Sabrina Gondim

Sabrina Gondim was born on April 8, 1999, in João Pessoa, the capital of the Brazilian state of Paraíba — a city that would serve as the unlikely starting point for a journey to the top of competitive Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. From an early age, she channeled a restless athletic energy into futsal, volleyball, and gymnastics before discovering the discipline that would define her life. Gymnastics delivered an early lesson in redirection: despite her enthusiasm, acrobatics proved a poor match for her natural abilities. Her grandmother responded with a decisive call — noticing a judo club situated next to the gymnastics school, she enrolled young Sabrina there instead. At just seven years old, Sabrina put on a kimono for the first time, and a martial artist was born.

Affectionately nicknamed "Sasa" within her sporting community, Sabrina took to judo with a commitment that spanned a decade. Competing seriously throughout her childhood and adolescence, she built a grappling foundation that would later prove invaluable on the BJJ mats. Though the financial cost of the black belt exam placed that milestone out of reach, the technical and competitive education she absorbed on the judo mat left a permanent imprint on her game.

First Steps in BJJ and the Decision to Commit

At fifteen, Sabrina's martial arts path expanded when she began training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under coach Marcello Victor at Cascão JJ. For two years, she balanced both disciplines simultaneously — attending judo sessions while steadily developing her BJJ technique. The turning point came at seventeen, when her instructor encouraged her to enter her first jiu-jitsu tournament: the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals, a trip made possible only because her gym fully subsidized the travel. The result was unsuccessful, but the experience proved transformative. Sabrina returned from the Nationals with a sharpened sense of purpose and left judo behind to commit herself entirely to BJJ.

Purple Belt Success and the Checkmat Paraíba System

Sabrina continued her development under Marcello Victor's guidance through her purple belt, steadily building a competitive profile on the amateur circuit. The next chapter of her growth came with her transition to Checkmat Paraíba headquarters, where she came under the coaching of Endres Barbosa, Tarcísio Jardim. Within the Checkmat system, she emerged as one of Brazil's most exciting colored belt prospects. Her purple belt results were particularly striking — back-to-back gold medals at the IBJJF South American Championship in 2019 and 2020 announced her arrival as a legitimate contender. She also reached the final of the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals in 2019 and claimed silver at the IBJJF South American Championship in 2018, demonstrating consistent podium-level performance across multiple seasons.

Brown Belt Titles and Black Belt Promotion

The trajectory continued at brown belt, where Sabrina crowned her colored belt career with a gold medal at the 2022 CBJJ Brazilian Nationals and a bronze medal finish at the 2022 IBJJF World Championship. On September 2, 2022, coaches Endres Barbosa, Tarcísio Jardim promoted Sabrina Gondim to the rank of black belt — a recognition of both her competitive accomplishments and her growth as a martial artist.

An Immediate Impact at Black Belt

Sabrina's transition to the black belt division wasted no time in announcing itself. In May 2023, she competed at the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals as a first-year black belt and advanced all the way to the final — a remarkable debut that placed her among the division's top competitors. That runner-up finish at the 2023 CBJJ Brazilian Nationals earned more than a silver medal; it caught the attention of Daniel Affini and his wife Damaris de Luca, the leaders of Fratres, a professional jiu-jitsu squad based in São Paulo. In July 2023, the two reached out and brought Sabrina into the team's elite black belt competition workgroup — a significant leap that moved her from a regional gym in Paraíba into one of Brazil's premier professional training environments.

Building on the World Stage

The transition delivered results almost immediately. Later in 2023, Sabrina claimed gold at the IBJJF South American Championship, adding a black belt title to mirror the purple belt South American golds she had won years earlier. She also reached the final of the absolute division at that same event, finishing as runner-up. In 2024, she continued to perform at the highest levels of international competition, earning a silver medal at the 2024 IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship and a bronze medal at the 2024 IBJJF European Jiu-Jitsu Championship. Sabrina Gondim's career arc — from a young girl redirected into judo by her grandmother in João Pessoa to a black belt competitor representing a professional São Paulo squad on the world stage — stands as a testament to the compounding power of sustained athletic dedication.