São Paulo state, Meyram joined Guigo Jiu-Jitsu — one of Brazil's most respected competitive programs — and began training under the direct tutelage of Luiz 'Guigo' Guilherme. As a blue belt, he wasted little time establishing himself as one of the country's most promising young competitors.

His international profile began to take shape in 2016, when Meyram made his first training camp in Maryland, United States, through the student exchange protocol linking Guigo Jiu-Jitsu with Team Lloyd Irvin. The camp proved highly productive, and Meyram returned annually from that point forward, using the Maryland environment to sharpen his preparation for major international tournaments while representing both organizations on the competition circuit.

The results across his colored belt years were exceptional. In 2017, Meyram captured gold at the IBJJF World Championship Juvenile division, announcing himself as a standout talent on the global stage. He also claimed CBJJ Brazilian Nationals titles at the teen level in 2014 and at the juvenile level in 2016 and 2017. Progressing through the belt ranks, he won the IBJJF Pan Championship in 2018 at purple belt and again in 2019 at brown belt, along with the IBJJF South American Championship at brown belt in 2019. AJP Grand Slam golds in Rio de Janeiro and Abu Dhabi in 2020 further padded a colored belt résumé that placed him among the most decorated competitors of his generation. A CBJJE World Championship title in 2018 as a purple belt added yet another major credential to an already impressive collection.

Heading into 2020, Meyram and Luiz 'Guigo' Guilherme, alongside personal trainer Anaue Pavanello, had prepared meticulously to make that year the peak of his brown belt career. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted those plans, suspending the tournament calendar and postponing his world title ambitions at the rank. Rather than allow another year of stagnation, coach Guigo promoted Meyram to black belt on June 20, 2020 — a decision that would rapidly prove to be the right one.

Meyram Maquine's black belt career at the IBJJF World Championship has been defined by sustained excellence across multiple divisions and multiple years. He claimed his first black belt world title at the 2022 IBJJF World Championship, establishing himself as a genuine force in the featherweight division. He returned in 2023 to earn silver before recapturing the title at the 2024 IBJJF World Championship — demonstrating the kind of back-to-back elite performance that separates champions from one-time contenders.

The defining moment of his 2024 Worlds campaign, however, extended beyond his weight class title. Competing as a featherweight — the 70 kg / 154.5 lbs division — Meyram entered the open weight class and medaled, matching a record set by Royler Gracie 27 years prior as the lightest athlete to earn a podium finish in the IBJJF World Championship open class. The achievement drew widespread recognition within the global BJJ community, underscoring not only his technical sophistication but his ability to neutralize and compete against athletes carrying significant size and weight advantages.

Beyond the Worlds, Meyram's IBJJF footprint across his black belt years spans multiple continents and formats. He won gold at the 2022 IBJJF Pan Championship, captured the 2024 IBJJF European Championship title to demonstrate his competitive range across international stops, and earned gold at both the 2021 IBJJF South American Championship and 2023 IBJJF South American Championship. His third-place finish at the 2021 IBJJF World Championship No-Gi provided early evidence of his submission grappling capabilities — a thread that would grow increasingly relevant as his career evolved.

Parallel to his IBJJF success, Meyram built one of the most decorated records on the AJP (Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Federation) circuit of any competitor in his weight class. His first major AJP black belt result came at the 2020 AJP Grand Slam Rio de Janeiro, where he claimed gold in his debut year at the rank. He followed that with silver at the 2021 AJP Grand Slam Rio de Janeiro before stringing together victories at the 2022 AJP Grand Slam London and 2023 AJP Grand Slam London, proving his ability to perform consistently at one of the circuit's marquee international stops.

In 2022, Meyram also won the AJP King of Mats GP — a prestigious invitational format pitting the circuit's elite competitors against one another. The 2023 season proved his most complete on the AJP calendar, as he added the AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro title — widely regarded as one of the most significant events outside of the IBJJF World Championship — alongside his London Grand Slam gold that same year. A 2021 AJP South American Continental Pro title rounded out an AJP career spanning multiple years and multiple formats without a meaningful dip in performance.

Meyram's 2023 Spyder Korea Grand Prix victory further illustrated his adaptability, adding an international Grand Prix title from a distinct organizational format to a résumé already spanning IBJJF, AJP, and ACBJJ events. Taken together, his record across these circuits establishes him as one of the most versatile and consistently dominant featherweight competitors of his generation.

On June 3, 2025, Meyram Maquine signed an exclusive contract with UK-based promotion Polaris, marking a significant new chapter in his career and a deliberate pivot toward no-gi submission grappling at the highest level. The deal came on the heels of a gi career that had seen him reach the top of multiple international circuits, and it positioned him to apply his technical game within a format and promotional structure that has increasingly attracted the sport's elite practitioners.

Meyram's engagement with no-gi competition was not without precedent — his third-place finish at the 2021 IBJJF World Championship No-Gi had already demonstrated that his submission grappling translated effectively outside the gi. The Polaris contract, however, represented a formal and exclusive commitment to that direction. On January 16, 2026, Meyram was announced as a short-notice addition to the Polaris Squad for Polaris 35, set to face the WNO Squad in a team-format event. The announcement confirmed his active integration into the elite no-gi competitive scene under the Polaris banner, and signaled that his transition from gi-dominant competitor to no-gi contender was well underway.