Pedro Serrano

Born on June 9, 1996, in Lancaster, California, to a family of Peruvian descent, Pedro Serrano spent his formative athletic years on the soccer field. He competed in football from childhood well into his mid-teens, developing a competitive instinct and physical discipline that would later translate directly onto the grappling mats.

The path toward combat sports began organically. Serrano and his friends organized informal boxing-style sparring sessions — raw, unstructured exchanges that lacked technical polish but ignited a genuine curiosity about real fighting. That spark quickly became a pursuit. At 16, Serrano and a regular sparring partner enrolled together at a local mixed martial arts gym, where he trained Thai boxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu simultaneously. The dual exposure gave him an early appreciation for both striking and grappling. His first BJJ instructor, Jerry Montes, recognized his steady progress and awarded him the blue belt — the formal beginning of a competitive journey that would come to define his athletic identity.

Serrano's ambitions on the mat quickly outgrew his initial training environment. Seeking a more competition-focused setting, he made a deliberate move to Gracie Barra Northridge Academy, led by Rômulo Barral — a five-time IBJJF World Champion and one of the most influential figures in North American BJJ. That decision proved to be the defining step of his development.

Building a Competition Resume

Under Barral's guidance, Serrano climbed steadily through the belt ranks while establishing himself as one of the more dangerous competitors on the North American circuit. His blue belt campaign in 2016 signaled immediately that serious talent was emerging: he took gold at the IBJJF American Nationals in both Gi and No-Gi formats, captured UAEJJF Grand Slam titles in Los Angeles and Tokyo, and reached the final of the IBJJF World Championship No-Gi, earning silver. At purple belt, he continued that momentum with gold at the 2017 IBJJF Long Beach Open and a runner-up finish at the UAEJJF Abu Dhabi Pro in 2017.

Black Belt Promotion

The peak of his colored belt career arrived in 2019, when Serrano claimed the IBJJF World Championship No-Gi title as a brown belt — one of the most hotly contested stages in the sport. That title served as a fitting capstone to years of elite competition below the black belt. On December 13, 2019, Rômulo Barral formally awarded Serrano his black belt, a recognition that confirmed what the competition record had long made clear.

A defining characteristic of Pedro Serrano's career is his ability to perform at a high level across fundamentally different rulesets. Where many grapplers specialize in either the points-based IBJJF format or the submission-only arena, Serrano demonstrated consistent excellence in both — a versatility that reflects the completeness of his technical game.

IBJJF and International Success

Within IBJJF competition, Serrano built a sustained record spanning multiple belt levels and formats. His back-to-back American Nationals titles in 2016 — both Gi and No-Gi at blue belt — identified him early as a volume competitor capable of winning high-stakes matches on consecutive days. His gold at the 2018 IBJJF Los Angeles BJJ Pro at brown belt, combined with repeated deep runs at major IBJJF events, reinforced that consistency as he matured through the ranks.

On the international stage, his UAEJJF Grand Slam victories in Los Angeles and Tokyo in 2016 demonstrated the ability to perform against front-loaded international fields, while his runner-up finish at the UAEJJF Abu Dhabi Pro in 2017 further established his credibility at that level.

Submission-Only Credentials

In the submission-only format — where finishing ability takes precedence over positional control — Serrano claimed first place at the Midwest Finishers 135 lbs Invitational in 2019, proving that his game carried equal weight in an environment built entirely around the finish.

All of these performances came at the Peso Pluma division (64 kg / 141.5 lbs), a weight class where technical precision is paramount and margins for error are slim. Serrano's success across formats and organizations at that weight — built almost entirely before reaching black belt — established him as one of the most well-rounded grapplers of his generation in the North American landscape.