Last month, André Porfírio, Maggie Grindatti, and Luccas Lira announced they had left the Fight Sports team. FloGrappling reached out to them for an exclusive interview.

By the end of January, three top Fight Sports athletes announced on their personal social media pages that they no longer belonged to the team: the 2021 IBJJF Pan champ André Porfírio, the 2022 IBJJF European champion Maggie Grindatti, and the rising star brown belt Luccas Lira, a no-gi world champion.

Each of the athletes said in their posts that they are grateful for the years they spent with the team. They added further details about their moves in an exclusive interview with Flograppling.

Andre Porfírio

Andre Porfírio was promoted to black belt in November 2019 by Roberto Cyborg upon his arrival at Fight Sports Miami. He has been successful and has built his name competing under the Fight Sports banner, winning a Pans title in 2021.

According to Porfírio, he made the decision to leave the academy on his own, but watching other teammates leave encouraged him to act.

“I believe that life is a cycle, and my mission in Fight Sports has been accomplished. I needed to get out of my comfort zone to thrive even more,” Porfírio said.

Porfirio added that he has a few teams in mind, but for now, he is not in a rush to find a specific team. 

“I’m traveling around, teaching seminars, and training with friends in different places,” Porfírio said. He is still based in Miami, Florida.

Maggie Grindatti

Maggie Grindatti has been training under the Fight Sports banner for the last six years. She had a long relationship with Cyborg, but it ended in 2021 when they decided to remain friends and professional partners. 

“After over a year of not being together as a couple and continuing our professional relationship and working towards friendship, I made a choice to have a relationship with someone that unfortunately would make things uncomfortable in our work environment and I was told to leave the gym,” Grindatti said.

“I know my purpose has been served there and I leave with lifelong friends, amazing memories, and a clear conscious”, completed the athlete.

Currently, Grindatti does not represent a team, but she continues to trains where and when she can. “The right team will come at the right time,” she said. 

“There are definitely teams I favor that I would love to represent, based on their leadership, values, and athletic results. But Fight Sports was a huge part of my life and meant a lot to me. I want to be sure the next team I choose to represent feels like home as well.”

Competing at ADCC is still on Grindatti’s list of goals. She continues to train athletes in her strength and conditioning business.

“I want to extend a thank you to the entire jiu-jitsu community, since I made the announcement, everyone has been encouraging and supportive,” she said. “Anyone who knows or follows me knows how much Fight Sports means to me. Those people and that gym has been my purpose for the last 6 years.”

She said she has had offers to leave Miami, but she decided to remain there. “So for now I will focus on work and training, find a team to represent, and follow wherever the path leads me next,” Grindatti said.

Luccas Lira

In 2019, rising star brown belt Luccas Lira joined Fight Sports Miami. He had to return to Brazil during the pandemic in 2020. Due to visa issues, he stayed out of the US for two years and seven months before moving to Abu Dhabi to continue training and competing on the AJP circuit.

Lirra confirmed that it was not his decision to leave the team. 

“The decision to leave the team did not come from me but I am going through a good phase and my return to the United States is very recent and I have a lot to achieve in all areas of my life,” he said.

Currently, Lira is training at various academies in Miami and exclusively announced in his interview with Florappling that he will be representing Dream Art this season.

“Soon I’ll be heading to Houston [Texas] to join the team for a while with Isaque [Bahiense] and all the teammates. I would like to say thanks to him and Lucas Gualberto for allowing me to help Dream Art this season,”  Lira said.

After competing at the IBJJF Pan and Worlds this year, he will focus on no-gi. Last year, Lira was invited to compete in the ADCC World Championships, but he was unable to attend.