Murilo Amaral

Murilo Amaral was born on June 4, 1993, in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul — the capital of Brazil's southernmost state — and grew up in the neighboring municipality of Santo Antônio da Patrulha. Jiu-jitsu was not part of his early life; it was the enthusiasm of a close group of friends training at a local academy that drew him in. Their energy proved contagious, and in March 2009, Amaral stepped onto the mats for the first time.

His first instructor was Jeferson Adam, the head coach at the local BJJ gym in Santo Antônio da Patrulha. A student of Mario Reis himself, Adam became a defining influence in Amaral's early development, providing both the technical grounding and competitive direction that would shape the years ahead.

Jeferson Adam recognized Amaral's natural aptitude early and wasted little time integrating him into a higher-level training environment. He began bringing Amaral to Mario Reis' school in Porto Alegre, embedding him within the Alliance Porto Alegre system at a formative stage. From that point forward, both Adam and Reis played active roles in guiding Amaral through each belt rank.

The sustained mentorship of two experienced coaches produced a well-rounded and battle-tested competitor. Amaral's brown belt years were especially prolific on the international stage: he claimed gold at the UAEJJF Abu Dhabi World Pro in both 2016 and 2017, won the UAEJJF Grand Slam in Rio de Janeiro in 2017, and took first place at the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals in 2018. These results reflected the caliber of preparation the Alliance system demanded. Mario Reis awarded Amaral his black belt midway through 2018 — the same year Amaral captured gold at the IBJJF South American Championship, closing one chapter and opening another without missing a beat.

What distinguishes Murilo Amaral's trajectory is that his identity as a coach developed alongside his identity as a competitor from the very beginning. He took on teaching responsibilities while still a blue belt — an early and telling sign of a natural inclination toward instruction that set him apart from peers his age.

By late 2012 and into early 2013, as a purple belt, Amaral had embraced coaching as a central and enduring dimension of his involvement in the sport. This dual commitment to competing and teaching reflects the values instilled by Jeferson Adam and Mario Reis within the Alliance Porto Alegre environment — one where developing the next generation of practitioners carries as much weight as individual competitive success.

Murilo Amaral competes in the Peso Leve division at 76.00 kg (168.0 lbs), a weight class in which he has delivered consistent elite-level performances across multiple years. His black belt debut made an immediate statement: in 2018, the same year he received his promotion, he won gold at the IBJJF South American Championship — a seamless continuation of the form he had established at brown belt.

The years that followed confirmed his standing among the division's top competitors. In 2021, he reached the podium at the IBJJF World Championship and earned a silver medal at the AJP South America Continental Pro. In 2023, he returned to the IBJJF World Championship podium and added a third-place finish at the AJP Grand Slam in Sydney. The arc of Amaral's black belt career reflects a competitor who has grown steadily and deliberately — building, year by year, on a foundation laid over nearly a decade of high-level competition within Alliance Porto Alegre.