Black belt Talita Alencar, who will compete against Mackenzie Dern in the main event of the upcoming Fight To Win Pro 12, has announced that she is switching from GF Team to Alliance. 

The light featherweight competitor revealed the move to FloGrappling yesterday in an exclusive interview. 

Alencar will train with Hector Vasquez in Las Vegas, Nevada, and will represent Cobrinha Jiu-Jitsu, which is part of the Alliance network. Vasquez is black belt under Rubens 'Cobrinha' Charles. 



Alencar said her motivation for switching teams came from the desire to improve her career as a professional jiu-jitsu athlete. 

I thought a lot before making my decision. I don't want to live in Brazil any longer, and here I will have all the support I need as an athlete. I'll never be successful if I continue to live in Brazil.

She follows the similar example of eight-time black belt World champion Bruno Malfacine, who made the move from GF Team to Alliance in 2008. 

Like Bruno Malfacine, I'm searching for the best. I'm really going to invest in my career.

Pictured: Talita Alencar at the 2016 IBJJF World Championships

About Talita Alencar and GF Team

From Fortaleza in the North East of Brazil, Alencar lived and trained primarily in Rio de Janeiro and trained with GF Team instructors Theodoro Canal and Julio Cesar Pereira. 

An avid traveller and competitor, she spent increasing amounts of time outside of Brazil, mostly on the West Coast and in the Colorado area. 

GF Team has a relatively small presence in the USA, with gyms of various size located in Texas, Florida, Ohio and Colorado. 

Alencar received her black belt on the podium after winning the 2016 IBJJF World Championships. She fought then-teammate Thamires Aquino in the final rather than closing out the division. 

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About Alliance 

Founded in 1993 and headed up by Romero 'Jacare' Cavalcanti, Fabio Gurgel and Alexandre 'Gigi' Paiva, Alliance Jiu-Jitsu is the most successful team in competition history.

Alliance has a record 11 team IBJJF World Championship trophies, and can claim current black belt World champions Bruno Malfacine, Dominyka Obelenyte, Lucas Lepri, Andresa Correa, Leo Nogueira and Monique Elias. 

Until Alencar's arrival Alliance did not have a female competitor in the light featherweight division. 


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Talita Alencar vs Mackenzie Dern

Alencar will face off with Mackenzie Dern in a submission-only female lightweight title fight as the main event of Fight To Win Pro 12 in Phoenix, Arionza on September 17. 

They met once before in the combined brown-black belt division of the 2016 Abu Dhabi World Pro with Dern narrowly winning in a close match. 

Watch Talita Alencar vs Mackenzie Dern go head-to-head at Fight To Win Pro 12 on Sept 10, here on FloGrappling!