Right after winning her second IBJJF European title, Thalyta Silva, who used to be a Dream Art representative, signed a 2-year contract with Fratres Jiu-Jitsu. 

Earlier this week, she announced on her personal social media profile that she had joined the Fratres Jiu-Jitsu team, based in São Paulo, Brazil. Silva was promoted to black belt in April 2021 by her former professor Paulão Rezende, and she had been training under the Dream Art banner since September 2022.

“I’ve decided to make this move for professional reasons,” Silva said in an interview with FloGrappling. “Daniel [Affini] and Fratres had shown me a different type of professionalism, especially with brown and black belts which are often left on their own depending on the team.”

Daniel Affini is a second degree black belt and one of the founders of Fratres Jiu-Jitsu. He works as a mentor for the competition team. Silva is training under the guidance of Wellington “Alemão” Sebastião and Rider Zuchi.

“Training has been intense, and I feel out of my comfort zone”, Silva said.

According to Silva, she and Affini began talking during the IBJJF European Championships in Paris, and the move was very natural.

When she first landed in São Paulo from Paris, she went to the academy to train for the first time and met with Affini about the terms. “I have a very reasonable contract,” Silva said. “As an athlete, they offer me a salary, housing, tournaments... They treat athletes like employees."

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As Silva sees it, contracts guarantee the rights of athletes and teams, and it makes her feel secure.

“I feel secure because now I know I can concentrate 100% on being a successful athlete,” she said.

Silva revealed that she almost decided to stop competing this year to focus more on teaching. However, her new team fueled her desire to keep competing.

“It was very difficult to make money from jiu-jitsu in the past, she said. “Obviously, we keep our roots, but jiu-jitsu is more professional now,” she concluded.