Servio Tulio Junqueira

Born on November 21, 1993, in Belo Horizonte — the capital of Minas Gerais in southeastern Brazil — Servio Tulio Junqueira displayed a broad athletic aptitude from an early age. He competed across football, judo, swimming, and tennis, but it was tennis that defined his formative years. Competing from age 8 to 16, he climbed to the #10 position in the Brazilian national ranking, a result that spoke to both his competitive drive and natural athleticism.

Among the most influential figures in his early life was his older brother Onofre, whose involvement in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu planted the seed that would eventually redirect Servio's competitive ambitions from the tennis court to the grappling mat.

In May 2009, Servio Tulio took his first steps into jiu-jitsu at Gracie Barra Belo Horizonte, initially with the modest goals of lifting weights and returning to swimming. Neither lasted long. The technical depth and competitive intensity of BJJ captured his attention immediately, and he committed himself fully to the art.

Early Development and International Exposure

After roughly a year and a half of training — and shortly following his blue belt promotion — Servio relocated to Australia for a six-month student exchange program. The experience broadened his perspective, and upon returning to Belo Horizonte, he resumed training with sharper focus and began pursuing competition more aggressively on both national and international circuits.

The Felipe Pena Mentorship

A defining relationship in Servio's development formed through Felipe Pena, the decorated competitor and instructor known as "Preguiça." The connection carried a natural foundation: Pena had been a classmate of Servio's brother Fernando, giving the two an established familiarity before their training partnership began. Servio became a regular fixture in Pena's competitive environment while continuing his work at Gracie Barra Belo Horizonte, and the two traveled and competed together extensively. Pena took personal responsibility for Servio's belt promotions at purple, brown, and black belt, culminating in December 2017 when he awarded Servio the black belt — formalizing a mentorship that had shaped every dimension of his competitive identity.

Servio Tulio established himself as one of the most decorated brown belt competitors of his generation, building a résumé that spanned multiple organizations and rulesets. The trajectory began at purple belt, where a runner-up finish at the IBJJF World No-Gi Championship in 2015 signaled his potential on the international stage. At brown belt, that potential translated into consistent, high-level results.

Peak Brown Belt Performances

2017 proved to be his most prolific year. He claimed gold at the IBJJF World Championship No-Gi — one of the sport's most prestigious no-gi titles — and swept both gi and no-gi formats at the ACBJJ World Championship in the same year. He also won the Marianas Grand Prix in 2017, having previously captured the UAEJJF Grand Slam Rio de Janeiro No-Gi title in 2016. Multiple IBJJF Belo Horizonte Open titles across gi and no-gi formats in 2016 and 2017 reinforced his consistency at both regional and international levels.

The breadth of these results — across different rulesets, formats, and organizations — reflected not only Servio's technical versatility but also his deliberate approach to maximizing competitive exposure before stepping into the black belt ranks.

Following his black belt promotion in December 2017, Servio Tulio carried his competitive ambitions into the sport's most demanding division. Competing in the medium weight class — Peso Médio, at 82.30 kg / 181.5 lbs — he continued to represent Gracie Barra and remained closely tied to Felipe Pena's competitive environment.

ADCC Qualification and Sustained Domestic Excellence

The defining moment of his black belt career arrived in 2019, when he won the ADCC Brazil Trials to earn qualification for the prestigious ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship. The victory confirmed his standing among Brazil's elite submission grapplers and marked a significant milestone in his transition to the sport's highest level. He also reached the runner-up position at the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals No-Gi in 2018 and at the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals in 2022 — results that demonstrate sustained competitiveness across multiple years at the highest domestic level and reflect the consistency that has defined his career throughout.